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I have 2 unique networks. They both share similar architecture:

  • Windows 2003 SBS SP2
  • Running Symantec Endpoint
  • Running Symantec Information Foundation
  • Shared drives off a data partition
  • Clients running Office 2003 or 2007
  • Connect to file server through mapped drives

When users try to open a file from their local PC by double clicking, it will take 30-60 seconds to open. When they do File -> Open, those same documents open up almost immediately.

So far I've tried the following - CCleaner to parse the registry of outdated mapped drives - Disabled "using DDE" - Disabled A/V - Reboot

Any ideas beyond that? Figured this question belongs here instead of SU since its the same issue on different networks.

Edit Its only 1 user in each effected network that has reported it. They each have a document from the network share as a shortcut on the desktop. When they double click that shortcut, there is a delay. I haven't tested what happens if double clicking the document with excel or word open already. What I have done is opened up the document from the network within its respective program and it opens right away.

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  • Just to be clear. Is the office application already open when you double click on the document?
    – Zoredache
    May 3, 2010 at 20:36
  • Is it just one client or everyone? I have dealt with Office open issues and it was due to the file type command. But it only affected a few users.
    – xeon
    May 3, 2010 at 21:03
  • If the file is copied to the desktop is it still slow to open? How about if the shortcut is recreated?
    – Chris
    May 10, 2010 at 13:50
  • What happens when you open the document from the share through Explorer and not a shortcut from the desktop?
    – Holocryptic
    May 12, 2010 at 19:40
  • @Chris shortcut or copy of the document, same speed when double clicked. @holocryptic just as slow.
    – Keith
    May 12, 2010 at 20:14

7 Answers 7

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I would start with Process Monitor. Capture the stack when you try to open from the shortcut on the desktop, and then a separate capture when you open from inside the program. Compare the two and see where the differences are.

Try adding the Lookup Wizard Add-in for Excel, and see if that changes anything. From here.

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  • In addition to procexp, try doing a netstat -a while the file is opening to see if it is attempting to access other network resources that aren't available.
    – MattB
    May 15, 2010 at 3:10
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In your edit you said

I haven't tested what happens if double clicking the document with excel or word open already.

Test it. It could be that your users are experiencing the startup effects of Office itself. Is Word or Excel slow to startup on it's own? Are your users installing any funky Office plugins?

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2
  • This sounds promising. If so, then try a reinstall of MS Office.
    – tomjedrz
    May 13, 2010 at 19:08
  • I can open up Word and Excel from the Start menu just fine. I can then minimize the window, double click on the shortcut and its slow to open. If i do File -> Open, its quick.
    – Keith
    May 15, 2010 at 0:28
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Check that the user's Home Folder property on their AD account is valid, if present.

I had a similar issue which was a nightmare to troubleshoot and it turned out to be a home folder pointing to an old decommissioned file server.

location of home folder property on AD user account properties

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  • Checked that. its clean save the login batch script we have. the script maps valid networks hares.
    – Keith
    May 5, 2010 at 21:03
  • @Keith Is there any Folder Redirection in place? Particularly My Documents?,
    – jscott
    May 11, 2010 at 13:41
  • negative. the files are shortcuts to files stored on mapped drives. when accessing them from the mapped drive within the appropriate application, they open just fine.
    – Keith
    May 11, 2010 at 21:34
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could it be something related to the file type association? i mean, the command line defined to open this file is calling a different application, or calling the same application but with different options causing the latency

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1

If I understand correctly from your edit, your users have a shortcut on the desktop that points to the file like \server\share\document.doc and are double-clicking it to open the file.

When you're in the office app, you're going file -> Open and manually navigating to \server\share\document.doc to open it.

If this is the case, try setting the users up with a mapped drive (e.g. Z:) pointing to \server\share, and re-point their desktop shortcut so it accesses the file as Z:\document.doc

A mapped drive should hold onto network share credentials/authentication better than manually hitting the UNC share path (\) when you want to open a file. In the case of office/word, I've experienced odd slowdowns when accessing docs directly via their UNC path.

If it's occuring when accessed directly through the mapped drive, too... then you could check into this: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/297684

Some additional troubleshooting steps you could try: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/832161

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  • Based on his comments, it is slow to open even with the document copied locally. I don't think this is a UNC issue.
    – Holocryptic
    May 12, 2010 at 22:24
  • the UNC paths are mapped already. have been for a couple years. this slow opening of documents is a recent development. the drives are also active.
    – Keith
    May 13, 2010 at 3:08
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Hey Keith, have you tried running Wireshark to see what actually happens behind the scenes in each scenario? Any networking discrepancies (especially 30-60 second lags) should probably show up in there.

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-1

I had this start happening to me after I installed the newest version of Kodak Easy Share that came with my digital camera. After I uninstalled the app, my office docs started opening quickly again.

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  • neither computer has that software installed.
    – Keith
    May 11, 2010 at 12:22

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