Access database slowdown

[Evan Brierley]

We are running Windows XP SP2 with Office 2000. The PCs are joined to our
company domain. Several PCs are sharing a network drive and accessing an
Access database on that drive. When the users open files (such as a Word
document) linked within the database, it takes several (5-6) minutes to open.
Interestingly, if the user ‘wiggles’ the mouse back and forth while the file
is opening, the time to open the database is reduced to 10-15 seconds! We
have even successfully tried letting the PC hang for a minute or two opening
the file, then wiggling the mouse to get the file to appear. This happens
regardless of what PC or user that opens the document. Also, physical
location or PC type doesn’t affect the speed. We have attempted to use PCs of
different manufacture located in other branches to open this file with the
same results. Have you ever heard of such a thing happening before? What
could possibly be causing the issue, and why would wiggling the mouse cause
it to open faster?

 

[Bob Haley]

Evan,

(clipped)

We are running Windows XP SP2 with Office 2000. The PCs are joined to our
company domain. Several PCs are sharing a network drive and accessing an
Access database on that drive. When the users open files (such as a Word
document) linked within the database, it takes several (5-6) minutes to open.
Interestingly, if the user ‘wiggles’ the mouse back and forth while the file
is opening, the time to open the database is reduced to 10-15 seconds!

Without knowing exactly what applicaton software (Antivirus,etc.) is running
on the PCs on the Corporate Network, or which (processes) are running on the
affected PCs (Task Manager -> [Processes tab]) it is difficult to narrow your
issue to a specific item: however, "in general" any services running that
perform active file scanning, e.g. AntiVirus, "Malware" scanners, etc. could
be a factor in the issue.
In particular, if Antivirus software present on the client PC and is setup
to actively (scan) files from the Network drive when accessed - that could be
a factor.

One suggestion that may help you track down the issue is to bring up the
[Processes] tab in Windows Task Manager, sort by [CPU] utilization by
clicking the column heading, and viewing which processes are utilizing CPU
resources during the file open process. You could also utilize other tools
to help track down the issue, such as the SysInternals RegMon and FileMon
utilities.

Regards,
Bob