VERY SLOW LAN - HELP

[fcastle]

I have the desktop PC below. I also have an HP Laptop (Athlon 1800+, 256MB RAM, XP home). I have set up the home office network through XP on both computers. For some reason, I can access the shared files on the desktop from the laptop without a problem, but when I try to access the shared files on the laptop from the main computer, my computer either hangs or works VERY slowly. When I right click a file in the laptop shared folder, it takes at least 30 full seconds to bring up the menu. I click copy and select where on the desktop I am going to paste it and it supposedly starts copying. The copying dialogue box just stays on the screen. I have left it there for over 10 minutes with no change. Even going into the task manager does not allow me to end task on process. I have to reset my computer. Out of all the times I have tried (rebooting, going through the network setup multiple times) it worked ONE TIME, but I have no idea what was different. This connection is not usually hooked into the laptop as the ethernet cable is connected to my wireless radio to give me internet. I unhook the connection from the radio and plug it into the laptop then start each computer so it is a fresh start for both. Still no luck.

Also, is it normal for windows XP to take at least 30 seconds after going to the desktop to recognize the LAN connection? I have a Linksys PCI LAN 10/100 card.

Any help would be appreciated.

Finally, does anyone have any solutions for the HIGHLY ANNOYING "memory could not be written/read" error?

 

[EricT]

A bit more info on your setup would be helpfull :
- Are you using a cross cable between both pc's or is there a hub/switch ?
- What protocol are you using ? TCP-IP or ... ?
- If TCP-IP, are you using manual addresses (and if so, what are they) or is the desktop pc acting as DHCP server for the laptop ?
- If TCP-IP, did you create hosts & lmhosts files ?
- Concerning the memory errors : did they appear after you installed the nic's in the machine ? If so, try swapping some cards around and make sure to chech in device mgr if any issues are reported with the nic (yellow question marks).

The 30 seconds are not normal, but there are a lot of situations where they will & do occur...

 

[fcastle]

Ok - to claify things.

1. I am using a regular cat 5 cable with a crossover adapter at the end that connects into my desktop computer.
2. I believe TCP/IP although there are numerous selections under "This connection uses the following items".
3. When I initially installed the LAN card, the TCP/IP properties had a static IP in the "general" tab. I did not do this and the only reason I know is because I went to a wireless connection that at first would not work. My ISP had me go into the TCP/IP properties and change both the IP address and DNS address selections so they would obtain them automatically. This is the only way I can log onto my ISP's intranet which connects me to the internet. Is this what you are talking about here?
4. No, especially because I do not know you are talking about!
5. At the same time I began connection to the internet through the LAN with a wireless radio, I also installed a new motherboard. It was after those things that the memory errors occurred. I have not reformatted as a result of the motherboard install, but will in the next couple days. I have read other posts from people who have had the memory errors and said reformatting does not solve the problem so I am not hopeful. I also bought some rounded IDE and floppy cables.

 

[spidey07]

1. I am using a regular cat 5 cable with a crossover adapter at the end that connects into my desktop computer.

Try using an actual crossover cable. The "crossover adapter" could be miswired or not category 5 rated. See if that helps.