Slow folder navigation Office 2003 only

[LVTravel]

I have two laptops and two desktops with MS Office 2003 S &
T edition installed. Also installed on these systems is
various configurations of Office XP, Office 2000 and Office
97 (I use all four Office suites in a teaching environment
and they do peacefully co-exist on one laptop.) The only
version of the Office suite I am having a problem with is
Office 2003. All other Office products show the file
structure very fast on all systems after the initial access
to the structure.

On the laptops and the desktops I have mapped network drives
that are only connected when the appropriate computer/s are
within wireless range of the various servers I use and I use
the computers in a real life work environment (classroom and
office settings.)

In viewing the suggestions for stopping the hang of the file
structure search when opening and saving documents is to
remove all non-connected mapped drives. An example is "If
you have disconnected network drives, either connect them or
unmap them. Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" posted on the
15th of January. This will work however, it defeats the
purpose of having mapped drives on a laptop, i.e.,
convenience in connecting to servers at more than one
location.

Does anyone have any real-life suggestions on how to
overcome the 15-45 second "lockup" of the computer while
attempting to drill down through a file structure to locate
a particular folder or file other than unmapping drives.

 

[Bob I]

Then DON'T map them until you are going to use them.

 

[LVTravel]

When I go to three different areas with three different
drive structures (one which I have to map 7 different
drives) it really slows down productivity if I have to map
the drives before I connect and then unmap them before I
leave for the next office or setting.

That is why I asked about any other workaround. I know that
I can log on with different user profiles but having to type
in the different login information at each location can also
be a pain.

Then DON'T map them until you are going to use them.

I have two laptops and two desktops with MS Office 2003 S
& T edition installed. Also installed on these systems
is various configurations of Office XP, Office 2000 and
Office 97 (I use all four Office suites in a teaching
environment and they do peacefully co-exist on one
laptop.) The only version of the Office suite I am
having a problem with is Office 2003. All other Office
products show the file structure very fast on all systems
after the initial access to the structure.

On the laptops and the desktops I have mapped network
drives that are only connected when the appropriate
computer/s are within wireless range of the various
servers I use and I use the computers in a real life work
environment (classroom and office settings.)

In viewing the suggestions for stopping the hang of the
file structure search when opening and saving documents
is to remove all non-connected mapped drives. An example
is "If you have disconnected network drives, either
connect them or unmap them. Milly Staples [MVP -
Outlook]" posted on the 15th of January. This will work
however, it defeats the purpose of having mapped drives
on a laptop, i.e., convenience in connecting to servers
at more than one location.

Does anyone have any real-life suggestions on how to
overcome the 15-45 second "lockup" of the computer while
attempting to drill down through a file structure to
locate a particular folder or file other than unmapping
drives.

 

[Bob I]

Have you heard of a batch file? Use that to do the mapping as needed.

example:
net use x: \\computername\sharename

one line for each drive

help at the command prompt =

net use /?

or in Windows help and support look up (use quotes)

"net use"

When I go to three different areas with three different
drive structures (one which I have to map 7 different
drives) it really slows down productivity if I have to map
the drives before I connect and then unmap them before I
leave for the next office or setting.

That is why I asked about any other workaround. I know that
I can log on with different user profiles but having to type
in the different login information at each location can also
be a pain.

Then DON'T map them until you are going to use them.

I have two laptops and two desktops with MS Office 2003 S
& T edition installed. Also installed on these systems
is various configurations of Office XP, Office 2000 and
Office 97 (I use all four Office suites in a teaching
environment and they do peacefully co-exist on one
laptop.) The only version of the Office suite I am
having a problem with is Office 2003. All other Office
products show the file structure very fast on all systems
after the initial access to the structure.

On the laptops and the desktops I have mapped network
drives that are only connected when the appropriate
computer/s are within wireless range of the various
servers I use and I use the computers in a real life work
environment (classroom and office settings.)

In viewing the suggestions for stopping the hang of the
file structure search when opening and saving documents
is to remove all non-connected mapped drives. An example
is "If you have disconnected network drives, either
connect them or unmap them. Milly Staples [MVP -
Outlook]" posted on the 15th of January. This will work
however, it defeats the purpose of having mapped drives
on a laptop, i.e., convenience in connecting to servers
at more than one location.

Does anyone have any real-life suggestions on how to
overcome the 15-45 second "lockup" of the computer while
attempting to drill down through a file structure to
locate a particular folder or file other than unmapping
drives.

 

[LVTravel]

Yes, I have heard of batch files and use them frequently for
other jobs. The batch file method is only a workaround and
not a fix for the problem. Having to run the batch file to
map and then another to unmap each server's connections on
bootup and prior to shutdown is something that should not
have to be done to use Office effectively.

My current problem, experienced by many other Office 2003
users, is a common one that did not occur with previous
versions of Office.

What did Microsoft do in 2003 that caused the file search
problems with the Office software?

There should be a registry fix or a patch that could stop
the problem with the mapped drives.

Any more suggestions?????

Have you heard of a batch file? Use that to do the mapping
as needed.

example:
net use x: \\computername\sharename

one line for each drive

help at the command prompt =

net use /?

or in Windows help and support look up (use quotes)

"net use"

When I go to three different areas with three different
drive structures (one which I have to map 7 different
drives) it really slows down productivity if I have to
map the drives before I connect and then unmap them
before I leave for the next office or setting.

That is why I asked about any other workaround. I know
that I can log on with different user profiles but having
to type in the different login information at each
location can also be a pain.

Then DON'T map them until you are going to use them.

LVTravel wrote:

I have two laptops and two desktops with MS Office 2003
S & T edition installed. Also installed on these
systems is various configurations of Office XP, Office
2000 and Office 97 (I use all four Office suites in a
teaching environment and they do peacefully co-exist on
one laptop.) The only version of the Office suite I am
having a problem with is Office 2003. All other Office
products show the file structure very fast on all
systems after the initial access to the structure.

On the laptops and the desktops I have mapped network
drives that are only connected when the appropriate
computer/s are within wireless range of the various
servers I use and I use the computers in a real life
work environment (classroom and office settings.)

In viewing the suggestions for stopping the hang of the
file structure search when opening and saving documents
is to remove all non-connected mapped drives. An
example is "If you have disconnected network drives,
either connect them or unmap them. Milly Staples [MVP -
Outlook]" posted on the 15th of January. This will work
however, it defeats the purpose of having mapped drives
on a laptop, i.e., convenience in connecting to servers
at more than one location.

Does anyone have any real-life suggestions on how to
overcome the 15-45 second "lockup" of the computer while
attempting to drill down through a file structure to
locate a particular folder or file other than unmapping
drives.

 

[Bob I]

The problem is the "persistent mapping" of unavailable resources. Stop
doing it. You only run the batch file for the current location when you
boot up. The mapping will not be maintained after shutdown, so no
"unmapping" needed. Don't insist on making things unnecessarily difficult.

Yes, I have heard of batch files and use them frequently for
other jobs. The batch file method is only a workaround and
not a fix for the problem. Having to run the batch file to
map and then another to unmap each server's connections on
bootup and prior to shutdown is something that should not
have to be done to use Office effectively.

My current problem, experienced by many other Office 2003
users, is a common one that did not occur with previous
versions of Office.

What did Microsoft do in 2003 that caused the file search
problems with the Office software?

There should be a registry fix or a patch that could stop
the problem with the mapped drives.

Any more suggestions?????

Have you heard of a batch file? Use that to do the mapping
as needed.

example:
net use x: \\computername\sharename

one line for each drive

help at the command prompt =

net use /?

or in Windows help and support look up (use quotes)

"net use"


LVTravel wrote:

When I go to three different areas with three different
drive structures (one which I have to map 7 different
drives) it really slows down productivity if I have to
map the drives before I connect and then unmap them
before I leave for the next office or setting.

That is why I asked about any other workaround. I know
that I can log on with different user profiles but having
to type in the different login information at each
location can also be a pain.




Then DON'T map them until you are going to use them.

LVTravel wrote:


I have two laptops and two desktops with MS Office 2003
S & T edition installed. Also installed on these
systems is various configurations of Office XP, Office
2000 and Office 97 (I use all four Office suites in a
teaching environment and they do peacefully co-exist on
one laptop.) The only version of the Office suite I am
having a problem with is Office 2003. All other Office
products show the file structure very fast on all
systems after the initial access to the structure.

On the laptops and the desktops I have mapped network
drives that are only connected when the appropriate
computer/s are within wireless range of the various
servers I use and I use the computers in a real life
work environment (classroom and office settings.)

In viewing the suggestions for stopping the hang of the
file structure search when opening and saving documents
is to remove all non-connected mapped drives. An
example is "If you have disconnected network drives,
either connect them or unmap them. Milly Staples [MVP -
Outlook]" posted on the 15th of January. This will work
however, it defeats the purpose of having mapped drives
on a laptop, i.e., convenience in connecting to servers
at more than one location.

Does anyone have any real-life suggestions on how to
overcome the 15-45 second "lockup" of the computer while
attempting to drill down through a file structure to
locate a particular folder or file other than unmapping
drives.

 

[LVTravel]

Bob, thanks for your responses but you or no one else has
told me of a viable solution to the problem. I really don't
like to use workarounds if I can fix the original problem.
Batch files to do what you suggest will work but I plug in
various USB devices (up to 5 hard drives and different types
of card readers) which don't always get assigned the same
drive letters. If I plug in a device and it is assigned a
drive letter (I may not check to see what drive letter is
assigned when the computer boots) then run a batch file to
map a drive to the same letter things really get
interesting. With persistent mapped drives the problem will
not happen. That is why I don't want to run batch files to
map letters.

With the NEW Office programs the problem occurs. With the
OLD Office programs the problems don't occur. Persistent
mappings have always worked before without any problem and
now they don't with the new version of Office only. All
other software on the computers work fine with the
persistent mappings of unavailable resources.

This is a fix that Microsoft should perform on their
software but until they do I was hoping that someone would
have the solution with a registry fix or program patch.
Since a laptop is designed to be mobile the XP OS should be
completely portable. It is and the file structure portion
of the XP OS works fine. The problem lies in MSs Office
support of the file structure search. It lacks in its
ability to "skip over" the unconnected resources that the
older versions had.

The problem is the "persistent mapping" of unavailable
resources. Stop doing it. You only run the batch file for
the current location when you boot up. The mapping will
not be maintained after shutdown, so no "unmapping"
needed. Don't insist on making things unnecessarily
difficult.

Yes, I have heard of batch files and use them frequently
for other jobs. The batch file method is only a
workaround and not a fix for the problem. Having to run
the batch file to map and then another to unmap each
server's connections on bootup and prior to shutdown is
something that should not have to be done to use Office
effectively.

My current problem, experienced by many other Office 2003
users, is a common one that did not occur with previous
versions of Office.

What did Microsoft do in 2003 that caused the file search
problems with the Office software?

There should be a registry fix or a patch that could stop
the problem with the mapped drives.

Any more suggestions?????

Have you heard of a batch file? Use that to do the
mapping as needed.

example:
net use x: \\computername\sharename

one line for each drive

help at the command prompt =

net use /?

or in Windows help and support look up (use quotes)

"net use"


LVTravel wrote:


When I go to three different areas with three different
drive structures (one which I have to map 7 different
drives) it really slows down productivity if I have to
map the drives before I connect and then unmap them
before I leave for the next office or setting.

That is why I asked about any other workaround. I know
that I can log on with different user profiles but
having to type in the different login information at
each location can also be a pain.




Then DON'T map them until you are going to use them.

LVTravel wrote:


I have two laptops and two desktops with MS Office
2003 S & T edition installed. Also installed on these
systems is various configurations of Office XP, Office
2000 and Office 97 (I use all four Office suites in a
teaching environment and they do peacefully co-exist
on one laptop.) The only version of the Office suite
I am having a problem with is Office 2003. All other
Office products show the file structure very fast on
all systems after the initial access to the structure.

On the laptops and the desktops I have mapped network
drives that are only connected when the appropriate
computer/s are within wireless range of the various
servers I use and I use the computers in a real life
work environment (classroom and office settings.)

In viewing the suggestions for stopping the hang of
the file structure search when opening and saving
documents is to remove all non-connected mapped
drives. An example is "If you have disconnected
network drives, either connect them or unmap them.
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" posted on the 15th of
January. This will work however, it defeats the
purpose of having mapped drives on a laptop, i.e.,
convenience in connecting to servers at more than one
location.

Does anyone have any real-life suggestions on how to
overcome the 15-45 second "lockup" of the computer
while attempting to drill down through a file
structure to locate a particular folder or file other
than unmapping drives.