Files open very slowly when connected to network

T
Posted By
tomfr
Dec 4, 2003
Views
592
Replies
14
Status
Closed
When I open any size jpg, tif, or psd from my hard disk, PS7 processes the file quickly (watching the progress bar) but takes forever to open the file. If I physically disconnect (pull out the ethernet cable) from my LAN, all files open in a snap. I also cannot use the file browser in PS at all, unless I’m disconnected from the network. It seems to me that Photoshop is going out on my network and looking for something and it takes forever because it’s a huge network. This seems related to the file browser because it did not happen in PS6 in the same set-up.
One other note: if I open a file ACROSS the network (not from my own hard drive), it opens quickly. I have a 2 gig processor and 1 gig of RAM, so speed and memory are not the issue. I am using XP.

Has anyone encountered this? I would like to just disable the file browser–can this be done?

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RL
Robert_Levine
Dec 4, 2003
Here’s a (very) long shot. Is your default printer on the network?

Bob
T
tomfr
Dec 5, 2003
I actually have my default printer set as Acrobat because I’m always sending out pdfs. When I set the windows default to the printer that is on the network, the result is the same….
thanks
SB
Scott_Byer
Dec 5, 2003
Do you have any network drives mapped? Not sure why that would matter, but it’s worth a shot.

-Scott
T
tomfr
Dec 5, 2003
Yes, several are mapped.
LM
Leland_McArthy
Jan 7, 2004
I have observed the same problem. I have no network drives mapped, my default printer is hard wired… I cannot figure it out. Searching these forums, this problem has been observed by several people and there is no clear answer. Unplugging the network cable makes it work fine. Very strange.
LM
Leland_McArthy
Jan 8, 2004
Update: I checked this with my computer (the same one, a laptop) connected to my home network. It works fine in that environment. Must be something to do with the network domain logon or network security settings etc., all over my head and out of my control in the office environment of a big organization. Still, it seems like many people in big companies would have such a network setup that would create this problem. Does Adobe monitor these forums?
RM
Rick Moore
Jan 8, 2004
Leland, Scott Byer (who posted earlier in this thread) is an Adobe engineer. As to your problem, I don’t have this delay with my networked machine at the office. Is your office network Novell? I seem to recall some similar problems with both Adobe and Autodesk products on Novell networks.
LM
Leland_McArthy
Jan 8, 2004
No, it is a Microsoft network. I am not in the IT group so can’t answer any technical questions, but searching the forums, I think many others have this problem, described either as a problem opening files or using the "file browser". Both of these things are very slow if connected to the network at the office, but clear up completely when disconnected. It is a large complex Wide Area Network environment spanning multiple countries for my company which employees over 10,000 people. We use the usual array of network environment tools such as firewalls etc. I wonder if it is related to being logged on to the domain server vs using the cached login information when off the corporate WAN.

When I open a file, you can see from the LAN connection status window that network traffic is happening that slows the file load down. Approximately the same amount of data is sent as is received (around 64 "packets") and this amount is independant of file size. I measured it opening .jpg files ranging from 160K to 4.3 Meg in size. Opening the same file immediately after closing it makes no difference, same delay, same amount of data traffic. All the files are on the local HDD.

If an adobe engineer could ask some pointed questions, I might be able to get answers. I wonder what data is being sent and received.
CC
Chris_Cox
Jan 9, 2004
Check your default printer – I’ll bet it’s on the network.

(even worse if it’s a Novell server hosting the printer)
LM
Leland_McArthy
Jan 9, 2004
Nope, it’s a local printer connected to my parallel port. (how old fashioned!) To my knowledge, we do not use any Novell servers.
CC
Chris_Cox
Jan 9, 2004
Well, then you need to keep looking for something that is contacting the network (because Photoshop doesn’t unless you tell it to).
LM
Leland_McArthy
Jan 9, 2004
Chris, I appreciate your interest in this. I did the following experiment and perhaps it can give you a clue. If not, I will give up. Using the same computer, connected to the same network, with the network cable ATTACHED, I logged on using a local user account rather than logging on using my usual user name and logging on to the network domain. In this mode, the problem does not appear. Therefore, it only seems to be happening when I am logged on to the remote domain controller. Could it be something regarding the Active Directory services of the domain controller? (sorry but I am guessing at the language here as it is over my head). The TCPIP settings are exactly the same in both setups and both users accounts are administrator level.

Also, the domain I log onto is physically located in the US while I am in Japan, so I guess there are some hoops the system has to jump through to get data back and forth, still, the 9 second delay during file opening is still very long considering how fast information travels over networks. I also tried activating my VPN to tunnel directly to the US IP address via the WWW (a fast connection) but there was no change.

Anyway, that is the best I can offer to help replicate the problem. Thanks again for your concern.
RM
Rick Moore
Jan 9, 2004
Leland – I have the Windows Task Manager open and displaying the Networking tab, when I open a file (from my machine, not over the network) in Photoshop the Network Utilization goes from 0% to somewhere around 0.1%. It doesn’t seem like much but I wonder why it’s even used at all when opening a local file. I’m not noticing any delays, however- but maybe on a large network like yours whatever this is doing is enough to cause the delays
LM
Leland_McArthy
Jan 9, 2004
I tried that with about the same percent network utilization. It is not a bandwidth issue, just a lag of some kind. The files take about 9 seconds to open and the file browser will freeze everything up if the folder selected has many files in it at all.

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