Windows Explorer slow to open networked computer, fast to navigate once opened

Solution 1:

I've seen this happen before and it was a NETBIOS name issue (can happen even if you use the IP) -- try adding the computer name to your HOSTS file and see if it still happens.

• Open Start > Run
• Run "notepad c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts"
• Add "192.168.1.101 ComputerName" to the file

Not sure why this happens unless maybe Windows tries to match the IP address to a NETBIOS hostname.

Of course it could be another issue but this is something easy/quick to try.

Solution 2:

This is a long shot: is your desktop dual-homed? That is, does it have two active network interfaces? A wireless interface counts. If this is the case, then the network services might be trying to reach that IP over both interfaces (and waiting for the wrong one to time out) before showing you anything. It can be especially problematic if both interfaces are eventually part of the same network (e.g. a laptop connected via a cable, but also with a wifi connection to a hub on the same LAN).

You can try running net view \\192.168.1.101 from the command line. If that returns instantly (and you haven't already "primed the pump" via explorer), then I would suspect something to do with your view settings in Explorer, which I will answer separately.