Network problems with Application

Hi all,
Faced with very baffling problem with a Windows 2000 server sp3. Got sick of seeing the message that the DFS root was empty, so i put in an entry to a shared folder. I also changed the registry entries to correct Event 2021 as indicated in Q1317249. Since then. word files (word 2000) and only word files and only on W2Kpro workstations hang for about a minute before closing. I used network monitor and discovered a number of object not found errors that were referencing the DFS root which I wasn't using. Now if users access word files through the DFS share, word shuts down fine, but through any other mapped drive it hangs. It is not a function of file size , but does seem isolated to this particular application. Powerpoint, with much bigger files responds properly as does excel. I have removed all references to network files and templates but to no avail. I do not want to use DFS on this share as it contains dynamic data and is not really suitable as a DFS drive, but I can not find a way around it.
The other change is that it now takes 3 minutes to logoff.
AD seems to be OK according to DcDiag ant netdiag and DNS is functioning properly both ways. :confused:
Help !!!

I think I'd pass this one by Microsoft Tech Support. Since all the involved stuff is theirs, it should be a free case. In fact, they may well have a canned fix already worked out.