Explorer access on network drive slow

[prouton]

I use details view mode in Windows Explorer, and when I access my network attached storage box I get some very unsatisfactory results. While opening that (mapped) drive displays the first directory quickly, and perhaps even the second directory, by about the third level in Explorer stops responding, with either a blank or partial list of the directory's contents showing, until it manages to retrieve all the icons for the files in that directory. I can see from the network switch that there is high traffic between my computer and the NAS box while this is happening, so it's not so much broken as it is a slow pain in the...assuming this is typical behaviour, is there a way to turn off the display of the file's unique icon so that Explorer doesn't have to wait while an entire directory structure's worth of files are accessed?

For clarity's sake, the files are largely executables and supporting files, not pictures or data documents. Thumbnails are turned off. This is probably happening on the local drives, but it just happens so much quicker that it isn't noticeable.

[Steve R Jones]

Try the following one at a time to see if they help:

Windows XP Icon Cache

Are you experiencing icon lag, while browsing thru all your Start icons and programs? Do you have a smaller menu delay and your icons need ages to load? No need to give up.

Just delete the hidden file called IconCache.db file from your profile directory (usually /Documents and Settings/Username/Local Settings/Application Data).
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This is an old tweak from Win2k but I do it to any XP machine that access shared folders...

Rename the following reg key:

From:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\RemoteComputer\NameSpace\{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}

To:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\RemoteComputer\NameSpace\{xxD6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}

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Automatically Refresh File Lists in Explorer

Change the value of UpdateMode in HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Update from 01 to 00