Windows 7 using network to access local drives?
I have a local computer running Windows 7 Ultimate. This computer is operating as a server for a small, 3 computer, peer-to-peer network. It also operates as a desktop computer for a local user. This computer has plenty of power, as it is running a server motherboard, dual Xeon processors, 8GB of RAM, and dual SCSI hard drives. Here is the problem. The computer (herein referred to as the server) has two partitions on the hard drives, defined as C: and E:, that are obviously local to the server. There are some logically defined folders that are setup as 4 different drive letters to the network. So, to make sure everything is clear, the K:, H:, G:, and P: drives are local folders to the server, but they are shared as network drives to the rest of the network. Now, this same server used to be on Windows XP (x64). When it was on XP, the K:, H:, G:, and P: drives could be accesses as K:, H:, G:, and P: from My Computer or Windows Explorer with no problems. The files would pop right up and load the corresponding Office program or picture viewing program within a couple of seconds. With Windows 7 Ultimate, if I use My Computer or Windows Explorer to attempt to open any of these files from the K:, H: G:, or P: drive, it will take 30 to 45 seconds to open the file and "download" it to the computer. My question is this, why is it "downloading" from the hard drive that is local to the computer? Why does it take so much longer than it used to with XP? If I open the files directly from the E: drive (where they physically reside) they open right up just like they are supposed to. Therefore, why when I attempt to open them using the mapped drive letter, do they take so long in Windows 7 when I could open them using the mapped drive letter in XP? This isn't actually my equipment, but one of my client's pieces of equipment. He is very upset that he spent almost $1000 to upgrade his computers to Windows 7, only to have this kind of problem. When I showed him he could open the files with the E: drive, he agreed that this would be a "temporary workaround" but he would much prefer to open the files using the K:, H:, G:, or P: drives, just like he did in Windows XP. I look forward to hearing back from you. Thank you, Bookless
September 9th, 2010 6:44am

How did you logically define the folders as 4 drives on the Windows 7/Windows XP dual boot computer? Please let us know more detail information.Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.
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September 14th, 2010 11:11am

Hello Arthur, The folders are defined as network drives to the network. I shared them and assigned them as drive letters. They are actually on a separate drive on the same server and they are accessible using Windows Explorer. The C: drive is the Windows drive and the E: drive is the physical data drive. The E: drive folders are shared as P:\, H:\, G:\, and K:, but they are logically these drives. Therefore my question is why, if the user on the server uses Windows Explorer to the E:\ drive then drills down to the data, the data files open quickly, within a couple of seconds. If he uses Windows Explorer and drills down to the K:\ drive (logically K:\, physically E:\) then the data has to "download" and it takes 25-30 seconds to open the same file. He used to do this same thing in Windows XP, use the K:\ drive and Windows Explorer, and it worked fine. The system has been upgraded from Windows XP to Windows 7, it is not a dual-boot system. Would the upgrade have caused this issue? I am going to try the same configuration on my system and see if I can replicate the problem, only I am going to do a clean boot of Windows 7. Thanks, Bookless
September 21st, 2010 2:25pm

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