Obscure File Share Problem

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I've come across an obscure problem with a file share which occurs when any of W2K3 Enterprise SP 2/XP Pro SP2/XP Home SP2 are sharing a folder.

Basically it happens when there is a specific file in the folder ie.

WindowsServer2003-KB914961-SP2-x86-ENU.exe

which is the SP2 file for W2K3 downloaded from Microsoft.

(it also seems to happen with the SP1 file :-

WindowsServer2003-KB889101-SP1-x86-ENU.exe).

What is happening is that when an XP Home client connects to the shared folder the CPU load on the server shoots straight up - how much depending on the particular system - but basically a lot higher than the previous idle speed. Also there is constant disk activity, and the client access is very slow (eg on trying to view a couple of small JPG's in the shared folder it takes an age for them to come up).

What is strange also is that with any other OS client (eg XP Pro or W2K3) this problem simply doesn't occur.

I first encountered the problem on my VMWare rig and thought there might have been something wrong with my network config or something to do with the VM's - but it occurs with any stand-alone machines as servers as described above.

If I change the file extension of the errant file to something other than 'EXE' then all is well. But changing only the file base name does not correct the problem.

Its a bit of an obscure problem but just wonder if anyone else has encountered it and found out the cause.

 

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Not ever come across anything like that. Having Googled, I wonder if this discussion is perhaps about a similar problem and whether the fix indicated in the registry would work :

http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/t74299.html

Have a read and see what you think

 

Thanks for reply. I think I'll leave the registry hacks alone for now - not got time! It seems to be 'self-extracting cabinet' type files that cause the problem. Originally thought it might be due to large size of file (380MB) but trying a 600MB iso type file did not result in the same problem. I think its something to do with the limitations placed on XP Home, particularly with regard to networking, in order to keep the home user 'safe'. Its a bit of a weird phenomenon, and can make someone think they've got a network performance issue on first seeing it.

 

Could be a virusscan on exe files.

 

Sounds exactly what it could be - I just run a virus-scan on the EXE file and it takes about 4-5mins - the same time there is a high CPU load on the server - so it looks like this is most likely cause.

Rep given!

 

Thanks for the reps.
For what I can see from the name of the files, these two are updates from Microsoft. You might exclude them from being tested for virusses.

 

Thanks Tinus you have pinpointed the exact problem. I uninstalled AVG 7.5 anti-virus software from the XP Home client and the problem is cured. On a w2k3 virtual machine this virus check resulted in about 90% CPU load for about 7mins (leading me to think I had a network problem).

Strangely, on upgrading to AVG v8.0 this problem does not occur.

It would be a good idea to exclude the files from the virus check but I only have free edition of AVG and it doesn't have this facility.

I thought it was orginally only an XP Home related problem but it could be that the reason w2k3/xp pro clients worked was because they either had AVG v8 or no anti-virus software.

Cheers for help and reps again given!

 

Glad I could help.