I just discovered something odd. I noticed that at times copying folders would hang the network. Then I found that the hang seemed to be while copying a desktop.ini file. I ran a test. I copied a 200MB folder (and subfolders) with 3 desktop.ini files across the wired network. Took 57 seconds. Then I removed the 3 desktop.ini files and copied the folder again. Took 30 sec. Removing 1200 bytes from 200MB cut the time in half. Is this expected? Is there some setting I need to change? Seems most annoying when copying music folders.

Hi, Thanks for posting in Microsoft TechNet Forum. After checking this issue, I would like to know the source and destination you want to copy the files. As a test, please boot into Safe Mode with networking to check the result. Meanwhile, to make it compelling, we can try to copy larger file (2G or more) to verify if it would reduce half time of copying process. Alex Zhao TechNet Subscriber Support in forum. If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.comPlease 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.

Source was a Windows 7 computer and destination was another Windows 7 computer both of which are on the wired network with the same workgroup name. (Tried on multiple combinations of computers with same results so the specific computer is not the issue) Safe mode made no difference. The time reduction is due to the number of desktop.ini files in the copy operation. Whenever a desktop.ini file is copied, the operation pauses for about 7 - 10 sec. So regardless of the amount of data, the issue is the copying of the desktop.ini file which appears in just about every folder and subfolder in a music database. When the operation is ongoing you can see the effect. The mp3 files copy rapidly, the green bar moves quickly. The desktop. ini files cause the green bar to stop, usually after 100% of the file has transferred and it just sits there for about 10 sec. Then it resumes the transfer until it encounters another desktop.ini where it stops again. Ran another test with 1.2G of data. Copying with desktop.ini files took 6m 5s. Removing the 23 desktop.ini files in the operation resulted in a copy tiime of 3m 20s. The 23 desktop.ini files add up to 7.39KB out of 1.2GB. So the amount of data in the copy operation was reduced by .0006% and the time for the copy operation was reduced by 45%. Tried another test. Copying the same 1.2G of data to a flash drive. There is no visible pause when transferring the desktop.ini file and the total operation took about 4m 8s. NC Bob

Hi, Thanks for updating. According to your description, It should be related to your network settings; currently, I suggest you try the following steps to check what the result is: 1. Click Start, click All Programs, and then click Accessories. 2. Right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as Administrator. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type your password, or click Continue. 3. At the command prompt, type the following commands, and then press ENTER. netsh int tcp set heuristics disable netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled 4. Exit the Command Prompt window. 5. Restart the computer. Meanwhile, please also enable “offload checksum" function of the network adapter. Hope it helps. Alex Zhao TechNet Subscriber Support in forum. If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.com 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.

Hi, I would appreciate it if you could drop me a note to let me know the status of the issue in the thread. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to let me know. Alex Zhao TechNet Subscriber Support in forum. If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.comPlease 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.

Hi, As this thread has been quiet for a while, we assume that the issue has been resolved. At this time, we will mark it as ‘Answered’ as the previous steps should be helpful for many similar scenarios. If the issue still persists, please feel free to reply this post directly so we will be notified to follow it up. You can also choose to unmark the answer as you wish. BTW, we’d love to hear your feedback about the solution. By sharing your experience you can help other community members facing similar problems. Thanks for your understanding and efforts. Alex Zhao TechNet Subscriber Support in forum. If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.comPlease 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.

Sorry to be late replying, other stuff to do. I did exactly as you suggested. The 2 command prompt changes returned an OK. The offload checksum was already enabled. I restarted after making the command prompt changes. I tried transferring both to and from the changed computer. Made no difference. The transfer proceeds fine except that it hangs for about 10 sec on the desktop.ini file. Hangs for every desktop.ini file in the transfer.NC Bob

Can you share the desktop.ini contents please? Does the folder in question have lot of subdirectories? Does it happen with a single folder with no subdirectories? Do you have the attributes of these folders set to +R (read) or +S (system)? IF so can you try removing those attributes and try the copy again? We have seen similar issues with XP, but hearing for the first time for Win7. Explorer.exe first tries to read attributes of directories to look at desktop.ini, to interprete folders view like "My Network Place", "Recycle bin", or for MUI.... If you set attributes like +R (read) or +S (system) on a lot of subdirectories you may experiment the delay or a freeze. Sumesh P - Microsoft Online Community Support

Any update on this issue? Can you share the desktop.ini contents? Sumesh P - Microsoft Online Community Support

Again, sorry to be late replying. Here is one of the desktop.ini files. [.ShellClassInfo] FolderType=MusicArtist MusicBuyUrl=providerName=AMG&albumID=DFC48987-6135-4D3F-A079-CC324AEB3903&a_id=R%20%201396520&album=Modern%20Guilt&artistID=2D304C4D-DF2B-45D8-894C-67A372E0944D&p_id=P%20%20%20%2043291&artist=Beck&locale=409&geoid=f4&version=11.0.6001.7000&userlocale=409 The number of subdirectories appears irrelevant. These are music files so each artist and album is a separate subdirectory. Hangs on the copy of the desktop.ini even when only 1 directory is copied. When multiple directories are copied, it hangs on every desktop.ini file in the collection. It appears the desktop.ini files have attributes ahs I reset the h and s attributes. Still hangs on copying the desktop.ini file I did not purposely set any of these attributes. They were set when the music was stored into the computer.NC Bob

I cant reproduce the issue with that desktop.ini Can you create a dump of explorer.exe when it hangs for the said 10s? I can try to help if its something obvious Before that make sure all shell extensions are disabled using shellexview Also check if you see the same delay when copying from command prompt. You can zip it up and upload them here: https://sftus.one.microsoft.com/choosetransfer.aspx?key=c12f3d17-3882-4b90-82cf-59fc5405977d Password: s))VuPOsrUBW9 Sumesh P - Microsoft Online Community Support

More information. There are 2 computers involved in this issue. One is W7x64, on is W7x32. I disabled all the non Microsoft shell extensions. No effect. I created a test directory of 12 folders, 53MB, all music. Initiating the transfer from the x64 machine, when I transfer from x64 to x32 transfer hangs on desktop.ini's. When I transfer the same set of files back again, initiated from x64 and transfering from x32 to x64, there is no hang. Then the 3rd time, from x64 to x32, hangs again. When I initiate the transfers from the x32 machine to the x64 machine, the same files, the transfer hangs on desktop.inis. Now still inititating from x32 and transfer back from x64 to x32 there are no hangs. 3rd time, from x32 to x64, hangs or pauses on desktop.inis. I think you misunderstand the hang. It is a temporary hang, about 10 seconds. I don't know how to create an explorer dump during the hang. NC Bob

More information. There are 2 computers involved in this issue. One is W7x64, on is W7x32. I disabled all the non Microsoft shell extensions. No effect. I created a test directory of 12 folders, 53MB, all music. Initiating the transfer from the x64 machine, when I transfer from x64 to x32 transfer hangs on desktop.ini's. When I transfer the same set of files back again, initiated from x64 and transfering from x32 to x64, there is no hang. Then the 3rd time, from x64 to x32, hangs again. When I initiate the transfers from the x32 machine to the x64 machine, the same files, the transfer hangs on desktop.inis. Now still inititating from x32 and transfer back from x64 to x32 there are no hangs. 3rd time, from x32 to x64, hangs or pauses on desktop.inis. I think you misunderstand the hang. It is a temporary hang, about 10 seconds. I don't know how to create an explorer dump during the hang. Also I tried with the cmd prompt. xcopy /s /h, It hangs but not always on the desktop.ini file. NC Bob

Can I get some help with this issue or should I start the post again.NC Bob

desktop.ini is not a critical file, so open up a command prompt with admin credentials then run cd \ del desktop.ini /s and wait a bit for every last desktop.ini files to be nukedMy MVP is for the Windows Desktop Experience, i.e. Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 IT Remote Assistance is available for a fee. I am best with C++ and I am learning C# using Visual Studio 2010 Developer | Windows IT | Chess | Economics | Hardcore Games | Vegan Advocate | PC Reviews

That eliminates the issue but does not address why it is happening. It is also a pain to have to delete all these files. If they are worthless then why does MSFT create them in every directory? I want to know why the file transfer hangs when transferring these files. The workaround you describe is obvious to the casual observer.NC Bob

Hi, I tried several times to reproduce this with the same desktop.ini contents that you posted but with no luck. Does the issue happen if you do this in safe mode with networking or after disabling all 3rd party software using msconfig? Does it help if you UNINSTALL your antivirus? Check if you see the same delay when copying from command prompt. Can you create a dump of explorer.exe when it hangs/pauses for the said 10s? You can do this from task manager, open it in elevated mode and right-click explorer.exe and select 'create a dump file' You can zip it up and upload them here: https://sftus.one.microsoft.com/choosetransfer.aspx?key=c12f3d17-3882-4b90-82cf-59fc5405977d Password: s))VuPOsrUBW9 Sumesh P - Microsoft Online Community Support