I'm having a terrible time sharing the contents of my Public folder. I can easily share in any other folder with other computers on my network, but with the Public folder Explorer seems to go crazy.If I attempt to open the Public folder from the Network view, even from the same Vista computer, the CPU gets very busy and locks up my computer. Explorer displays only 3 of the eight folders and locks up.Anybody know how I can fix ?

Hi, As for this process hangs issue, we generally need to analyze the performance monitor logs and memory dump files to locate the root cause. Unfortunately, debugging is beyond what we can do in the forum because of the nature of forum support. I'd like to recommend that you contact Microsoft Customer Support Service (CSS) for assistance so that this problem can be resolved efficiently. To obtain the phone numbers for specific technology request please take a look at the web site listed below: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;PHONENUMBERS If you are outside the US please see http://support.microsoft.com for regional support phone numbers. Having said that, I'd still like to provide the following analysis and basic troubleshooting steps to see if we can eliminate this problem: 1. Please make sure that all the updates for Windows Vista have been applied. If not, please use Windows Update to install them. 2. Please check viruses with your anti-virus software. 3. Go to Safe Mode with networking to see if it works. 4. Please perform a Clean Boot to check the issue. Clean boot ================= 1) Click the Start Button type "msconfig" (without quotation marks) in the Search box, and then press Enter. Note: If prompted, please click Continue on the User Account Control (UAC) window. 2) Click the "Services" tab, check the "Hide All Microsoft Services" box and click "Disable All" (if it is not gray). 3) Click the "Startup" tab, click "Disable All" and click "OK". Then, restart the computer. When the "System Configuration Utility" window appears, please check the "Don't show this message or launch the System Configuration Utility when Windows starts" box and click OK. NOTE: we can go back to normal boot by running msconfig again and checking on Normal Startup in the General tab. In the Clean Boot Environment, the third party services and applications are disabled, please check if the issue reoccurs at this time. If the problem does not occur, it indicates that the problem is related to one application or service we have disabled. You may use the MSCONFIG tool again to re-enable the disabled item one by one to find out the culprit. 5. If possible, please backup all the files in the Public folder, disable the sharing, remove the Public folder, create a new folder named Public, share the folder again to check how it works. However, if the issue still persists, please also collect the following information for our further research: 1. We can use Process Monitor to monitor which DLL files are loaded by Explorer.. 1) Download the tool from the following site: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx 2) Please run this tool and start the monitoring 3) Reproduce the issue. 4) Stop the monitor and review the log to check the DLL files. Please save the log file and use Windows Live SkyDrive (http://www.skydrive.live.com/) to upload the file and then share the URL with me. 2. Please also check the event log to see if there are some related error messages. Thanks. Nicholas Li - MSFT

Wow, thank you for tthe very thorough response.I really like the idea of recreating the Public folder, I didn't think it was so easy. I was worried about all those connections to Public folder sharing from the Network & Sharing Center not working any longer.

Wow, I found the problem. Both my Vista computers had a hidden file called "Favorites". Explorer crashed when I tried to look inside the folder so I deleted it. Problem solved.:))))))Thank you for being the source of inspiration ! You got me wondering what could be so terrible about the contents of Public folder, and I found it ! I've been bashing my head against a wall for months trying to figure this out.I hate to say it, but I think it resolved my problem about my network being so slow to find the other Vista computer ! Wow two problems solved by deleting one hidden file.

Hi, Thank you for your update. I am glad that the issue is resolved. Your efforts investigated on the issue are highly appreciated. If you need our help in the future, please feel free to post a new thread in our forums.Thanks.Nicholas Li - MSFT