60 seconds to comply

My network has XP and 9X machines accessing a WS2003 domain controller/file server.

Some machines are showing sluggish file/folder operations on server. This
behaviour is more evident with 9X machines and I believe it is causing error
messages and even BSODs for Excel/Word (97) users.

I researched solutions through Google and have found references to sluggish
communications between XPSP1 and 2000/2003 servers. I have aplied
"EnableOplocks" (I) and "Digitally Sign" (II) solutions. On a XPSP1 machine it
seems to have worked.

It does not work for 9X clients. I can copy files and folders to server, but
when I try to create a text file on the server, Windows Explorer freezes for 60
(?) seconds. To delete the file causes a delay of 30 (?) seconds. In some cases,
after a slow operation on the server, Windows Explorer can even become unstable.

Any idea of what could be wrong?


(I)
http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/...445#7010919445
(II) http://www.smallbizserver.net/Default.aspx?tabid=98