XP: Speed Up Viewing Shared Files Over A Network

When you browse a network in XP you may find a considerable delay in viewing shared files. This is because XP searches the remote computer for 'Scheduled Tasks'. To speed up the process you can make a tweak to the registry.

Open up the Registry Editor (Click on Start->Run type regedit click ok) and then browse down to the following branch:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/RemoteComputer/NameSpace

Under this branch there should be at least two entries. The one you want is:

{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}

This is the key that searches for 'Scheduled Tasks' on remote systems.

Please feel free to delete this key. You can also export this key for your own piece of mind so that you can re-import it later if you so wish. You should see an instant improvement; no reboot is required.

This tip also works on Windows 2000.

Please take care when making changes to the registry. I take no responsibility if you trash your registry.