File Server file access is Slowwwww

Here's something to look at: Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - Q249799, "Slow Network Performance with Service Pack 4, 5, 6, or 6a".

SYMPTOMS:
Network performance may be sluggish after you apply Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4, 5, 6, or 6a.

CAUSE:
A change was made to the Rdr.sys file in Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4 to fix an issue with a handle being invalidated when a dismount occurs. This may cause additional network traffic, which may degrade performance.

RESOLUTION:

See link.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;Q249799&

REMOVE SPACES from the pasted URL.

Bytes transferred/s - traffic between server and clients
Write operations/s - rate at which the CPU is performing file write operations for clients.
Write bytes/s - # of bytes the CPU is writing to files for clients
Bytes sent/s - # of bytes sent to clients

I suspect you have a PC (or PCs) on your network that is causing the problem.

Have you scanned for viruses on clients and server? If there is no virus, there could be a number of other issues. You may have a rogue PC that is havingproblems communicating with the server. If you do not have a packet sniffer to determine the source, check your switch (if you are using switches instead of hubs). You may be able to tell the source of the traffic from the port that is flashing likecrazy. If all the lights are flashing like crazy, you may have a PC that is broadcasting to the network. You may have to remove the patch cables one at a time until the traffic stops to find the source.

1. Do you have a virus scanner? If so, is it set to scan all files incoming & outgoing?

2. What happened to the server the week that the slowdown occurred, software installed/updated?

3. How long has the server been online? I hav vound that if I shutdown, power off, and reboot my NT 4.0 servers once a month, it fixes several small problems.

4. If none of these work, I would try a 3rd party disk defragmenter. I use Disk Keeper on several of my servers and workstations. It is scheduled to defragment the drives on the weekends in the middle of the night when nobody is logged in.

Good Luck,
DF

Transfers per second don't peak at 100%, the are on a different scale, hitting a number higher than 100.

How is the memory on that machine? Are you swapping? Does the drive have ample space left?

Does the problem happen on all machines? If not, could the workstation be slow?

I had faced such performance issue with Win2K server recently and is now resolved. You can check the settings of the network adaptar that is installed on the Server. The key parameter to check is something called "Duplex Mode", which is usually to be set to 'Hardware Default' or 'Auto'. If it is set to Full/Half duplex mode, accessing files from the server over the network might give problems.
This worked in my case. If it doesn't work, I would recommend u the following :
1. Check on anothernetwork point,
2. Change the port on Switch/Hub the server connects to or
3. Install another 100/10 network adapter.
Best Luck.