File-Browse Dialog Responds Very Slowly in IE over High Latency Link

[sasserstyl]

Hi,

**Description of Problem**

Client:
OS: Windows XP Version 2002, SP2
I.E. Version: 6.0.2900.2180.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519, SP2

Server:
OS: Windows Server 2003, SP1
IE Version: 6.0.3790.1830, SP1 (can't see how this matters to this
problem, but included for completeness)

I have recently developed a website that contains within it the standard
HTML file input field (created using the INPUT tag with the attribute
"type=file").

This works as expected: when you click on the "Browse..." button, the
file-browse dialog is displayed, enabling you to navigate the
file-system and select a file.

HOWEVER, the system is to be used over a high latency (500ms), satellite
link. With this latency, the aforementioned file-browse dialog runs more
slowly (as is to be expected), but when you eventually select a file and
click the "Open" button, the dialog behaves *unusually* slowly.
Sometimes taking several minutes to return the file path to the web-page
containing the file input field.

**Relevant Investigative Results**

Using the 'filemon' progam available from sysinternals.com, I have
monitored the behavior of Intenet Explorer during its period of slow
operation (as described above). What appears to happen is that
IEXPLORE.EXE appears to "go off on a tangent" and it starts attempting
to open files that do not exist, with filenames that appear to be
randomly generated garbage.

I have seen this behavior on a zero latency link, so my current
hypothesis is that this behavior is normal, but it is just not
noticeable under normal, low-latency conditions.

FYI, I have included part of a log of this behavior below. Things start
going wrong on line 309. This is only part of the log, and there are
many more "erroneous" requests after this snapshot I have provided.

308 10:31:42 IEXPLORE.EXE:6132 SET INFORMATION C:\Documents and
Settings\ktsang\ntuser.dat.LOG SUCCESS Length: 57344
309 10:31:42 IEXPLORE.EXE:6132 OPEN
Z:\test\:DocumentSummaryInformation:$DATA NOT FOUND Options: Open
Access: Read
310 10:31:42 IEXPLORE.EXE:6132 OPEN
Z:\test\:DocumentSummaryInformation:$DATA NAME INVALID Options: Open
Access: Read
311 10:31:44 IEXPLORE.EXE:6132 OPEN C:\Documents and
Settings\blah\Desktop SUCCESS Options: Open Directory Access: 00100020
312 10:31:44 IEXPLORE.EXE:6132 QUERY INFORMATION C:\Documents and
Settings\blah\Desktop SUCCESS FileNameInformation
313 10:31:44 IEXPLORE.EXE:6132 CLOSE Z:\test\New Folder SUCCESS
314 10:31:44 IEXPLORE.EXE:6132 OPEN
Z:\test\ocf_DocumentSummaryInformation:$DATA NOT FOUND Options: Open
Access: Read
315 10:31:44 IEXPLORE.EXE:6132 OPEN
Z:\test\ocf_DocumentSummaryInformation:$DATA NAME INVALID Options:
Open Access: Read
316 10:31:46 IEXPLORE.EXE:6132 OPEN Z:\test\:SummaryInformation:$DATA NOT
FOUND Options: Open Access: Read
317 10:31:46 IEXPLORE.EXE:6132 OPEN Z:\test\:SummaryInformation:$DATA NAME
INVALID Options: Open Access: Read
318 10:31:48 IEXPLORE.EXE:6132 OPEN
Z:\test\ocf_SummaryInformation:$DATA NOT FOUND Options: Open
Access: Read
319 10:31:48 IEXPLORE.EXE:6132 OPEN
Z:\test\ocf_SummaryInformation:$DATA NAME INVALID Options: Open
Access: Read
320 10:31:50 IEXPLORE.EXE:6132 OPEN Z:\test\:SummaryInformation:$DATA NOT
FOUND Options: Open Access: Read

**My Questions**
Does anyone on this forum have any experience of behavior as I have
described?
Can anyone on this forum explain the observed behavior?
Does anyone know of a resolution?!

Many thanks in advance for your help,

Ben Aston.

 

[Robert Aldwinckle]

....

Using the 'filemon' progam available from sysinternals.com, I have
monitored the behavior of Intenet Explorer during its period of slow
operation (as described above). What appears to happen is that
IEXPLORE.EXE appears to "go off on a tangent" and it starts attempting
to open files that do not exist,

I wouldn't be too concerned about a lot of NOT FOUND provided they
were clearly for Windows or IE. E.g. they just represent unused options
and customizations.

with filenames that appear to be randomly generated garbage.

I think there are two other tools from SysInternals you should be trying:

http://www.sysinternals.com/utilities/streams.html

http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/RootkitRevealer.html

Option -m: Show NTFS meta data files


HTH

Robert Aldwinckle
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