Knowledge Base

Delay When Saving Word File to Windows NT 4.0 Server

Article ID: 163525

Article Last Modified on 9/22/2005

APPLIES TO

Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.51
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Developer Edition
Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.51
Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition

This article was previously published under Q163525

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Word version 7.0 or 2000, there may be a delay when you save a modified document to a network drive that is located on a Windows NT 4.0 server.

CAUSE

The Windows NT client was ignoring the oplock break request from the server.

RESOLUTION

This problem has been identified as a Windows NT environment issue.

To work around this problem, you can disable an optimization called oplock (opportunistic lock) on the remote Windows NT server or you can apply the latest service pack.

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious, system-wide problems that may require you to reinstall Windows NT to correct them. Microsoft cannot guarantee that any problems resulting from the use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use this tool at your own risk.

Start the Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).

Find the following key:

\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services
         \LanmanServer\Parameters

Add the following entry, if it is not already present:
```
  Value Name: EnableOplocks
      Data Type:  REG_DWORD
      Data:       0
```
If the entry already exists, set the data to 0.
Exit the registry.
Shut down and restart Windows NT.

For additional information about oplocks, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

129202 Explanation of Opportunistic Locking on Windows NT

Disabling oplocks might cause a slight decrease in performance, but should not be noticeable.

If you encounter a drop in performance, please click on the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

249799 Slow Network Performance with Service Pack 4, 5, 6, or 6a

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT version 4.0. This problem was corrected in the latest Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 U.S. Service Pack. For information on obtaining the service pack, query on the following word in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

SERVPACK

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT version 3.51. A fix to this problem is in development, but has not been regression-tested and may be destabilizing in production environments. Microsoft does not recommend implementing this fix at this time. Contact Microsoft Product Support Services for more information on the availability of this fix.

Additional query words: 4.00 prodnt slow word97 word95

Keywords: kbbug kbfix kbinterop kbqfe kbnetwork kbhotfixserver KB163525

Microsoft KB Archive/163525

Contents