Slow accesses for XP guest shared folders

[shuttlefan]

This problem appears to have a long history (see "Archaeology" below).

The symptom: XP guest accesses to shared folders at \\vboxsvr are intermittently stalled, apparently for name resolution. This happens on both Win7 and CentOS hosts.

To replicate:

• Fresh install of XP SP3 guest.
• Install Guest Additions
• Add a shared folder - a temp directory with a folder tree (e.g. directories a, b, and c, each with subdirectories 1, 2, and 3) will be convenient.
• In Start -> Run, open a \\vboxsvr explorer window. Initial access will stall for 5-10 seconds, after which response is speedy (browse down the folder tree to a/1, b/2, c/3, etc.)
• Doing something else (open a My Computer window) and returning to \\vboxsvr explorer window will usually result in the next action (e.g. browsing back to directory a/1) being delayed.

Affected systems:

• VBox 4.1.18 Host: Win 7 64bit Guest: WinXP SP3
• VBox 4.2.20 Host: CentOS 6 64bit Guest: WinXP SP3

Unaffected systems:

• VBox 4.1.18 Host: Win 7 64bit Guest: Win2K
• VBox 4.2.20 Host: CentOS 6 64bit Guest: Win2K

Observations:

I have tried each of the following workarounds (both separately and in various combinations).

• Added 255.255.255.255 vboxsvr #PRE to lmhosts; rebooted; problem still occurs
• Added 127.0.0.1 vboxsvr to hosts; rebooted; problem still occurs
• Turned off NetBIOS and Windows file sharing (Network Connection -> Properties -> uncheck Client, File Sharing) ; problem resolves (no stalls, but no Samba access either, of course).
• Turned off all networking (Network Connection -> disable connection) ; problem resolves
• Disconnected (virtual) network cable via VBox network adapter menu ; problem resolves
• ipconfig /all shows Node Type is "Unknown". Forced to "Broadcast" to match Win2K configuration by setting HLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NetBT\Parameters\NodeType = 1. Problem still occurs.
• Verified HLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\NetworkProvider\Order lists VBoxSF. Although VBoxSF is listed first, netbios broadcasts for vboxsvr still go out when lmhosts is not "patched". Broadcasts do not occur if lmhosts is patched, but access stalls still occur. Note that Win2K apparently caches the name lookup - Win2K will broadcast on initial access attempt, but never again. I think XP is retrying the name lookups, leading to the periodic delays.
• My local network does not have any name servers (DNS/WINS).

Archaeology:

Most of the tickets below have been closed as duplicates of ticket 1728, and relate to speed of file transfers. Arguably *this* ticket is probably a duplicate of 1728. I figured I'd try a new ticket since it's been 2 years since 1728 showed any activity, and I have a simpler reproduction method - delays can be observed merely navigating the shared folder's directory tree.

​http://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/1728

​http://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/2256

​http://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/5353

​http://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/5599

​http://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/6146

​http://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=56768

​http://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?p=33519

[Sivo]

I had the same problem with 4.3.18 but I changed the virtual network adapters from default (PCInet) to Intel Pro 1000MT/Desktop and no more delays.