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Delay when launching programs in the Windows search path

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Symptoms

Consider the following scenario:
  • You are using a Windows 7 computer in an Active Directory domain environment.
  • Some or all of your user profile folders, such as your Documents folder, are redirected to a network share using a Folder Redirection Group Policy.
  • Offline File technology is enabled, so that these user profiles are also synchronized to your local computer.
  • You have a large number of files in your redirected folders.
  • You open the Start menu, and in the "Search programs and files" bar, you enter the filename of an executable program which is located in the Windows search path. For example, you enter "cmd.exe" to launch Command Prompt.
In this scenario, you find that there may be a delay of up to several seconds before the program starts.

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Cause

This behavior occurs because of a problem in the way Windows locates the file in the search path when attempting to launch it. Windows parses the redirected user profile folders first, which in this scenario can potentially incur some delay due to network traffic.

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Resolution

You may be able to work around the problem by using one of the following methods:
  • If there are a large number of files in the root of your redirected user profile folders, move them into subfolders.
  • Launch the program by typing the name of a Start Menu shortcut instead. For example, instead of launching Command Prompt by searching for "cmd.exe", search for "Command Prompt", which is the name of the shortcut on the Start Menu. For frequently used programs that do not have a Start Menu shortcut, you may create one.
  • Use the Run command to launch the program instead of typing the filename into the Start Menu search box. The Run command is not shown on the Start menu by default in Windows 7, but you can access it at any time by using the "Windows logo+R" keyboard shortcut. Alternately, you can add the Run command to the Start menu by using the instructions on the following page: What Happened to the Run command?

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Keywords: kb

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Article Info
Article ID : 2698583
Revision : 1
Created on : 1/7/2017
Published on : 4/9/2012
Exists online : False
Views : 271