Delay Opening Explorer, Control Panel, & Other RPC-Aware Apps

• Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0
• Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0

SYMPTOMS

There may be significant delays (typically about three minutes) when you launch Windows NT Explorer, Control Panel, and other RPC-aware applications, including a delay displaying the desktop, when you first start Windows NT.

This may occur just after upgrading from Windows NT 3.51 to 4.0 or after applying Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 2 or later.

CAUSE

The Remote Procedure Call (RPC) service startup type is set to Manual or Disabled. You may also notice that the RPC Locator startup type is set to Automatic.

RESOLUTION

Use the Services tool in Control Panel to set the startup type of the RPC Service to Automatic, and, optionally, set the startup type of the RPC Locator to Manual, which are the default settings for these services.

NOTE: You should not change the RPC Locator startup type to Disabled if you are using distributed computing (DCE)-aware programs. If you are unsure about the appropriate settings for this service relative to your environment, check with your network administrator.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT version 4.0. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.