I'm having a very strange issue with a laptop running XP home 32 bit. For some reason, when opening jpegs on the desktop (a small jpeg in this example), it hangs the default program (windows picture and fax viewer) and explorer for 30 seconds. Paint & MS photo editor work quickly, when chosen to open the file. Also, notepad/.txt documents are instant. It seems to only affect this one program right now.

Here is the weird part that I don't understand.... the lag is directly related to a SYN_SENT connection when monitoring network activity. The hang clears up after the SYN_SENT connection times out. EVERY time you double click any jpeg on the desktop OR in the "desktop" folder in the user account, this is what happens:

Program opens (windows picture and fax viewer) but appears to hang until file opens, 30 seconds later

Explorer desktop / start menu hang until file opens 30 seconds later

Meanwhile, during hang, network connections show this:

New connection...
Process: system
PID: 4
Remote IP: 208.69.32.132:445 (hit-nxdomain.opendns.com:microsoft-ds)
SYN_SENT
TCP

The split second that SYN_SENT finally times out, the file will finally open and explorer will return to normal. I've seen a similar issue at an office I'd been trying to troubleshoot... only, this affected microsoft office documents. Same behavior as the jpegs on mine. All AV is up to date and full scans done using Malware bytes and Security Essentials. Also, if the file is in a FOLDER on the desktop, it will not cause this issue.

Another weird aspect to this is, the behavior above is when I'm at work. On my home network, the issue is similar but it hangs for half as long... and it also connects to the above remote IP using port 80 instead of 445.


The only connection I can see between my usage, and this one company's MS office issue I had been trying to trouble shoot is.... for me, jpegs cause the connection / hang... and for them, MS office documents hang. On my network, I keep a file server sharing family photos... and they, a file server for sharing MS office documents. Maybe that is related?


Link to the other thread, before I figured out the SYN_SENT cause:
http://www.GeekPolice.net/operating-systems-f20/4min-lag-opening-files-from-double-click-instant-when-opened-from-within-prgm-t20310.htm#130274

ANY help would be greatly appreciated!!! Thank You!