>4. How could DNS be involved in this?
I've found that if:
- you're using XP workstations
- they're members of a Windows 2000 domain
- the XP workstations' DNS server is NOT set to the W2K server as per the KB article I referenced; instead, DNS is set to your ISP's DNS servers
then a range of unpredictable behaviour occurs, such as applications not starting or being slow to start, saving documents taking a minute or more instead of sub-second, mapped drives disconnections, etc. I believe this occurs because MS DNS servers implement one or more RFCs that standard Unix-based ISP-class DNS servers don't, and XP is not happy if this extra functionality is not present.
You're on an NT Server network so the above may not apply, but it's the sort of subtle thing that might be worth checking.
Regards. Al
"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." -- Isaac Asimov
"Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right." -- Isaac Asimov
Neither a despot, nor a doormat, be
Every app wants to be a database app when it grows up