Thanks, Tracy. I found the MSKB referring to this and will give it a go. It just seemed strange that none of our Win9X/NT boxes have exhibited this behaviour. Also, MSKB #Q139270 may provide some relief if it works as stated.

>Windows 2000 is using the extra time to search the remote computer for Scheduled Tasks, a slow and unnecessary process. Changing the following worked for me:
>
>Step 1. In Windows 2000, click Start, Run, type regedt32, and click OK.
>
>Step 2. In the Registry Editor, navigate to the following branch: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/RemoteComputer/NameSpace.
>
>Step 3. Under that branch, select the key {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}. This key instructs Windows Explorer to search for Scheduled Tasks. If you wish, pull down the Registry menu and click Save Key to back up this value. Name the output file, say, Scheduled.reg, and you can easily restore the key if necessary.
>
>Step 4. Delete the key and close the Registry Editor.
>
>This change takes effect immediately and doesn't require a reboot, so you can determine how much it speeds up the process.