You are not alone... this happens all the time with small shops. One thing to be EXTREMELY careful about is attacking the network - remember that it's your application that will not work. You were the last one in, and it is up to you to make it work. It very well may be the network or something installed on it, but if you start out 'accusing' the network of having problems, or talk about it like it is the problem, and generally slam the setup you will get NOTHING. Doing this is akin to telling all the people that work there that the network staff is incompetent. This may be the case, but it could be that they have just never had an application that has pushed their network like yours, and don't 1) have the time, 2) have the resources, 3) have the expertise, 4) have the backing of management due to budget restraints -- to fix it for just you.

A mood of cooperation, constant apologizing, working together, etc will go a lot farther than pointing fingers. And if I heard you talking about my LAN, etc in any way similar to the way you wrote in this post, you would never get anything from me as network admin (I have this t-shirt!!!).

To answer your actual question... there's no magic pill. And each network is different - so what you learned from one may or may not work for another.

-w-

>I have delivered an app, and a handful of these locations are experiencing the performance issues and problems and solutions that have been posted here in the UT (example: check for anti-virus, etc., etc.).
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>I put a list together of all the items and suggestions that have been found here in UT to isolate the problem, and also a number of the Microsoft links that might help as well.
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>However here is the problem: the LAN guy(s) they bring in from the local Seven Eleven Gas Station or Best Buy's just refuse to do anything suggested if more work is involved that checking to see if the computer is plugged in. They just want take the time. Unfortunately, I have experienced similar behavior from some of the local network people in other locations as well with these small operations. These clients are on small LAN's with perhaps 5 to 10 workstations, and personally do not know how to setup and maintain their network.
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>So, I am no better off after two months of trying to figure this out.
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>Does anyone know of some type of utility that I could deliver (and have the client run without their LAN guy(s)) that could evaluate the LAN and perhaps find problems, etc.?
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>By the way, I have already suggested bringing in a different LAN person, but have already been informed that's not going to happen.
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>Any help or thoughts are appreciated.
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>Mel Cummings