Strange problem opening Excel files over a network

[Fat Tone]

Hi

I recently set up a new SBS2008 system and in the process upgraded all the clients to Windows 7 Pro (32 bit) and Office 2007 Pro. Prior to this some clients were XP, some Win 7, and a mix of office versions. The XP clients were wiped before installing Win 7.

I had a bunch of permissions issues (e.g. Outlook would ask for credentials repeatedly) which have slowly been sorted, although RWW still steadfastly refuses to connect to clients, claiming the TS Gateway is not working. I've been through all the guides on the net for that. Am using Logmein as an alternative for now.

Anyway, the reason for this post: 4 of the 10 clients exhibit a problem when opening EXcel (and possibly powerpoint) files from older version over the network. If I double-click a .xls file from a share on the server the machine loses network connectivity. The network repair wizard or reboot is needed to restore the link.

I have tried replacing the network driver with the latest from the manufacturer, and even reinstalling Office, with no joy.

If the file is copied locally it opens fine. Or if it is converted to .xlsx it is fine.

Any ideas? I'm going tomorrow morning to fit a PCI based nic to see if that helps.

If it helps, the motherboards are Asus with the Atheros gigabit chipset.

Thanks.

[UtwigMU]

I tried opening xls file on my SBS 2003 in Excel 2010 over wireless and I have no issues (Intel 2300 Wireless, WRT54GL, nForce4 Gigabit adapter).

Check your switches, recently I found that copying large files over network kills connectivity over LAN: I'm using old LevelOne wired router as switch. If I copy large file (3GB) over network on same switch, copy stops after a few minutes. If I do it over wireless it works.

[Fat Tone]

It is a new 24-port Gb switch, but it only happens on half the PCs in the office and is totally repeatable. I've even tried changing port on the router and replacing network cables.

[VJ]

Is there some difference in network topology between the PCs that exhibit the problem and those that don't? (e.g. extra switch, different IP segment, longer distance - out of spec maybe?, ...)

It is wierd that it only occurs with older versions of Excel files... Does this maybe cause more traffic? I assume your office installations are updated...

[Fat Tone]

Hi

The only thing in common was the network adapter, which I replaced early this morning with a TP-Link TG3201 (a Marvell/Yukon Gb chipset) and everything now appears to work flawlessly.

Now I need to buy three more and replace the rest.

One of the wierdest issues I've ever dealt with, and it came at the worst time. They've been taking my name in vain for two weeks.

[VJ]

Glad to hear it is located!
A weird network issue I once tracked down was also caused by a network card. It was still on a coax network, and we had unexplainable network problems. After a day spent measuring all the cables (I suspect a faulty cable), I started connecting the computers two by two and just test transfers. Then it turned out a network card in a new computer just randomly sent jabber sequences...

[Fat Tone]

I recall in the days of coax cables that a faulty one would case a PC to reboot if it was wiggled!