I had the same problem and found this solution:
I had a file association which referenced a program on another computer on the network that no longer existed. I found some more information here: http://windowsxp.mvps.org/rcdelay.htm
I actually ended up just searching the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT for "\\" and quickly found the offending key to delete.

I have a problem like that 2! When try opening folders they open fast but when I try opening a program it opens after 5 minutes .When i try opening task manage he opens after 5 minutes and the CPU usage is at 5% only! Every thing is slown down by 5 minutes It's like windows doesn't reacts!

jonathan,

if you want to have internet access by leaving the DHCP Service off in your computer, then you have to make your own personal network and join this computer to that network and assign it a static TCP/IP configuration which is a lengthy proceedure.

Unfortunately most of the internet services donot provide static TCP/IP configuration to there clients . If you want to have internet service then you should leave the DHCP service enabled in your computer.

I donot think this disabling of DHCP and DNS Services in your Computer will solve the problem of file opening . Neither it is a problem of low disk space in your computer or fragmentation.

If it was an issue of fragmentation and low disk space then
all the files would have taken long time to open.

Hi guys,

I work in a company that just migrated all its units to a new domain.

After this migration some users started to complain about how slow their computer were while opening any file, even a txt notepad.

After some investigation we discovered that the registry of the users affected contained references to servers addresses that no longer existed. After deleting the invalid keys and folders on the registry the issue was solved!

This is also valid for the rigth mouse click button slowness issue.

What causes this issue is, when opening a file the program (notepad, excel, etc) search the network for those invalid references, that can be add-on's, printers or any other. When scanning the network it takes about 25 seconds for the process to fail, thus only opening the files after this failure.

Regards

Pedro Pinto

if any one is having this problem still

try this
i tried it and worked for me
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/rcdelay.htm

This trick solved my slow opening files problem. I got 2 files extension on another computer in HKCR. After deleted them, my files opening was realy quick and the overall system was faster... Thank you very much !