Vista slow performance file copy network router Linksys WRT54G issue

Recently, I encountered some Vista performance issues and this was how I went about to troubleshoot the problem.

I noticed file copy across my Linksys WRT54G router to other computers on my network, especially files exceeding 1 GB, was excessively slow and sluggish. The time calculate window during file copy was always incorrect and wrong.

My router would freeze up too, and I lose my DNS server. So during the file copy, which also eats up an enormous amount of computer resource on my Vista machine, I also lose my ability to surf the internet as I wait for the file copy to complete.

1) Research performance and Vista compatibility issues with Linksys WRT54G router

There are documented web articles and blogs written by others about Vista's new IPv6 network not compatible with older routers, such as the WRT54G. And others also experience slowdowns in network speed using that router with a Vista PC, and no apparent network slowdowns using XP on the same router.

According to Linksys, WRT54G has been certified to work with Vista. But the blog articles seem to disagree.

2) Disable Windows TCP auto tuning

See this article.

First, I checked the status of auto tuning on my laptop by issuing this command line entry (run in elevated administrator privileges)

netsh interface tcp show global

I tried to disable the TCP scaling auto tuning (IPv6) but that had no effect on the file copy. That command was

netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled

So I re-enabled Windows TCP auto tuning with

netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal

3) Use XCOPY or ROBOCOPY instead of GUI Vista file copy

I tried xcopy and there was no noticeable performance improvement. In general, XCOPY and ROBOCOPY are always preferred than the resource hogging GUI file copy, but in this case, the solution to my issue lies elsewhere.

4) Re-flash your router to the lastest firmware

I re-flashed my router to the latest BIOS firmware. Still the problem persists.

5) Newer Realtek network NIC drivers

Some people have said they upgraded the Realtek drivers using Windows Update and that improved their performance. My laptop too had a Realtek NIC, but I also remembered I do not use that network jack, I use wireless!

So that avenue is not going to work for me.

6) Check your graphics card drivers

I got the latest drivers for my Intel 945 chipset graphics accelerator card. That probably improved the overall Vista experience, but not my problem.


7) Visit Windows Update to download recent patches

Saving Vista SP1 for last, I downloaded all the patches for Vista and associated hardware drivers. But again, file copy performance was not significantly better.

8) Check your firewall and spyware settings

I have read some people have McAfee firewall and that was the culprit for the slowdown. Others disabled Windows Firewall to gain better performance.

I also temporarily disabled running Spybot Search & Destroy in the background to see if that was the issue.

I tried a combination of disabling firewall and spyware settings but file copy was not running any faster.

9) Install Vista Service Pack 1

I installed Vista service pack 1 and that was the longest reboot I have seen in a while.

But that really solved my problem. The file copy was not sluggish anymore, the time calculation and speed was accurate. So in Vista SP1 Microsoft must have improved some networking issues.

10) Disable Aero in Vista

I was already running in Vista Basic mode when I experienced the slow file copy process, so Aero was already out of the equation. However, unless you really want that glass interface, you are paying a lot for that performance. Aero probably only works best with the newest graphic cards.

So my advice is, for overall better performance using Vista, disable Aero and go with Vista Basic.