Server-to-client Lag, Other Networking Issues On Windows Xp?

[rayzoredge 2]

So this might be hard to explain...1. At work, I've been suffering a strange issue on my work computers. I have one computer that I've recently wiped clean, reinstalled Windows XP, updated everything to include SP3, and it works GREAT. My laptop hasn't been wiped in a while, but it's still rather dependable. I had a configuration in where I was using the desktop locally and not connected to the company VPN and the laptop was, and I just shared a keyboard and mouse using Synergy.Now here's the issue in question. Whenever I would try to open, create, rename, move, or delete a file on my laptop, Explorer (as in Windows Explorer, not Internet Explorer) would hang for a few seconds or more, then continue on to do whatever I just wanted to do. My desktop does not do this and it is not on the company VPN. Both computers have similar specifications (1.6ish GHz Pentium processors, 1GB RAM) and both are updated using Automatic Updates as per company standards.I just recently moved back up to the office and plugged my desktop back into the company LAN (accessible via VPN where I was previously with my laptop). I am now experiencing the same issue: with creating, renaming, moving, or deleting, it now stalls for a few seconds or more before continuing with the task... like it's checking with the server for some reason before performing what I wanted it to do. What gives?2. I mentioned Synergy earlier. Synergy is a program that allows for a host computer to share its keyboard and mouse inputs over a network so that you can literally use one pair of input devices for multiple computers.With that being said, both the desktop and the laptop were on the same network. They also work with each other with Synergy, as I've mentioned. The question here, though, is why does the client not see the host for five minutes or more, then all of a sudden connect as if everything was peachy? You would think that since everything was configured correctly on each end that they would "immediately" see each other and thus work in conjunction once that connection was established, but this wasn't the case. I would have to wade through error messages of the client not being able to connect to my host until suddenly, it just works. Not sure if it's Synergy or XP being dumb... but I'm wondering if anyone had an answer.3. This is more of a user account question. I noticed before that when I'm running a single user on my home machine that it boots up beautifully, no snags or lag. However, as soon as I decide to lock my machine with a password and use the Welcome screen, Windows XP takes a lot longer to log onto the machine: startup programs seem to "wake up late," etc. That's just one user: me. Same with my other computer that my fiancee is using: it worked great for me, but she decided to lock her account with a password and offer a Guest login for when her mom visited and wanted to use the computer. Now that laptop is slower than ever in just logging in! Is it because XP does a back-and-forth deal to run each start-up program as that user? Are there that many checks and balances that XP goes through just by using a multiple-user machine? Can anyone relate?-Note: I'm a pretty decent cookie when it comes to computers, but for these sorts of XP mysteries, I'm at a lost. It's kind of hard to Google for information when you have no idea what the problem is and when everyone complains about a slow computer... in which a ton of enthusiasts jump onto the problem and tell them the stupid usual "solutions" of defragging, possible malware, downloading a ton of "great" software to clean up registries and crap, etc. Since these issues came up after I did a certain something, I've pinned the possibilities to the OS or to the network, but I don't know WHY, which is what I want to learn if anyone is willing to teach or suggest. I'd like to think I know what I'm talking about, so I would like to hear from others that know what they're talking about too.