FC5 VMware 5.5.2 problems

[Dean S. Messing]

I have a problem with Shared Folders.
I'm running the latest version of VMware.
The host is an up-to-date FC5 and the guest is XP Pro (Service pack 2).
XP is on a NAT network as defined by VMware.

There is clearly something amiss with this virtual switch, or whatever
it's called (vmnet8) that is used for the NAT network and which
connects the host to the guest.  (Note: I'm a network ignoramus so go
easy if I'm not using the right terminology here!)

I've defined a Shared Folder under VMware over to my Windows stuff on
Linux.  Binking into any directory in the Shared Folder takes seconds
each time.  It is extremely slow. Also bringing up even a trivial .doc file
takes 10 seconds or more.

I can see some traffic on the vmnet8 meter on gkrellm
but the rate numbers are in the low low single digits (like 1 and 2).

Any clues on how to diagnose and fix?

Dean