FC5 VMware 5.5.2 problems (w/ Shared Folders; SOLUTION)

[Dean S. Messing]

About a week ago I wrote:

: 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?

If you are experiencing the slowness described above I have found the
solution.  It has nothing (directly) to do with the Virtual Switches,
or running a NAT network. The problem occurs with "Bridged" and "Host
only" configurations too.  If you disable networking entirely, access
to your Shared Folders will become fast again.  But that, obviously,
is not a useful solution.

Heres: the correct solution:

<http://www.vmware.com/community/message.jspa?messageID=374055>

Search down to the string "I fought" and read that message, and the
following two.  They have the fix.  Note that if you don't have
"lmhosts", just copy "lmhosts.sam", rename to "lmhosts" and add the
magic entry and your problem will be solved.

Hope this helps someone struggling with this.

Dean