Network Shortcuts on Desktop slows Windows XP Performance

I spent two days trying to diagnose a laptop computer running Windows XP experiencing slow performance, all to conclude the issue was with old links on the desktop pointing to non-existent (no longer existent) network locations - decommissioned servers.

I ran the much vaunted Dell Diagnostic utilities four times, memtest86+ 44 passes, and the IBM Hitachi Drive Fitness Test. I started to update drivers, which unfortunately lead to a blue screen then a non booting system. I tried to get the system booting again by using chkdsk, fixboot, and fixmbr to no avail, leading me to repair Windows XP, update Windows, and update the drivers. It wasn't until I was asked to transfer over desktop files and folders to the loaner issued that I noticed that it took longer to log in as the user than to log in as me, and that there were old network shortcuts on the desktop.

In Windows XP, I have mistyped into the address bar computer names and IP addresses in the past to have Windows Explorer freeze until the requests time out after a few minutes. In Windows Vista or Windows 7, the same mistake does not cause that to happen. In essence, when loading or refreshing the desktop, Windows XP must be validating the shortcuts and freezing until the request times out. By extension, I would think even the valid shortcuts are checked, with some overhead. Shortcuts in folders on the desktop are probably not checked this way.

To summarize, network shortcuts on a Windows XP desktop can cause performance problems, and I would recommend storing shortcuts you want on the Desktop inside a folder on the desktop, as opposed the directly on the desktop. With Windows Vista and Windows 7, this is less of a concern.