Problem with slow network

I have had the network up and running before with no probems. But now after reformatting both machines I have this annoying problem. I notice that when I click on a shared folder or drive in my network places it takes about 20-30seconds to open, yet after it's been done once it opens fine next time round (as long as not too much time has transpired). Its like the communication has dropped out & needs to be opened again or something, this does not just happen at start up but can happen when the pcs have been on for hours. Both machines are running XP & are connected via a crossover cable. Thanks in advance for any help.

That happans sometimes. Its just that XP has to renew its connections to the other machine. Its something that happans, especially with slower machines and lots of shared files.

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