It takes an age for changes in a Windows share to show up on my Mac

[ChrisM666]

I thought this would be a pretty-much instantaneous affair, but I can add to/change a file while working on my connected Windows box but it can take around 10-30 minutes for it to appear in my networked Mac's Finder.

Is this driven by Windows or by the Mac and what can I do to speed it up? I am currently working on iMovie, needed a file on Windows which was in a temporary folder so I moved it where I normally put my windows video files and it is now invisible and has been for 10 minutes! I know the two will eventually synchronise but this sosrt of thing messes with my work-flow.

[jeraymondjr]

One thing to check is whether the Computer Browser service is running on your Windows computer. This service determines which machine on the SMB network is the master browser and is, in turn, responsible for keeping track of changes to shares in a given workgroup or domain. Just a thought.

[ChrisM666]

The Computer Browser service is running at the moment but quite possibly wasn't in April when I posted. Your kind reply got me to test it again instead of just assuming it was heel-dragging as before. It isn't (Hooray!).

There is the possibility that the Browser service shifts on to another not-always-on machine which is then turned off leaving the service in the air until a contention starts again (I think that's how it works). I will read up on how to keep the service fixed to one box or turn it off as I don't see its point in a mere 'workgroup' arrangement.

Thanks again.