Continued reports of open/save dialog box delays when iDisk is mounted

We once again remind users that the presence of a mounted iDisk can cause significant delays in the appearance of open/save dialog boxes.

Users experiencing this problem will notice that it takes an unusually long time -- 10 to 20 seconds in some cases -- for the "Save As..." dialog box to appear after selecting the option from the "File" menu in various applications.

The solution is to turn off "iDisk Syncing" (an option accessible via the .Mac pane of System Preferences under the iDisk tab), which will immediately resolve these issues in most cases.

MacFixIt reader Chris Dart is the latest to report this problem

"I am running OS 10.4.3 on a .4 GHz 14" iBook (2004) with 768 MB RAM. I have decided to stop using iDisk (at least for the time being) because it slowed my machine down especially during log-in and when using open and save dialogs. Sometimes opening, saving a new file, or logging in would take upwards of 2 minutes. Also, seemingly at random, navigating the iDisk (with mirroring and with automatic or manual sync would take a similar amount of time).

"It took me some time to determine what the cause of the slowdown was. I thought it was Default Folder at first, but disabling that did nothing to improve the situation. I determined that the iDisk was the problem after having a similar slowdown while connected to non-locally-cached remote file server on a different user account on the same computer (one without the iDisk set up or mounted). Without a remote file server mounted, open and save dialogs were back to a reasonable speed.

"To rectify the situation, I tried reducing the size of my iDisk allocation from 750 MB to about 200 MB (in preferences at the .Mac website) with no luck. I then tried disabling disk verification to at least speed up log in, but that did not work either. The OS and all applications continued to act as if the iDisk were a remote (and very slow) volume, and login took much to long.

"This problem did exist to a lesser extent on OS 10.3.x, but it seems much worse with 10.4.x.

"I have relied on my .Mac account as a means of backing up vital data and keeping certain information I use for consulting accessible from any computer. The problems iDisk has caused, however, have made this option very frustrating and ultimately untenable. I am eagerly awaiting a fix from Apple. Until then i will be using Cyberduck's synchronization tools over an SFTP connection to another personal web host site I use. Setting up a daemon such as rsync may end up being the best alternative solution, but I would prefer using .Mac if Apple can fix the above problems."

Previous coverage:

• More instances of the iDisk causing delays for open/save dialog boxes
• Delayed "Save As..." dialog boxes, solution

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