My new XP (Home Edition) machine is very, very slow when on the Novell server. It even freezes when trying to save Excel files on the server. Are XP and Novell compatible?

Are you using the 4.82 Novell client? If not then download it from http://support.novell.com. There's also a 4.83 in beta version.

Workstations using IPX Compatibility Mode cannot have an IPX internal network number configured. If you have configured an IPX internal network number on your workstation and you plan to install the Novell IP Client with IPX Compatibility Mode, then remove the IPX internal network number before installing the client. So what im saying is use ip only for 2000/xp and watch that sucker fly...if you need more help email me :-) ps:I run 2000/xp Pcs on a 5.1 server

I got the following article @ http://support.novell.com/cgi-bin/search/searchtid.cgi?/10065595.htm&header=no -------------------- Statement on Novell Client support for Windows XP Home Edition and other Personal OS Operating Systems October 19, 2001 While the Novell Client may work on the Windows XP Home Edition platform it has not been designed for that platform. The Windows XP Home Edition platform is considered for home use and not business use. The networking drivers are not included with Windows XP Home Edition and Microsoft does not support copying files from one OS to another. For these reasons, Novell has not fully integrated the Novell Client with the Windows XP Home Edition platform. This is the wave of the future at Microsoft; they are stratifying into Personal, Professional, and Server editions for home, business, and critical business applications. Novell has not looked at what specifically does or does not fail with the Novell XP client when installed on Windows XP Home. The decision relative to not supporting the Novell XP client on Windows XP Home was based on Microsoft's own position on the capabilities and support for Windows XP Home, which does not include use as part of corporate and enterprise networks. Although there are indeed features and presumably specific files that have been excluded from Windows XP Home relative to Windows XP Professional, Novell is not currently aware of any specific file or technological capability excluded from Windows XP Home that explicitly precludes the Novell XP client from working on Windows XP Home. But nor is that assessment being made; i.e. there is no testing occurring of what works or has issues on Windows XP Home since the Windows XP Home platform falls outside of what the Novell XP client will be supported on.

You can always get the Native File Access Pack and load that to increase client support. This will allow you to run the CIFS protocol and you won't even need the novell client. You'll only notice a difference on large file transfers where the transfer rate is about 30% of what it would be with the client installed. Just do a search for NFAP on Novell's website for more info.