Question : WIndows XP slow to open files

Hi all I have an issue that has affected several of my networked computers. The issue works like this:
If a user tries to open a file either on the local drive or on a network share it will take nearly two minutes to open. If the user opens the same file through its corresponding program then it opens with no issue. (txt. document opened through notepad works fine, same with Word, Excel, Amada, etc.)
I have done a lot of reading here on the site and I have tried out some of the ideas with no success. So far I am only working on one computer as a test machine. Since I am dealing with Registry Settings, I figured I will only try and ruin one machine instead of all of them.  :)
Testing and troubleshooting so far:
1. Disabling the NIC will allow files to open with no issue on the local drive
2. We did take down an old server this week
3. I tried removing all instances of the server name through regedit
4. I removed all shortcut links through My Network Places
5. I tried Netsat -an to see if I could see a specific issue and I saw a lot of time waits to the DC but that was all
6. I used TCP View but in all honesty I have no idea what I am looking at/looking for
7. Checked  by opening MS Office programs and looked to see if any instances of the server name was saved through them. No old server name was found.

New Issues
1. After removing all instances of the old server name through Regedit, the issue remains and now if I disable the NIC there is no affect on the lag time. It still takes nearly two minutes to open a file through explorer.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. It would be fantastic if someone could help me look at and understand the packet sniffing and either point me to a good arcticle or walk me through it from expereince.

Answer : WIndows XP slow to open files

If you turn off the WAN shares and use explorer to open a local file does it work correctly?