[SharePoint 2007/2010] WebDAV Connections Slow (Open With Explorer)

Have you noticed that when you connect to SharePoint via WebDAV or use the Open With Explorer option from a Document Library that it is incredibly slow?

There is a very simple fix:

1. Goto Start > Control Panel
2. Select the Internet Options control panel
3. Under the Connections tab, select LAN Settings
4. Uncheck “Automatically detect settings”
5. Click OK on both windows

That’s it. When using “Open With Explorer” to browse your Document Libraries, Windows Explorer is actually using Internet Explorer in the background. With the “Automatically detect settings” turned on it tries to detect settings for every single action you take.