Failed lock requests can cause long delays on Microsoft networks (not an issue with Novell networks). WIN NT (and as far as is known, 2000 and XP also) adds a delay of 250 milliseconds for every failed lock request as opposed to about 50 milliseconds with Novell. A value of between 20 and 50 ms is recommended. Add the DWORD value to the registry as follows:
The above value may need to be fine tuned if a file starts to become dominated by a single workstation so it is possible for an active workstation to dominate access especially because WIN 95 (and presumably 98) PC's do not have any lock violation delay.
Source: Pervasive knowledge base