samba - Jan 2003 - Short "lock-ups" when connecting to Samba server (2.2.2) from Windows ME

I am running Samba version 2.2.2 on a Linux 2.4.17 kernel.  I compiled
it myself last year.  Soon after setting it up I installed Windows ME on
another desktop machine.  Initially, everything seemed to be fine.  But
I noticed (after a few re-installs of Windows) that after applying all
the "Critical updates" for Windows ME, my connection to the Samba
server
became odd.  At first, I could connect and brows as usual or map a
drive.  After a few minutes of access, the system would freeze for a few
seconds then come right back.  The Explorer window becomes inaccessible
for up to 30 seconds, then responds to mouse events.  If I continue to
access the samba server, the problem becomes worse until after about
three or four occurrences, the Explorer window finally locks up and I
can't do anything to get it back other than end task, or reboot. 
Another symptom of this problem is that while watching an MPEG, DiVX or
other high bandwidth media file, the video plays fine for the first
minute or two.  Then, as time passes, the file will occasionally pause
for a second and continue.  The pauses become more frequent until it's
almost every other second.  This problem also appears when copying files
to the server.  The transfer gets slower as time goes on, and sometimes
a message will appear saying the the connection to the server was lost. 
I am trying to figure out what the problem is here, how it might relate
to the critical updates.  Anyone here ever experience this problem with
Windows ME?  I haven't seen this problem in Windows 98.

Thanks,
George