Loading 24,000 rows into C# .net Datagrid

I need HELP to figure out exactly WHERE and why loading large sets of data (24,000 rows) into a C# 3.5 .NET datagrid is occurring, and possible resolutions, links to similar issues or other areas to investigate.

When the datagrid is loaded, we get random results….it rarely loads correctly (and loads differently in testing vs. production environment). When it does load, the datagrid displays some rows, but ends in random HTML tags. Other times it refreshes the page to its initial on_load state.

In the hidden input _EVENTVALIDATION tag, it looks as though there is almost 9MB in viewstate (copying it results in a 8.8 MB file).
When I set SmartvNavigation = False, there is more of a chance the datagrid loads correctly, but then I lose all of SmartNav’s functionality. I’ve tried instead using MaintainScrollPositionOnPostBack=True, but received the same random display errors seen when having SmartNavigation=True.

Wondering if changing settings (maxRequestLength, executionTimeout or AppRequestQueueLimit) in the web.config file would have a favorable effect.

Any suggestions or resolution to loading large sets of data into a datagrid is EXTREMELY helpful!!!

Kagu