W Explorer Slow

Windows XP: First time Windows Explorer tries to open a new navigation area, takes 30 sec?
Recent problem, just developed.

Any ideas??

Thanks,

Yup.

A couple things can make this process slow.

1) Mapped network drives (especially if they're not there for some reason, i.e. not attached to the network)
2) CDRom left in the drive

Just my 2¢

"When I die, I want people to say 'There was a wise man' instead of 'Finally, his mouth is shut!'" --Me
--Greg  http://parallel.tzo.com

819017 - Long Delay Before Files Appear in My Computer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;819017&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

Also see how it goes if you switch off anti virus software for a few moments.

FAQ779-4784 may help.
 
windows XP running very slow
thread779-796508


Disable, not uninstall, any unused network adapters

Thanks for all the tips. Many of the links are longer available. I tried many of the suggestions. I have removed all spy bots, ad aware's, Windows Defender, AVG Antivirus. All I have left is Zone Alarm and I tried turning it off. I disabled WIA from Component Services, I removed FireFox and went back to IE, I removed Cleanup40 which I had recently installed.

Still when I hit a + for the first time in Windows Explorer it delays for 30 sec's or so. Or when I navigate for the first time in Excel. Also, I noticed that if I use "Send To" it never fills in the selection window. I can back out with Esc.

Very frustrating, hope someone has another idea.

Thanks for all the help.

Jim..

I don't think it was wise to remove anti malware/spyware software - temporarily disabling it to see if was the cause of your woes - fine. Uninstalling it no.

Firstly I suspect you have an infection of some kind. So Scan the machine with everything you can think of - online scanners etc.

Secondly Uncheck "Automatically search for network drives & folders" (Tools>Folder Options>View)

Thirdly defrag the C drive

Fourthly Check what your virtual memory settings are set to

Other possibilities (but not likely) are your CPU has slowed down for some reason. & OR Your hard drive is failing.

Start with:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/expert/northrup_restoreperf.mspx

Next step:

Quote:

When listing a directory Windows XP will search for and parse Desktop.ini files. This will noticably affect performance when a large number of subfolders are involved - it does this for the current folder and one level down the directory tree.

Desktop.ini can be used to provide a custom icon, thumbnail view, pop up description and background pattern.
In additions to this 'eye candy' desktop.ini can make normal file folders into 'Special Folders' (eg Fonts, History, Temporary Internet Files, "My Music", "My Pictures", and "My Documents").

Desktop.ini files are only visible in Windows Explorer if you first un-check "Hide protected operating system files" (under Tools, Options, View)

To see the file locks created by this process run the following command on the file server, while an XP client is (slowly) listing a large directory:

NET FILE | Find "desktop.ini"
or
OPENFILES /s MyServer |Find "desktop.ini"

This issue is discussed in Q840309 (included in XP sp2)

A quick solution to this performance problem is to delete the non-essential .ini files:

attrib desktop.ini -h -s
del desktop.ini

Before doing this in bulk you should compare your existing folders with some empty folders that don't have any desktop.ini files to see if this improves browsing response time:

Create a separate (testing) file share,
then create 1000 sub folders - from the command line:

FOR /L %G in (1,1,1000) do md test%G

To delete all desktop.ini files one level below the current directory run the following from the command line:

FOR /f %G in ('dir /b') do attrib %G\desktop.ini -h -s

FOR /f %G in ('dir /b') do del %G\desktop.ini

Next, make this registry edit:
http://www.cyberwizardpit.net/article2.htm

Finally, make this registry edit:
By default, opening folders containing AVI files (audio/video) can be very slow because Windows is trying to extract non important information. This can be solved, by deleting the following key:
HKCR\CLSID\{87D62D94-71B3-4b9a-9489-5FE6850DC73E}

____________________________
Users Helping Users

The links that are missing are unfortunate but most work and the missing links can at least provide you with a clue to look for something similar.

BlackViper services link has been missing for a couple of years and may never return although it indicates that it will one day?  

These are some other missing links with new addresses or alternate sites.

Do It Yourself Bootvis.exe
FAQ779-4518

Testing "Registry Cleaning" Software
http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2005/2005-10-10.htm#1






Will it Start and run correctly in Safe Mode.  Can you check out how it runs if you login as any other user in Normal Mode?

If it is a profile problem then this may help.
811151 - How to Copy User Data to a New User Profile
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=811151


To get further information about the error look in your Event viewer.

Look in the System or Application folder.  You can get to the Event Viewer via right click My Computer icon and select Manage.

Any errors logged in the Event Viewer can be expanded by double clicking on the error line.
 
Take any event error I.D. number and search for it on these sites.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/support/EE_winxppro.asp
http://www.eventid.net/events.asp



If the error occurred after installing a device driver or application, try using Safe Mode and removing the driver or program.

To check your RAM.

http://www.memtest86.com/
http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

To check your Hard Drive.

The drive manufacturer will have free diagnostic software to check your drive for problems.

You can also load the Recovery Console and run ChkDsk /r to check for problems.

HOW TO: Install and Use the Recovery Console for Windows XP (Q307654)
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q307/6/54.asp

To check your drivers.

HOW TO: Verify Unsigned Device Drivers in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q308/5/14.asp


To check conflicting software.

310353 - How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310353&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

316434 - HOW TO: Perform Advanced Clean-Boot Troubleshooting in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;316434&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

310560 - How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310560&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH




Removing adware & spyware
FAQ608-4650

Will check your computer for spyware and adware.



See if you have any services that are flagging as "Starting" but not actually running.


Some general things to try.

See if System Restore will get you back to a restore point before your problem with Windows.

Try Safe Mode (Do you have this problem in Safe Mode?).

Try another user in case your profile is corrupt.

Try running ChkDsk to check your drive for errors. Right click your Drive icon/ Properties/ Tools/ Error Checking.

Run the System File Checker program from the Run Box by typing.....Sfc /Scannow in it and have your XP CD handy.

If they don't work you could try repairing windows itself by running it over itself.  You will lose all your windows updates but your files will be untouched.

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP (Q315341)
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q315/3/41.asp




 

Black Viper (archived)
http://www.computing.net/windowsxp/wwwboard/forum/134286.html

____________________________
Users Helping Users

The next time I rebooted, the problem was gone. I think what finally did it was disabling WIA in Administrative Tools/Component Services/Services.

I am now reinstalling all the protective software again.

Thank you all for the help.

Jim