Problem loading My Documents, My Computer etc...

Question

I'm using Windows XP Pro (fully updated) and have a strange problem. Usually (although not always), when I open My Documents, My Computer or Control Panel etc., the window pops up but remains blank for anywhere between 5 secs and 1 minute - it just freezes. During this time I can move the mouse but nothing can be clicked on the whole screen. Everything continues as normal once it has decided to open.

I have left Task Manager open and noticed that during this time explorer.exe is using between 99-100% CPU.

This problem only happens for less than a minute when opening Windows Explorer - I'm not getting the problem of explorer.exe using 100% at any time. I've used Ad-aware and Spybot S&D, and have a very up-to-date virus checker, so no problems there. And it seemingly doesn't matter how many other programs I have running.

I hope someone can help. It's really annoying having to sit and wait before the window opens properly - even 30 secs can seem like forever!

Many thanks..

joyabird · Answer

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp.htm

Head on over to Kelly's Korner. Click on Tweaks on the top right hand side of the page. Then, scroll about half way down the list on the right hand side until you find Prevent Delay in Opening My Computer/Explorer and click on it and run it. Worked great for me.

sabbath180 · Answer

Thanks.  I gave it a try but it doesn't seem to have made any difference.

joyabird · Answer

Sorry it didn't work for you. Do you have indexing enabled? Windows XP keeps a record of all files on the hard disk so when you do a search on the hard drive it is faster. There is a downside to this and because the computer has to index all files, it will slow down normal file commands like open, close, etc. If you do not do a whole lot of searches on your hard drive then you may want to turn this feature
off:

Open My Computer.

Right-click your hard drive icon and select Properties.

At the bottom of the window you'll see "Allow indexing service to index this disk for
faster searches," uncheck this and click ok.

A new window will pop up and select Apply to all folders and subfolders.

It will take a minute or two for the changes to take affect but then you should enjoy
slightly faster performance.

sabbath180 · Answer

I already had indexing disabled on both my hard drives. It's such a strange problem - searching on google hasn't revealed anyone with the same problem as this. There are people who have found that explorer.exe uses 100% CPU during idle time, or every 10 minutes etc, but nobody has this problem of a Windows Explorer window freezing on opening.

I really don't want to have to reinstall windows or anything. I mean, it's annoying, but I can't be bothered with the hassle of a re-install.

joyabird · Answer

Well, I'm stumped. Hopefully someone will be along with a solution.

Windows General

Problem loading My Documents, My Computer etc...

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