1. You are viewing our forum as a guest. For full access please Register. WindowsBBS.com is completely free, paid for by advertisers and donations.

[Starting Windows Explorer takes 31.5 seconds to respond]

Discussion in 'Windows XP' started by efoneil, 2008/10/19.

  1. 2008/10/19
    efoneil

    efoneil Inactive Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2008/10/19
    Messages:
    6
    Likes Received:
    0
    Hi All,
    If anyone has a clue to why my Windows Explorer is doing this please share it with me- I'm stumped

    When I open Explorer and use the drop-down arrow to the right of the address window, it takes Windows 31.5 seconds (checked with stop-watch many times) before it gives me the drop-down list to change drives,directories, or folders. From that point on windows explorer behaves normally (changes drives, directories, or folders in less than 1 second)

    This is mostly an annoyance, but try waiting 31.5 seconds for a response - its frustrating

    EFO'Neil
     
  2. 2008/10/20
    jacrabbit

    jacrabbit Inactive

    Joined:
    2008/07/15
    Messages:
    302
    Likes Received:
    1
    Hi Efoniel & welcome to BBS,
    If you haven't done so already?, try a couple of simple things like disc clean-up & defrag you will find them as follows
    Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools
    These are simply but help speed up your computer
    Regards
    Jac
     

  3. to hide this advert.

  4. 2008/10/20
    efoneil

    efoneil Inactive Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2008/10/19
    Messages:
    6
    Likes Received:
    0
    Jac

    I haven't done that yet because I was expecting it to be a more serious problem. However I will do so overnight and let you know if it helped. Thanks for the reply

    efoneil
     
  5. 2008/10/20
    johntheteacher

    johntheteacher Inactive

    Joined:
    2008/10/14
    Messages:
    7
    Likes Received:
    0
    I agree with Jacrabbit. The one item [line 3] seems the most important. Try this one and you will get result from its running. Be particular to temp internet file {x} Recycle Bin {x} and temp files {x}. Notice the others and uncheck if necesary, as you seem fit.
    You will also notice a lot of 'come ons' from companies that say - use our software to check your regs and etc for 'free'. Some actually set up a figure that might show up as your CPU needs help, when in fact yours might be free of this inflated figure. It is their sellling tecnique.
     
  6. 2008/10/20
    hrlow2

    hrlow2 Banned

    Joined:
    2008/10/09
    Messages:
    48
    Likes Received:
    0
    Hello efoneil. Another newbie to this forum, but be very careful with so called Reg cleaners. There are some good but most do more damage than help. A good third party defragger would help a lot. My personal favorite is Auslogics Disk Defrag. It is faster and more thorough than Windows version.
     
  7. 2008/10/20
    efoneil

    efoneil Inactive Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2008/10/19
    Messages:
    6
    Likes Received:
    0
    JohnTheTeacher and Jac

    I'm in the process of executing your suggestions - disk cleanup neted 31 Mb of junk and disk defrag said I didn't need to defrag (75% of 160 Gb free space) I decided to defrag anyway. It's still shuffling the deck

    I'll keep you posted
    EFO'Neil
     
  8. 2008/10/20
    efoneil

    efoneil Inactive Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2008/10/19
    Messages:
    6
    Likes Received:
    0
    Thanks hrlow2 I appreciate the welcome
    I'm doing John and Jac's suggestionss now Windows defragger is still crunching

    EFO'Neil
     
  9. 2008/10/20
    jacrabbit

    jacrabbit Inactive

    Joined:
    2008/07/15
    Messages:
    302
    Likes Received:
    1
    As hrlow2 suggested Auslogic has 2 very good defrag tools available, both disc & reg defrag.
    Another question, how full is your hdd/s?
    Jac
     
  10. 2008/10/21
    johntheteacher

    johntheteacher Inactive

    Joined:
    2008/10/14
    Messages:
    7
    Likes Received:
    0
    I can understand your delimina. I have a HP VL400. HD is 10 Gigs and it operates best at 70% percent. Max Ram is 512 but when I add extra ram to the 512 level it gives errors. My point is: Defrag using Auslogics Disk Defrag. It is better then the OEM. It also offers more options that will eventually reduce your problems. Keep the RAMs up as high as they can be per BIOS and clean often.
     
  11. 2008/10/21
    Steve R Jones

    Steve R Jones SuperGeek Staff

    Joined:
    2001/12/30
    Messages:
    12,315
    Likes Received:
    252
    Here's a couple of tweaks to try:

    Windows XP Icon Cache
    Are you experiencing icon lag, while browsing thru all your Start icons and programs? Do you have a smaller menu delay and your icons need ages to load? No need to give up.

    Just delete the IconCache.db file from your profile directory (usually /Documents and Settings/Username/Local Settings/Application Data).


    Automatically Refresh File Lists in Explorer

    Change the value of UpdateMode in HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Update from 01 to 00
     
  12. 2008/10/21
    efoneil

    efoneil Inactive Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2008/10/19
    Messages:
    6
    Likes Received:
    0
    hrlow2, jacrabbit, johntheteacher, and Steve

    you guys are right, the Auslogic disk defragger is better than the OEM's I used it on my c drive and it picked up where Windows defrag left off. By the way my HD isn't very full, only using 25%. and steve, my icon refresh is not a problem,

    The frustrating thing is that the 31.5 second delay is still there. However I discovered a new twist when working on my wife's computer (same system OS and the two computers are networked) that the same 31.5 second delay occurs on her machine! Is this a network problem (network hardware is ATT 2701HG-B wireless network)?
     
  13. 2008/10/21
    johntheteacher

    johntheteacher Inactive

    Joined:
    2008/10/14
    Messages:
    7
    Likes Received:
    0
    Hi Efoneil
    I read the specs on the Att 2701. A little different then the Qwest system I have but on the same principal. You might have to call For technical support of this DSL Gateway, please call 1-877-722-3755 and provide them the question. Mine is different as I said. I can have three slaves and one host without much of a problem. At least you are on the right track. Did you check the start up listso that no unnessary files are loaded. Sounds also that you are consistant on both sets that you might have a commond core between the two system.
     
    Last edited: 2008/10/21
  14. 2008/10/22
    efoneil

    efoneil Inactive Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2008/10/19
    Messages:
    6
    Likes Received:
    0
    Hi johntheteacher

    Thanks for the 800 number. I will call in the morning. We have 1 host (my wife's computer), 1 client (my computer) and a networked printer. The network installation is about 3 months old and I can't remember if we had the problem before that. Also I changed the UpdateMode value in the registry from 01 to 00. It produced no change. Ed
     

Share This Page

  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.