Windows Explore VERY slow

[Claude Schneegans]

Hi,

I have a new laptop connected to my network with Wifi.

When I use Win-Explorer to browse directories on my server, it is
awfully sluggish.
It looks like Explorer is automatically refreshing the directories every
5 to 10 sec or so.
Many refresh processes are triggered in the same time, until Explorer
goes completely dead.

There must be some option I should deactivate somewhere, but which one
and where?

Thanks.

 

[Guest]

Let me guess - there is 'nothing' in your 'Device Manager' windown under
System/ Hardware in Control Panel either?

 

[Guest]

I suggest you go to
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/...25a779-25f3-458f-8deb-52c2fd3f0921&sloc=en-us
Check out thread entitled 'Update KB908531 Problems esp. entry by 'MAP' hope
this helps!

 

[Claude Schneegans]

Let me guess - there is 'nothing' in your 'Device Manager' windown under
System/ Hardware in Control Panel either?

No, there are plenty of things : Graphic cards, network cards, etc.

 

[Claude Schneegans]

I suggest you go to...

Thanks, the symptoms described there look pretty much the same indeed,
especially that my laptop is an HP.
However, if I look at the first option:
Data field

I see that I already have this in my registry. My laptop is new, so the
patch was probabily already installed.

And if I look at the second option:
Manager, then
right click on them and select End Process

I do not see any instance of these processes.

So, although it looks similar, it must be another problem. :-(

 

[cquirke (MVP Windows shell/user)]

On Wed, 17 May 2006 10:10:13 -0400, Claude Schneegans

I have a new laptop connected to my network with Wifi.

When I use Win-Explorer to browse directories on my server, it is
awfully sluggish.

Test this:
- browse local HD folders, are they slow?
- kill WiFi
- browse local HD folders, are they still slow?

It looks like Explorer is automatically refreshing the directories every
5 to 10 sec or so.

Yep, there are several things that can do that...

1) Enumeration of namespace objects

These populate the left-hand "folder tree", and include:
- disk drive letters, including...
- local physical disks
- removable disks
- USB sticks and other letter-mapped storage e.g. card readers
- drive letters mapped to network shares
- non-file namespace folders e.g. Control Panel, Printers
- non-file namespace items on desktop e.g. My Documents

Anything in that list that is slow to refresh, might have this effect.

2) Enumeration of folder contents

These populate the main/right-hand "folder tree", and can bog down by
shell integrations that fiddle with file contents as they list, e.g.
- per-type persistent handlers, e.g. Media Player, Zip support
- indexers and thumbnail builders
- antivirus and other defensive scanners
- active malware

If these are a factor, YMMV depending on the types of files you are
trying to "list". The best tool to reversably manage these
integrations is Nirsoft's Shell Extension Viewer.

3) Any thing that initiates a folder view refresh

You normally notice this as a "blink" of the desktop icons, and this
can be due to malware that is (re-)asserting its integrations, e.g.
making changes to your file type associations.

The effects of per-file stuff such as (2) and (3) can be worsened by
anything that slows down traffic to and from the "folder" you are
trying to "list", and a wonky or crowded network link is a prime
candidate. Bad WiFi reception and/or concerted/automated attempts to
hack into the WiFi may be factors (I hope you have WEP disabled)!!

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[Claude Schneegans]

- browse local HD folders, are they slow?

No, as I said, the problem is only when I browse directories on the
server, from the station.

Then I have no network anymore, but I tried to connect to the server
through a phisical cable.
Still the same refresh problem, although, since the connexion is faster,
it is not crucial.

No, no problem and no refresh with local folders.

Is there any parameter to deactivate this refresh? I'm big enough to
refresh myself if I find it necessary.

Well, I hope so, ... what is WEP, and were is it enabled? ;-)

 

[Claude Schneegans]

Is there any parameter to deactivate this refresh? I'm big enough to
refresh myself if I find it necessary.

Actually, this automatic refresh looks exactly the same as the one you
get when you hit the F5 key:
The list of folders on left is refreshed.
The only difference is that it seems to be triggered automatically for
no apparent reason every 5 second or so
when the focus is on a folder on my serveur. Not when a local folder is
open.

There is no such problem for another station under W98 on the same network.

 

[cquirke (MVP Windows shell/user)]

On Sat, 20 May 2006 13:03:37 -0400, Claude Schneegans

No, as I said, the problem is only when I browse directories on the
server, from the station.

OK. Some causes would have affected both, so it was worth asking,
especially as one such cause can also kill data (failing HD)

Then I have no network anymore, but I tried to connect to the server
through a phisical cable.
Still the same refresh problem, although, since the connexion is faster,
it is not crucial.

O...K... not chalk-and-cheese, then. A duff or out of spec (e.g. too
long, too many hops, sub-CAT5 quality UTP, door jamb and dog teeth
damage) LAN cable can cause extra overhead in much the same way as a
sick HD - retries to send the same data - and I'd guess that bad
reception or interference would do the same for WiFi.

AFAIK, WiFi is slightly slower than Ethernet, so your mileage makes
sense for things that affect both equally.

No, no problem and no refresh with local folders.

Guuuud, as above

The local HD is (or should be!) so much faster than LAN that a
per-item overhead may not be "felt" there, so I'm not so sure that
this would be a pure network problem.

Then again, there's whatever's on the other end of the cable; maybe
something is slow there?

Is there any parameter to deactivate this refresh? I'm big enough to
refresh myself if I find it necessary.

There used to be a setting in Win.ini or System.ini from the Win3.yuk
days, that may have persisted into early Win9x; I doubt if it would
still have an effect. Explorer's laggy enough on changes as it is
(e.g. a folder deleted in the right pane is still shown in the left
tree pane), so I'd think in two directions:
- why is the refresh taking so long?
- is there something causing far too many refreshes?

Well, I hope so, ... what is WEP, and were is it enabled? ;-)

WEP was the first "good enough" Wireless security scheme, that wasn't
good enough after all. Automated tools may crack it in a few minutes,
and yet it is left On by default so that "old" WiFi gear will still
work. Now we are told not to use WEP, but to trust WPA instead,
because that is "good enough". Personally, I prefer cables.

The thing about WiFi LAN is that most defenses are Internet-facing,
and assume the LAN side of the router is populated only by "good
guys". Hence dumb-ass ideas such as hidden admin shares that expose
everything (can you say, "Startup dropper"?) under a guessable name
and whatever non-blank password "protects" XP Pro's user accounts.

IMO, the only way I can be sure of "who" is on the LAN, is to
physicaly limit that to where the cables go.

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