Windows Explorer Freezes - have to use Task Manager to kill it

T

TedM

I am having a very frustrating problem with Windows Explorer freezing and
the only way to free it is to use Task Manager to kill it. I am at a point
that my PC is becoming unusable.

I am using Windows XP SP2 with all the latest updates. My PC's basic config
is:
- Motherboard - MSI 865GM3-LS Motherboard with 1GB of RAM

- Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.40GHz

- Ultra ATA-133 PCI to IDE and RAID controller from Silicon Image



I have the following disk drives attached to the PC:

- a Seagate 150GB SATA drive which is my main (Windows) drive (with two
partitions one of which is used as the "Windows XP" drive.

- a Maxtor 300GB PATA drive with two partitions one of which has "My
Documents" folders and data. This is the one that I am having Windowns
Explorer freeze on me as I try to access my folders and files. /this drive
is connected to one of the two IDE connectors on the motherboard.

- 120GB drive (Seagate or Western Digital) attached to the PCI/IDE card

- an Emprex 16X DVD+/-RW attached to separately to the other IDE connector
on the motherboard





In terms of software:



- as I mentioned above Win XP Pro SP2 with all the latest MS updates.



- I had IE 7.0 installed which I removed after reading somethings that
raised doubt in my mind that it might be causing the problems that I am
seeing. However I still have the problems, so I am guessing that it is not
the source of the problem, though I don't know if removing IE 7.0 CLEANED up
all the things it had changed, .



- I have MS Office XP



- Firefox 1.5 and later 2.0



- Symatec/Norton SystemWorks 2006 - with all the updates





The problem with Windows Explorer is caused when I try to use it to access
my files. It usually happens after a couple of clicks to navigate my folder
hierarchy. Then it just freezes and will not respond to anything except
removing it using Task Manager.



Initially I thought it was tied to one folder hierarchy, so thinking that it
might be tied to the disk, I copied it to another drive - the one on the
PCI/IDE controller card. However I still have the same problem.



Now however I have found that the problem arises with other folder
hierarchies. It intitially seemed to be happenning to one folder hierarchy
because that was the one I happened to try to access and use at the time I
was running into this problem.



I have contacted Microsoft support thinking that I might get quick
resolution to this problem but I am still waiting for help from them. Since
it was taking too long, I decided to bite the bullet and get set up on this
News Group to post and get some help.



Thanks for any Help getting this vexing problem solved,



Ted M.
 
M

Malke

TedM said:
I am having a very frustrating problem with Windows Explorer freezing
and the only way to free it is to use Task Manager to kill it. I am at
a point that my PC is becoming unusable.

I am using Windows XP SP2 with all the latest updates. My PC's basic
config is:
- Motherboard - MSI 865GM3-LS Motherboard with 1GB of RAM
- Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.40GHz
- Ultra ATA-133 PCI to IDE and RAID controller from Silicon Image
I have the following disk drives attached to the PC:
- a Seagate 150GB SATA drive which is my main (Windows) drive (with
two partitions one of which is used as the "Windows XP" drive.
- a Maxtor 300GB PATA drive with two partitions one of which has "My
Documents" folders and data. This is the one that I am having Windowns
Explorer freeze on me as I try to access my folders and files. /this
drive is connected to one of the two IDE connectors on the
motherboard.

- 120GB drive (Seagate or Western Digital) attached to the PCI/IDE
card
- an Emprex 16X DVD+/-RW attached to separately to the other IDE
connector on the motherboard

(snippage)

You've got an awful lot of power-hungry stuff in and connected to that
machine. I see that you left out your power supply specs. If you've
just got a 350-400W psu that came with your case, swap it out for a
really high-quality beefy one and see if that makes a difference.
Otherwise, strip the machine down and add one component at a time to
find out which hardware is giving you the issue. If the psu is adequate
and healthy it could be the RAM, overheating, a lot of things. I don't
think this is software-related.

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Tshoot

Malke
 

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