Windows Explorer "Not Responding" after clicking "Search"

[Tore Bostrup]

Win2k Pro SP4 waith all current updates.

When I click on the "Search" toolbar button or select "Search..." from the
right click menu in Windows Explorer, it goes into la-la-land for exactly 1
minute. When the search window comes up. it displays a similar behavior.
It only reacts after extended (up to about 30 seconds) periods of "hang
time". This is before I start any searches, by the way.

It seems as if Explorer attempts some network operation that times out after
30 seconds, and at that point, pending messages are processed, and it
retries the failing operation. If I try something for instance 10 seconds
before a 30 second period is up, the event will fire after 10 seconds, etc.
This pertains to all events, including setting window focus and window
repaint, and may affect some other running Explorer windows (not 100% sure -
I've seen it but couldn't reproduce it). In the latter case, after closing
the search window (the Explorer window that was opene as a search window),
the problem lingers, and a shortcut to Windows Explorer on my Start menu
(Target: %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe, Start in: %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%) stops
working (or so it appears). However, I can still launch explorer by
right-clicking the Start button. The resulting explorer window runs OK.

Launching IE at this point also results in IE exhibiting the same strange
behavior, but previously running IE windows work OK.

Has anybody seen this before?

I auto-update my virus signatures twice daily (GeCAD RAV 8), and I did a
manual check for Blaster. The system apears clean. PestPatrol keeps the
system free of adware/spyware. Zonealarm Pro 4.0.123.012 and a
(non-windows) firewall rounds out my system security.

Any suggestions?
TIA,
Tore.

 

[Duncan McNutt]

Do you really NEEED the indexing service?

I disable that all the time.

I recommend dumping ZA in favour of Kerio KPF.

 

[Duncan McNutt]

Its a sandbox of crap

KPF is just a firewall, nothing else.

 

[Duncan McNutt]

ZA, i never used sygate

 

[Tore Bostrup]

That's a nice and informative comment (about ZA)... :-<

Can you provide any insight into the type of crap that ZA represents? I
would really like to know.

As for resource usage - it doesn't look too bad at first glance. ZA Pro
has used roughly 0.00005% of CPU and takes about 10% more memory than
WinLogon.EXE according to my current Task Manager numbers.

I have an external firewall, and primarily use ZA Pro to control what
executables are allowed to communicate with my network and the internet.
And that includes *outbound* communication. My stipulation is that if
something winds up getting through my defenses, it may wreak havoc with the
system, but it is much less likely to be able to propagate sensitive
information from my system.

Although touted as "easy to use", I have found that ZA really requires a
level of understanding of the OS that is not commonly available. But once
properly configured, it seems to work pretty well.

I have bookmarked KPF, and will most likely take a look at it and Sygate
(already bookmarked) at some point.

Regards,
Tore.

 

[Tore Bostrup]

I don't need indexing on this system at this time.

However, disabling it simply means I have *masked* an existing problem. As
long as I don't know what caused the problem, I won't know whether it may
affect something else.

Tore.

 

[Carrie Garth \(MVP\)]

Hi Tore,

When you say that "the indexing service (cisvc.exe) was timing out", what do you
mean? Have you checked the Event Viewer (eventvwr.msc) to see if there are any
events recorded pertaining to this problem (such as corrupt content index metadata)?
If you boot to Safe Mode, and with the Indexing Service Started, does Windows
Explorer still go "into la-la land"?

BTW, cisvc.exe is the Indexing Service and when it is filtering files (by default
this happens when the computer is idle) it uses cidaemon.exe.

--
Carrie Garth, Microsoft MVP for Windows 2000
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- c x g

: "Tore Bostrup" <newspost_at_bostrup.us>
: Wrote in message : Sent: Monday, August 18, 2003 04:10 PM
:
: I don't need indexing on this system at this time.
:
: However, disabling it simply means I have *masked* an existing problem. As
: long as I don't know what caused the problem, I won't know whether it may
: affect something else.

:| "Tore Bostrup" <newspost_at_bostrup.us>
:| Wrote in message :| Sent: Monday, August 18, 2003 10:06 AM
:|
:| It turns out that the indexing service (cisvc.exe) was timing out.
:| Disabling the indexing service keeps me sane, but I'd really like to find
:| the root cause.
:|
:| I have my ZoneAlarm Pro setting fairly tight, but couldn't find any
:| reference to cisv.exe or the indexing service. Is there a problem with the
:| indexing service, or do I need to look for something else in the ZA program
:| list?

:|: "Tore Bostrup" <newspost_at_bostrup.us>
:|: Wrote in message : :|: Sent: Saturday, August 16, 2003 12:17 PM
:|: Win2k Pro SP4 waith all current updates.
:|:
:|: When I click on the "Search" toolbar button or select "Search..." from the
:|: right click menu in Windows Explorer, it goes into la-la-land for exactly 1
:|: minute. When the search window comes up. it displays a similar behavior.
:|: It only reacts after extended (up to about 30 seconds) periods of "hang
:|: time". This is before I start any searches, by the way.
:|:
:|: It seems as if Explorer attempts some network operation that times out after
:|: 30 seconds, and at that point, pending messages are processed, and it
:|: retries the failing operation. If I try something for instance 10 seconds
:|: before a 30 second period is up, the event will fire after 10 seconds, etc.
:|:
:|: This pertains to all events, including setting window focus and window
:|: repaint, and may affect some other running Explorer windows (not 100% sure -
:|: I've seen it but couldn't reproduce it). In the latter case, after closing
:|: the search window (the Explorer window that was opene as a search window),
:|: the problem lingers, and a shortcut to Windows Explorer on my Start menu
:|: (Target: %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe, Start in: %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%) stops
:|: working (or so it appears). However, I can still launch explorer by
:|: right-clicking the Start button. The resulting explorer window runs OK.
:|:
:|: Launching IE at this point also results in IE exhibiting the same strange
:|: behavior, but previously running IE windows work OK.
:|:
:|: Has anybody seen this before?
:|:
:|: I auto-update my virus signatures twice daily (GeCAD RAV 8), and I did a
:|: manual check for Blaster. The system apears clean. PestPatrol keeps the
:|: system free of adware/spyware. Zonealarm Pro 4.0.123.012 and a
:|: (non-windows) firewall rounds out my system security.

 

[Tore Bostrup]

I never did try from Safe mode.

The Event Log had a whole slew of 7011 Events (Timeout (30000 milliseconds)
waiting for a transaction response from the cisvc service) for the Service
Control Manager, but no obvious precursor to the timeout error.

Tore.