[see bottom reply]
I've had this problem on several versions of Windows, Win 2000 for sure,
Win NT I think, and also XP.
I use Desktop Explorer in a Mac style to copy, delete, and move files
around. Each folder opens in a new window, and I drag icons around, etc.
Problem is, after a while, opening and closing windows and all, Explorer
won't open new windows, let me move icons (files), or even start new
programs. If I still have a few windows open I can close them and then
Explorer will let me open one or two more, then it hits the wall again.
Sometimes it opens part of a window, either not repainting all of it or
not displaying the menu bar, or not displaying all items in the menu bar.
It seems like Explorer is using resources and then not releasing them
again and eventually maxes out whatever resources it has available.
I can close Explorer using TaskManager, then restart it, and it works
again, for a while.
I've run into this problem once again on a fresh install of XP/SP3. I
had thought that in the past Norton Utilities might be to blame, but I
haven't installed Norton yet.
I should note that in Win 2000 Explorer would report an error, close, and
restart itself.
Is this something I can fix? Or is the problem part of Explorer itself,
and if so, how can I get word to Microsoft about this?
Thanks.
- - -
(Dear Microsoft... Oh, never mind.
- - -
Here's the closest I get to an error message. It was generated by a
program that found out, after it had been running for a while, that
it couldn't any more.
Hi "m610",
What "program" is that?
Other things to [un]check that might bog down Explorer:
Folder Options> View(tab)
Advanced settings:
[ ] Automatically search for network folders and printers
Specifies that Windows periodically search the network for shared folders
and printers. All shared folders and printers that are found appear in My
Network Places.
[ ] Launch folder windows in a separate process
Specifies that each folder is opened in a separate part of memory. When
you open each folder in a separate part of memory, the stability of
Windows can be increased. However, your computer's performance might
decrease slightly.
Any folders compressed or encrypted?
NTFS or FAT32? Drive size? free space?
Processor GHz? RAM GB?
What are the Initial and Maximum page file settings?
HTH. (Hope This Helps.
--Richard
- - -
Thanks for the suggestions.
The issue here is not Windows slowing down, but Windows Explorer sops
working. I'm pretty sure it is allocating resources by then not freeing
them when done, thus, the out of resource message. Other error messages
are more cryptic, like "Out of memory", or "Unknown problem". In earlier
versions of Windows Explorer would crash and then restart, sometimes
offering a message about this before restarting.
I can watch Explorer's memory usage in Task Manager. It starts out
somewhere around 20 MB, but steadily increases until reaching 40 - 50 MB
when problems start occurring. I can close all windows and apps and the
memory usage barely moves. On occasion Explorer would stop working after
reaching the mid 20's in MB, but that's much less common.
But to answer your questions, format is NTFS, I'm not using any file
compression, I'm using the Classic style folders, each opens in it's own
window, and "automatic search..." is checked. I'll try un-checking it.
Thumbnails are not cached, "launch folder windows in a separate" process
is unchecked.
Hi again,
Your system seems to be streamlined well enough. The problem sounds like
some sort of memory leak. I checked my Task Manager while reading your reply
and explorer.exe was about 24 MB, and I opened 3 folders, and it was about
25 MB, but after reading a Help file, it had dropped down to less than 2 MB.
Task Manager does not provide any behind the scenes information. You might
want to try Process Explorer to help track down the culprit.
Sysinternals' Process Explorer (1.6 MB download)
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx
It is a very handy tool. Some of the displays are like Task Manager, but it
provides a whole lot more information. By the way, in Task Manager with
Processes tab selected, the View menu has a Select Columns item for adding
additional kinds of information to the display. I added a VM Size to my
display to the right of Mem Usage.
Start> Run> msinfo32
In System Information, System Summary, click Total Physical Memory in the
display at the right, hold spacebar and click Page File at bottom. Ctrl+C to
copy, and paste that into a reply here. There were still some questions in
my first message that were not answered. Here they are again:
Drive size? free space?
Processor GHz? RAM GB?
Right-click My Computer, click Properties, click Advanced tab, under
Performance, click Settings, click another Advanced tab there, under Virtual
Memory, click Change. What are the Initial and Maximum page file settings?
HTH. (Hope This Helps.
--Richard
