Long Delay When Opening Files

[Henry]

Files open normally as long as I open them out of an application on my XP Pro
O/S. If I try to open them out of the start menu, my documents or any folder,
I encounter a delay of approx. one minute. I've read thru the previous
threads on this problem and have tried using ShellEXView to identify and
eliminate any corrupted Context Menu Handlers with no success. ShellEXView
does not list any Context Menu Handlers on my computer, only Context Menus,
which I assume are one of the same.

Interestingly, I found in the ExView a Column Handler, identified as an
Adobe PDF Shell Extension which I could not disable even when I logged in as
the Administrator. My usual login identity also has administrator's rights. I
found it strange that this file could not be disabled whereas any other that
I tried on the list could.

Does anybody have another possible solution to this delay problem?

 

[db.·.. >]

as a thought you
might want to boot
into safemode and
safemode w/net~
and see if the issue
occurs or not.

if the docs open fine
in safemode, then you
will have to begin
tuning up windows
normal mode or
restoring your computer
to a functional date.

 

[Henry]

Thanks for the suggestion. The files open fine in safe mode. I tried
previously to restore to a functional date but the utility would not restore
to a number of dates and times that I tried.

What do you mean by tuning up windows normal mode?

 

[db.·.. >]

ok,

your discovery in safemode
is a valuable one because
when windows is in safemode
then it is essentially pure
windows that is loaded
into memory.

therefore, we can say that
the windows operating system
is not dysfunctional.

however when windows launches
in normal mode the windows
system files load up as well
as other programs.

thus, there is something in
normal mode that is corrupting
your windows and the cause
of your current issue.
---------------------

one possibility of the delay
could be antivirals scanning
every file you are opening,
which may be attributing
to the delay.

however, it is impossible
to see what all is running
on your side.

-----------------------

what you might want
to try is a clean boot.

there is more info at
the link below. the
two results on top
should get you started.

http://search.microsoft.com/results.aspx?form=MSHOME&setlang=en-us&q=clean+boot&mkt=en-us

--------------

don't forget to make a
system restore point for
"now" as insurance.

also, take notes as to
what modifications you
are making to what.

 

[Henry]

Thanx for sticking in with me db. I did the clean boot and tried disabling
all of the non-Microsoft Services - the problem continued to persist. I did
have success on very few of the attempts with quick file openings while all
non-MS Services were disabled, but it was sporadic, very infrequent and
without any pattern. The files continued to open readily from within the
applications.

 

[db.·.. >]

there is sometimes an
issue with non microsoft
services because some third
party programs may still
be running in the background
regardless of the state
of the service, in particular
malware.

--------------------

you might try cycling
the indexing service.

if it is enabled then
disabled it and vice
versa.
--
you may also want to
delete the entries in
the prefetch folder and
reboot.

it is a system folder and
windows will recreate
each prefetch entry when
you need one.
----------

what you might also try
is to open the task manager
and end any and all processes
it will allow you to.

with the exception of one
process, they will mostly not
be vital to windows.

the one process called
"explorer.exe" can be ended
and re started by going to
the applications tab and
clicking new task then enter
the process above.

----

btw: a helpful tool for examining
processes running in windows
is called autoruns and can
be downloaded from
microsoft.com

with it you can focus on
non microsoft entries.

 

[Henry]

Hello db, I don't how to cycle the indexing service nor how to locate the
prefetch folder. I learned today that opening attachments in e-mails using OE
works fine no matter what kind of files the attachments are. Does that help
to isolate the problem. Thanx

 

[db.·.. >]

ok, i can tell you how.

but let me ask, are you
keeping your disk and
file system maintained?

if so what methods do
you use and how often?

 

[Henry]

This is a problem on a new computer which I've had for less than a month. The
hard drive has only 7 GB written on it out of a capacity of 298 GB. Disk and
file maintenance should not be an issue. Normally, I do a total scan weekly,
delete cookies and temporary files every couple of days and defrag every 6
months. I believe the problem started after I downloaded Adobe Reader 8 but I
am not certain. I have tried uninstalling Adobe but that did not solve the
problem.

 

[db.·.. >]

ok then.

since the issue just started
and likely occurred when
you installed a program,
then this provides a bit
more information for us.

the normal routine would
be to utilize the system
restore feature and restore
the computer back to a date
prior to installing that new
program.

however, another method
is to observe if the issue is
resolved by disabling third
party software that may be
loading up at startup.

you can click on start>run>
then enter msconfig in the
text box.

there will be a tab called
startups and it will list
the programs that are loading
with windows.

for the purposes of getting
some control over windows,
i would suggest to simply
disable all of the startups
listed.

next there is a tab for
services and a check box.

by clicking the checkbox
to hide all microsoft services,
the resulting listing will identify
services that are non microsoft
and likely not required for your
system.

again, i would simply disable
all of them at this time, then reboot.

later and if you choose to
you can go back and enable
anything again but with the
understanding that non of them
are absolutely necessary for
windows and may be attributing
to the dysfunctionality.

try the above and see if you
see windows performing better.

in addition to you current
maintenance routine, you may
want to add this to it:

http://onecare.live.com/site/en-US/article/registry_cleaner_why.htm

 

[Henry]

I tried using restore just after the problem developed but regrettably could
not find a restore point that Windows would accept. Anyway, tried disabling
all the startups and all the non-MIcrosoft services but the problem persists.
Tried booting into safe mode again tonight and the files open fine in safe
mode.

My anti-virus application now finds the CRU629.DAT file in the
WINDOWS\system32 folderinfected with W32/Backdoor2.TRY on each startup. It
has not been successful in repairing the file so places it in quarantine
after each scan. The file must be regenerating itself on each boot. Might
this be the crux of the problem and is there a way to repair the file or
replace it with an uninfected file?

 

[db.·.. >]

yes, there is a variety
of characteristics that
allow an infection to
perpetuate:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_virus

you did not say what
anti viral you are utilizing,
but if that file is being quarantined
then you are correct that
something is regenerating
the infection in normal mode
windows.

further if you have disabled all
the third party software from
starting up, then it is likely
a genuine system file has been
replaced with a counterfeit/
corrupted version thus the
infection is being regenerated
by a camouflaged system file

something to keep in mind is
that once an infection has
been eliminated from the system,
it may also regenerate again if
it found sanctuary in any of
the system restore points.

so at this time perhaps it is
fortunate that your system restore
points are useless however having
useless restore points or a dysfunctional
system restore feature is also a sign of a
problem.

--------------

there are semantics here in that
is that dat file corrupted because
of the infection or is it "the"
infection:

http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=CRU629.DAT+&FORM=MSNH

dat files are index's, so
might simply try to delete
that file.

if the above method does
not work and the dat is
regenerated, then you can
likely try a different anti viral
software that can zap/delete
the source of the infection.

if the source of infection
is a system file and it was
successfully deleted by an
anti viral, you will need to
replace that missing file(s) with
a genuine one(s) from your
windows cd.

a windows repair will replace
missing or corrupted system
files with genuine ones.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/tips/doug92.mspx

in addition the process above
will create a brand new system
restore point and eliminate to
old ones that are no longer
valid as a result of repairing
windows.

 

[Henry]

Hello db,

Been preoccupied for a while with other matters. I finally solved the
infection problem by using a different anti-viral. I fixed my other problem
by checking whether the LAN was causing the problem and found out that indeed
it was.

http://windowsxp.mvps.org/rcdelay.htm had the solution. All is working well
now.

Thanks for your time and advice.