Slow opening folders....

[Howard9]

Win 2k latest build. 600Mhz

In the last month or so my system has developed a serious slow down in
opening folders.

Other functions appear to be doing fine (except a font issues I have
asked about elsewhere on this group)

Even the smallest folders take 10 seconds to open. This was never an
issue before, when folders opened within 1-2 seconds.


Anyone have any suggestions ?


( I have checked for fragmentation issues, and RAM issues... there
appear to be none)

 

[Steve Parry [MVP]]

Win 2k latest build. 600Mhz

In the last month or so my system has developed a serious slow down in
opening folders.

Other functions appear to be doing fine (except a font issues I have
asked about elsewhere on this group)

Even the smallest folders take 10 seconds to open. This was never an
issue before, when folders opened within 1-2 seconds.


Anyone have any suggestions ?


( I have checked for fragmentation issues, and RAM issues... there
appear to be none)

These two problems may well be related, have you done a spyware check?

Take a look at spybot

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

for spyware checking

Have you got an up to date antivirus package installed?

Try going to Task Manager and seeing if anything is taking up all the CPU
process time.

 

[Howard9]

These two problems may well be related,

Thanks for replying Steve...

have you done a spyware check?

Take a look at spybot

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

for spyware checking

I run several spyware programs, updated, weekly. Adware, Spybot and a-
squared.

Have you got an up to date antivirus package installed?

I use Avast which is updated almost daily, automatically.

Try going to Task Manager and seeing if anything is taking up all the CPU
process time.

I watch it a lot, as well as watching CPU and memory usage with FreeRAM
regularly...

 

[Steve Parry]

Thanks for replying Steve...


I run several spyware programs, updated, weekly. Adware, Spybot and a-
squared.

I use Avast which is updated almost daily, automatically.

I watch it a lot, as well as watching CPU and memory usage with FreeRAM
regularly...

try deleting these registry keys it may solve the problem:

HkeyCurrentUser\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StreamMR­U
HkeyCurrentUser\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams

 

[Howard9]

try deleting these registry keys it may solve the problem:

HkeyCurrentUser\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StreamMR­U
HkeyCurrentUser\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams

Tks Steve...

 

[paulmd]

Win 2k latest build. 600Mhz

In the last month or so my system has developed a serious slow down in
opening folders.

Other functions appear to be doing fine (except a font issues I have
asked about elsewhere on this group)

Even the smallest folders take 10 seconds to open. This was never an
issue before, when folders opened within 1-2 seconds.


Anyone have any suggestions ?


( I have checked for fragmentation issues, and RAM issues... there
appear to be none)

What is the SMART status of the hard disk?

 

[Howard9]

What is the SMART status of the hard disk?

Sorry to be ignorant... but what is that ?

 

[Steve Parry]

Sorry to be ignorant... but what is that ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-Monitoring,_Analysis_and_Reporting_Technology

 

[Dan Seur]

If nobody has suggested it, you should download and run the
manufacturer's disk diagnostic. Go to the manu's website for this. It is
a diskette image; the diskette you copy it to will be bootable and the
software will do a thorough diagnostic evaluation of the health of that
drive (including its SMART status). Discuss the results, if need be,
with the manu's tech support - disk warranties are longlived.

Sorry to be ignorant... but what is that ?

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[paulmd]

Sorry to be ignorant... but what is that ?

Built in failure prediction method for hard disks. THe logic I'm
applying is that if it's been taking a while to open folders, then your
disk may be showing the signs of age, and slowing down. Not seeking
reliably, and so forth. Most BIOSes support SMART, but by default is
stupidly turned OFF, despite that nearly all hard disks manufactued
singe the mid 1990s support it. (Dell and Compaq have it turned ON,
but you have no option to change it,which is a good thing)

When I get a service call that says, "my computer says my hard drive is
going to die" I'm happy that somebody enabled the thing. I can clone
their drive, and they continue as if it never happened.

 

[Howard9]

If nobody has suggested it, you should download and run the
manufacturer's disk diagnostic. Go to the manu's website for this. It is
a diskette image; the diskette you copy it to will be bootable and the
software will do a thorough diagnostic evaluation of the health of that
drive (including its SMART status). Discuss the results, if need be,
with the manu's tech support - disk warranties are longlived.

I do appreciate all you guys and your time...

However ... how could this be a disk problem ? If it were, then it
could affect all my software from time to time... which it doesn't.

I use loads of programs all day long that behave perfectly well and whiz
along fine.

I 'imagined' that this would be a windows error somewhere deep down ?
no ?

 

[Bill]

"Steve Parry"...
:

try deleting these registry keys it may solve the problem:

HkeyCurrentUser\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StreamMR­U
HkeyCurrentUser\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams

Steve, what do those keys do?

 

[Dan Seur]

Drives don't necessarily go completely bad all at once. A bad spot on an
oxide surface can cause access retries that eventually (for a while,
anyway) may succeed. Such errors have a way of getting worse...best to
take early precautions. Diagnose the thing! What can you lose?
Maybe it IS a software problem. Maybe it's not...

I do appreciate all you guys and your time...

However ... how could this be a disk problem ? If it were, then it
could affect all my software from time to time... which it doesn't.

I use loads of programs all day long that behave perfectly well and whiz
along fine.

I 'imagined' that this would be a windows error somewhere deep down ?
no ?

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[Howard9]

Drives don't necessarily go completely bad all at once. A bad spot on an
oxide surface can cause access retries that eventually (for a while,
anyway) may succeed. Such errors have a way of getting worse...best to
take early precautions. Diagnose the thing! What can you lose?
Maybe it IS a software problem. Maybe it's not...

Good point thanks for your advice.

 

[Dan Seur]

You're welcome

Good point thanks for your advice.

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