Unable to Open Folders after a few hours wok on PC

G

Guest

Hi,

I wonder if someone can help me. My problem is that after using my notebook
for a few hours, I can not open any folders in Win XP Pro. This can happen at
any time - usually after a few hours. Basically what happens is that when I
try and open a folder, one of the following will happen:
1) Nothing happens, the mouse cursor will change from busy to ready
2) The folder will open but the title bar will be blank at this point if I
right click the mouse sometimes I get SOME options such as Refresh, Open etc
however the list is incomplete. Most of the time I'll get nothing when I
right click. And I can not do anything else.
3) The same as (2) but with the Windows logo in the title bar. The logo is
the default logo in IE top right.
4) The folder will open but with a "washout" tool bar ie the tool bar
extends form the top of the folder to the bottom with no text.

I have managed ot get screen shots of (1) and (4), not sure where to post
them - if anyone can suggest a site or place - if they would be helpfull.

Also at this stage XP will not allow me to execute any programs, the mouse
cursor will go busy and then back to the ready state without anything
happening, sometimes I'll get a VB runtime error (depending on the program I
am trying to execute).

I used to have the same problem when I got my laptop, however it went away
after I applied SP2 and other Hotfixes thru windows update. I had also
applied some of the IBM ThinkPad fixes which were recommended for my system -
(they have a similar update process to windows updates). Unfortunately, I had
to re-install the operating system, and I did this from the hidden partition
on the notebook disk. Luckily I had a Belarc software inventory of the
notebook before I had to re-install. So I applied SP2 and all the fixes that
were on the system before from my Belarc list.

NO JOY - still have the same problem. This is VERY frustrating as it can
happen a few times in a day and the only way out is to either re-boot the
system OR close explorer (thru windows task bar or process explorer) and
re-start it - this only works sometimes. IF i can successfully close and
restart explorer the problem comes back quickly.

SOMETIMES if I close a folder XP will let me open a new folder, then if I
close another folder nothing will happen.

The problem can occur with as few as 3 folders concurrently. I have plenty
of resources - 1GB of RAM and over 40Gb (over 50%) free space on the disk ,
so there is enough space for paging. The notebook is networked and I access
data from my desktop by mapping the drives on the Notebook.

My set up:
SW: Windows XP Pro - up to date with all XP updates, have run numerous
anti-virus and spyware utils (all clear).
HW: IBM TP T40 with 1Gb RAM and 80Gb Disk (42Gb Free)

I am getting really frustrated!! I would appreciate ANY suggestions or help,
if anyone requires further info please let me know.

TIA,
R
 
D

DL

What errors shown in Event Viewer?
If you boot into safe mode is the problem replicated?
 
G

Guest

Hi DL,

Thanks for your response.

I have been going through the event logs since I have been having the
problems - there are a few warnings but no errors - also there are no
warnings or errors around the time I start getting the problems.

I have not tried to boot into safe mode as the problem occurs usually a few
hours after I have been using the PC. This is my main PC .

Anyway the warnings in the Application Log are warnings that the default
trace level was used.

If you require any further info please let me know.

Cheers,
RB
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top