Windows Explorer hangs for precisely 72 seconds

[Edward]

XP Professional 2002 Service Pack 1
All critical updates installed
Ad-aware and CWShredder used often
McAfee VirusScan v4.5.1 SP1

Attempting any kind of file operation (double-click, press Delete,
attempt single or multiple copies using Ctrl+C, or right-clicking)
from within Windows Explorer causes the program to cease to respond
for 72 seconds. This means that the hourglass cursor does its thing,
but nothing else works. I can Alt-Tab or use the taskbar to get to
other programs however. The process table in Task Manager doesn't
tell me anything - 98% of CPU time is taken up with System Idle, and
the other 2% with Task Manager.

The same happens on my Desktop, but only with some files! I have
shortcuts to various apps. (e.g. Access, Word, Excel) which I can
double-click and they fire up pretty well instantly. However, if I
save a file to the Desktop (my default area for temporary files) and
then try to delete it (select it with left click, the press Delete)
the system hangs again for 72 seconds before the prompt "Are you sure
you wish to delete ...?"

I am the only XP computer on our network that has this problem. It's
a reasonably fast machine - Pentium 4 2.4 GHz, 504Mb RAM.

Anyone got ANY ideas?

Thanks

Edward

 

[roger]

Hi Edward,

On 15 Apr 2004 02:33:04 -0700, (e-mail address removed) (Edward) wrote:

[...]

I am the only XP computer on our network that has this problem. It's
a reasonably fast machine - Pentium 4 2.4 GHz, 504Mb RAM.

Try going to Control Panel > Internet Options > advanced options tab
and check 'Disable third party browser extensions.'
Reboot and check.

If this works it will mean that there is malware that you haven't
discovered yet.

Download the utility CWshredder:
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/cwshredder.zip

Unzip - close *all* instances of IE & OE, hit the executable and
follow
the prompts.

You can also download Hijack This from here:

http://www.mjc1.com/files/merijn/hijackthis.exe

Go here:
http://mjc1.com/mirror/hjt/

For instructions on how to use it; you have to post the log it
produces so experts tell you what is good and what is malware


Try downloading, installing and updating the
spyware removers from the links below. Run both of them.

Ad-aware
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/

Spybot S&D
http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?lang=en&page=download


If these don't correct the problem, then get yourself a copy of
BHODemon, available at
http://www.definitivesolutions.com/bhodemon.htm .

It does not need installing - simply unzip and run the EXE program. It
is easy to use. It will find the hijackware DLL files, and give you
the ability to disable them.

Hope this helps.

 

[Edward]

Hi Edward,

On 15 Apr 2004 02:33:04 -0700, (e-mail address removed) (Edward) wrote:

[...]

I am the only XP computer on our network that has this problem. It's
a reasonably fast machine - Pentium 4 2.4 GHz, 504Mb RAM.

Try going to Control Panel > Internet Options > advanced options tab
and check 'Disable third party browser extensions.'
Reboot and check.

If this works it will mean that there is malware that you haven't
discovered yet.

Tried it - it DID NOT work!

Thanks for the help anyway, Roger. Do you (or anyone else) have any other ideas?

Best

Edward

 

[roger]

Hi Edward,

On 16 Apr 2004 00:38:30 -0700, (e-mail address removed) (Edward) wrote:

[...]

Tried it - it DID NOT work!

Thanks for the help anyway, Roger. Do you (or anyone else) have any other ideas?

Sorry it didn't work.
You could try to perform a clean boot, though. Go to Start > Run >
msconfig
startup tab and disable all programs that run on boot up.
Then check if the problem occurs. If it doesn't, try adding programs
in msconfig > startup tab one or two at a time until you get the
guilty one.
Also check your antivirus, it might be interfering.
Did you install a codec pack? It could be this.

More info on clean boot:

310353 How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310353

316434 HOW TO: Perform Advanced Clean-Boot Troubleshooting in Windows
XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=316434

310560 How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310560


Good luck

 

[Edward]

XP Professional 2002 Service Pack 1
All critical updates installed
Ad-aware and CWShredder used often
McAfee VirusScan v4.5.1 SP1

Attempting any kind of file operation (double-click, press Delete,
attempt single or multiple copies using Ctrl+C, or right-clicking)
from within Windows Explorer causes the program to cease to respond
for 72 seconds. This means that the hourglass cursor does its thing,
but nothing else works. I can Alt-Tab or use the taskbar to get to
other programs however. The process table in Task Manager doesn't
tell me anything - 98% of CPU time is taken up with System Idle, and
the other 2% with Task Manager.

The same happens on my Desktop, but only with some files! I have
shortcuts to various apps. (e.g. Access, Word, Excel) which I can
double-click and they fire up pretty well instantly. However, if I
save a file to the Desktop (my default area for temporary files) and
then try to delete it (select it with left click, the press Delete)
the system hangs again for 72 seconds before the prompt "Are you sure
you wish to delete ...?"

I am the only XP computer on our network that has this problem. It's
a reasonably fast machine - Pentium 4 2.4 GHz, 504Mb RAM.

Anyone got ANY ideas?

Thanks

Edward

Just in case anyone's interested, the problem was caused by Indexing
Services. I have now disabled this entirely and it works well. I
can't imagine why I'd ever need it, but I'm certainly better off
without it.

Thanks to Roger for his suggestions.

Edward

 

[roger]

Hi Edward,

(e-mail address removed) (Edward) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>... [...]

The same happens on my Desktop, but only with some files! I have
shortcuts to various apps. (e.g. Access, Word, Excel) which I can
double-click and they fire up pretty well instantly. However, if I
save a file to the Desktop (my default area for temporary files) and
then try to delete it (select it with left click, the press Delete)
the system hangs again for 72 seconds before the prompt "Are you sure
you wish to delete ...?"

I am the only XP computer on our network that has this problem. It's
a reasonably fast machine - Pentium 4 2.4 GHz, 504Mb RAM.

Anyone got ANY ideas?

Thanks

Edward

Just in case anyone's interested, the problem was caused by Indexing
Services. I have now disabled this entirely and it works well. I
can't imagine why I'd ever need it, but I'm certainly better off
without it.

Thanks to Roger for his suggestions.

Edward

Thank you for your feedback and sharing this information