Windows explorer not responding

[Monty Phister]

I have Windows XP home. For some time -- over the past
month or so -- Windows Explorer has seemed to be getting
slower and slower..when I clicked the C drive, it might
have taken 10 seconds or more for the C drive folders to
appear. But now W Explorer doesn't respond at all. I
can't see the contents of any of my drives.

 

[Malke]

I have Windows XP home. For some time -- over the past
month or so -- Windows Explorer has seemed to be getting
slower and slower..when I clicked the C drive, it might
have taken 10 seconds or more for the C drive folders to
appear. But now W Explorer doesn't respond at all. I
can't see the contents of any of my drives.

I'm sorry, but this is not enough information for you to get a good
answer. Your post is the equivalent of saying, "it's broken". Your
problems could be caused by either software or hardware. Here are
generic troubleshooting steps for you to take:

A. For software issues - 1) scan with current antivirus ("current" means
a version not later than 2002 but using updated virus definitions); 2)
remove spyware with Spybot Search & Destroy (www.security.kolla.de) and
Ad-aware (www.lavasoftusa.com) - note that it is a good idea to do
virus/spyware scans in Safe Mode; 3) delete temporary and Temporary
Internet Files; 4) stop unnecessary services/programs from starting
with Windows - see www.blackviper.com for services info and
www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm for programs info - 5) look in
Event Viewer for clues.

B. For hardware issues - 1) open the computer and run it open, cleaning
out all dust bunnies and observing all fans (overheating will cause
system freezing); 2) test the RAM - I like Memtest86 from
www.memtest86.com - let the test run for an extended (like overnight)
period of time - unless errors are seen immediately; 3) test the hard
drive with a diagnostic utility from the mftr.; 4) test the
motherboard. If you can't do this testing yourself, take the machine to
a good local computer repair shop (not a CompUSA or Best Buy type of
store).

Malke

 

[Guest]

-----Original Message-----


I'm sorry, but this is not enough information for you to get a good
answer. Your post is the equivalent of saying, "it's broken". Your
problems could be caused by either software or hardware. Here are
generic troubleshooting steps for you to take:

A. For software issues - 1) scan with current antivirus ("current" means
a version not later than 2002 but using updated virus definitions); 2)
remove spyware with Spybot Search & Destroy

(www.security.kolla.de) and

Ad-aware (www.lavasoftusa.com) - note that it is a good idea to do
virus/spyware scans in Safe Mode; 3) delete temporary and Temporary
Internet Files; 4) stop unnecessary services/programs from starting
with Windows - see www.blackviper.com for services info and
www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm for programs info - 5) look in
Event Viewer for clues.

B. For hardware issues - 1) open the computer and run it open, cleaning
out all dust bunnies and observing all fans (overheating will cause
system freezing); 2) test the RAM - I like Memtest86 from
www.memtest86.com - let the test run for an extended (like overnight)
period of time - unless errors are seen immediately; 3) test the hard
drive with a diagnostic utility from the mftr.; 4) test the
motherboard. If you can't do this testing yourself, take the machine to
a good local computer repair shop (not a CompUSA or Best Buy type of
store).

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
.
I have McAfee & virus scan shows no viruses. I have and

have run both Spybot and Adaware. I'll check blackviper.
Where's the event viewer? More data: When I set my Home
Page in Internet Explorer, it always is reset when I next
turn on the computer. Furthermore, this morning I lost my
Internet Explorer Favorites.

 

[Malke]

have run both Spybot and Adaware. I'll check blackviper.
Where's the event viewer? More data: When I set my Home
Page in Internet Explorer, it always is reset when I next
turn on the computer. Furthermore, this morning I lost my
Internet Explorer Favorites.

Hmmm. You say you've run the av and Spybot and Ad-aware, but your
systems certainly sound like a browser hijacker. Are you sure you
updated the definitions for your av and the spyware removal programs?
It's very important to be working with up-to-the-minute definitions for
these types of programs. Also, you didn't say whether you did this, but
I highly suggest running av and spyware removal tools (after you've
updated them) in Safe Mode. The Event Viewer is in the Administrative
Tools applet in Control Panel. One way people hunt down hijackers is to
download Hijack This from SpywareInfo (www.spywareinfo.com) here:

http://www.spywareinfo.com/downloads.php?cat=all#s-p

and then post the results to the appropriate forum at SpywareInfo. Go to
SpywareInfo and do some reading in the forums. It is a wonderful
resource. Please post back if you need more help.

Malke

 

[Guest]

-----Original Message-----


Hmmm. You say you've run the av and Spybot and Ad-aware, but your
systems certainly sound like a browser hijacker. Are you sure you
updated the definitions for your av and the spyware removal programs?
It's very important to be working with up-to-the-minute definitions for
these types of programs. Also, you didn't say whether you did this, but
I highly suggest running av and spyware removal tools (after you've
updated them) in Safe Mode. The Event Viewer is in the Administrative
Tools applet in Control Panel. One way people hunt down hijackers is to
download Hijack This from SpywareInfo

(www.spywareinfo.com) here:

http://www.spywareinfo.com/downloads.php?cat=all#s-p

and then post the results to the appropriate forum at SpywareInfo. Go to
SpywareInfo and do some reading in the forums. It is a wonderful
resource. Please post back if you need more help.

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
.
Following your advice, I ran everything in the safe mode-

-no help. I then investigated msconfig with the help of
viper and pacs portal, and have discovered I have 3
entries in msconfig that correspond to viruses: Server,
taskschl, and messenger. However, when I search in my C
drive for the corresponding .exe's, I don't find them.
And when I look them up in McAfee's virus index, I find
my .dat file should detect them. What to do?

 

[Malke]

-no help. I then investigated msconfig with the help of
viper and pacs portal, and have discovered I have 3
entries in msconfig that correspond to viruses: Server,
taskschl, and messenger. However, when I search in my C
drive for the corresponding .exe's, I don't find them.
And when I look them up in McAfee's virus index, I find
my .dat file should detect them. What to do?

Try scanning with a different antivirus program. Download something like
AVG or the trial version of F-Prot. Install them (one at a time, of
course) and see if they find anything different. Scanning should be
done in Safe Mode, of course, and you naturally unchecked the
suspicious entries in msconfig. When all else fails, you can always
format the drive, clean install Windows, reinstall programs from cd's
and restore data from backups.

Good luck,

Malke

 

[Ed]

Similar recent probs with mine. It is just slow and
double refreshes but mine still working. I have XP Pro.
Ed