Windows Explorer VERY SLOW and locks up

[voice_of_reason]

Greetings:

I am experiencing a problem whereby windows explorer is EXTREMELY
slow.

When I click to open a foler, task manager shows TWO instances of
windows explorer...both shown as "not responding". This situation will
lasts for several seconds...up to about 5.

Interested in any advice on how to address this problem.

Windows XP sp 2

Thank you

 

[Gerry]

Open Disk Defragmenter and click on Analyse. Select View Report and
click on Save As and Save. Now find VolumeC.txt in your My Documents
Folder and post a copy. Do this before running Disk Defragmenter as it
is more informative.

How much RAM memory?

Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to select Task Manager and click the Performance
Tab. Under Commit Charge what is the Total, the Limit and the Peak?

You should be able to gather more information from Task Manager. With
the Processes tab open select View, Select, Columns and check the boxes
before Peak Memory Usage and Virtual Memory size. What are the figures
for the 6 processes using the largest amounts?

Do you leave your computer on 24/7?


Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp to
Empty your Recycle Bin and Remove Temporary Internet Files. Also
select Start, All Programs, accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp,
More Options, System Restore and remove all but the latest System
Restore point. Run Disk Defragmenter.

Please post copies of all Error and Warning Reports appearing in
the System and Application logs in Event Viewer for the last boot. No
Information Reports or Duplicates please. Indicate which also appear in
a previous boot.

You can access Event Viewer by selecting Start, Control Panel,
Administrative Tools, and Event Viewer. When researching the meaning
of the error, information regarding Event ID, Source and Description
are important.

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double
click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a
button resembling two pages. Click the button and close Event
Viewer.Now start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of
the message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting from
Event Viewer.

What are your anti-virus and anti-spyware arrangements?

Is it a standalone or networked computer?


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Malke]

Greetings:

I am experiencing a problem whereby windows explorer is EXTREMELY
slow.

When I click to open a foler, task manager shows TWO instances of
windows explorer...both shown as "not responding". This situation will
lasts for several seconds...up to about 5.

Interested in any advice on how to address this problem.

Windows XP sp 2

The First Question Of Troubleshooting: what changed between the time
things worked and the time they didn't?

The Second Question of Windows Troubleshooting: what is the
malware/virus status of the machine? If you think it is clean, what
programs (and versions) did you use to determine this?

Be sure the computer is clean:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

If the computer is virus/malware-free - and you will only determine this
by doing thorough scanning as described at the link above, don't just
guess - then see these links:

Slow or Sluggish Computer:
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/slowcom.htm
http://aumha.org/a/health.htm - Take Out the Trash


Malke

 

[voice_of_reason]

Thank you for your response......

The First Question Of Troubleshooting: what changed between the time
things worked and the time they didn't?

This is difficult to answer.

The problem first started a little while ago but has steadily been
getting worse. Now it is to the point of beocoming intolerable.

The Second Question of Windows Troubleshooting: what is the
malware/virus status of the machine? If you think it is clean, what
programs (and versions) did you use to determine this?

Seems to be malware free. Used the following programs to check.....

McAfee

Avast

Ad-Aware

Any other advice you have is appreciated.

 

[Malke]

Seems to be malware free. Used the following programs to check.....

McAfee

Avast

Ad-Aware

Any other advice you have is appreciated.

You have not done thorough scanning for malware. Follow the instructions
at the link I already gave you. Here are all the links again for your
convenience:

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

Slow or Sluggish Computer:
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/slowcom.htm
http://aumha.org/a/health.htm - Take Out the Trash

Also check to make sure the hard drive is not in PIO Mode. MVP
Hans-Georg Michna has a page and fix on it here:

http://winhlp.com/?q=node/10


Malke

 

[voice_of_reason]

Thank you for your very comprehensive response!!

There are a lot of things i will need to check out.

However, there are some that I can tell you right away.....

I already did a defrag on the C: drive before I posted to the group.
Didn't help.
.....sorry, I did not save a copy of the report.

Commit Charge--
Total 602376
Limit 1276980
Peak 661992
(So what are those??)


Top Memory Users by Processes
Mem - peak - VM

firefox.exe 74,828 - 91,644 - 64,344
explorer.exe 18,208 - 69,252 - 58,265
outlook.exe 12,416 - 61,644 - 45,345
mcshield.exe 30,740 - 57,916 - 38,700
myagtsvc.exe 5,580 - 43,252 - 42,216

No, I don't leave my computer on 24/7.

I use McAfee and also have used Avast for anti-virus. I also ran a
scan with Ad-Aware.

Any more advice?

Thank you!

 

[Malke]

Thank you for your very comprehensive response!!

There are a lot of things i will need to check out.

However, there are some that I can tell you right away.....

I already did a defrag on the C: drive before I posted to the group.
Didn't help.
....sorry, I did not save a copy of the report.

I don't think defragging is the answer anyway. How much space is left on
your hard drive? If the drive only has 15% or less free space, that
could cause your issue.

Top Memory Users by Processes
Mem - peak - VM

firefox.exe 74,828 - 91,644 - 64,344
explorer.exe 18,208 - 69,252 - 58,265
outlook.exe 12,416 - 61,644 - 45,345
mcshield.exe 30,740 - 57,916 - 38,700
myagtsvc.exe 5,580 - 43,252 - 42,216

No, I don't leave my computer on 24/7.

I use McAfee and also have used Avast for anti-virus. I also ran a
scan with Ad-Aware.

Any more advice?

You should try some of my suggestions. I can't really give you any more
until you have the results of the troubleshooting I already gave you.
Try uninstalling McAfee, too.


Malke

 

[voice_of_reason]

I am still curious why task manager shows TWO instances of windows
explorer....both listed as "not responding". Why TWO???

Its almost as if it is somehow spawning a second rogue process......

Any ideas? Is that normal??

 

[R. McCarty]

You can use SysInternals' Process Explorer to examine the two
Explorer instances. Right Click each one, take Properties and use
the Verify (Button) for the Parent Process PID to determine the
Process that initiated the 2nd instance of Explorer.

Having 2 Explorer.Exe processes isn't always Malware related.
But it's best to check and verify:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/ProcessExplorer.mspx

 

[Malke]

I am still curious why task manager shows TWO instances of windows
explorer....both listed as "not responding". Why TWO???

Its almost as if it is somehow spawning a second rogue process......

Any ideas? Is that normal??

Go through these general malware removal steps systematically -
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

Include scanning with David Lipman's Multi_AV and follow instructions to
do all scans in Safe Mode.

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Multi-AV - instructions
http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/sicherheit/35905/multi_av_scanning_tool.html
- download site

The site is in German but David's tool is in English so don't let that
worry you. Scroll all the way down to almost the bottom of the page and
you'll see a box titled "Infos Zum Download - Multi-AV Scanning Tool".
You'll see "Download von www pctipp.ch" and the live link to download
Multi_AV.

You can also check to see if there are targeted removal steps for your
malware here:
Bleeping Computer removal how-to's -
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/forum55.html

When all else fails, run HijackThis and post your log in one of the
specialty forums listed at the first link above (not here, please).

Standard caveat: If the procedures look too complex - and there is no
shame in admitting this isn't your cup of tea - take the machine to a
professional computer repair shop (not your local version of
BigComputerStore/GeekSquad). Please be aware that not all local shops
are skilled at removing malware and even if they are, your computer may
be so infested that Windows will need to be clean-installed. Have all
your data backed up before you take the machine into a shop.

The only alternative to going through the malware removal tediously and
systematically, probably with online help from an HJT forum, and taking
the machine to a real professional is to back up your data and do a
clean install of Windows. It's your call.


Malke

 

[Gerry]

What precise McAfee product do you have installed?

Are you using Site Advisor?

I am still interested in a Disk Defragmenter Report.


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Gerry]

Malke

Did I suggest it was? I asked for a copy of the report as part of the
information gathering process!


--
Regards.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Gerry]

http://www.squarefree.com/2006/02/04/memory-leak-progress/

http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=923

http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q=firefox+memory&mkt=en-us&scope=&FORM=LIVSOP


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~