it takes a long time to load explorer

[rainmaker]

hello,

I have new PC, C2D E8400, 2GB DDR2, dual channel, GF 8800GT 512.

Running on Win XP Home, SP2.

but, even with this "fast" hardware, I experience the following problem:

everytime I log in to my WIN account, all processes are loaded, my antivirus (KAV), firewall (ZoneAlarm), my sound control (Creative). but then, I want to run win explorer by using the key shortuct: windows+E.

and after pressing this, the windows bar (the blue one in the bottom) just freezes up. and it takes, around 30secs until it starts to work again and until the explorer shows up.

in the same time, I can open anything from desktop, even My Computer.
but the bar is still freezed.

it happens sometimes also during normal office work, hours after logging in...

it is very annoying. I thought I would have such a problem with the 3.0 Ghz CPU...
can you give me some hints how to solve this?
I have the latest VGA driver. my CPU is not overclocked...

 

[katanadude]

Pause your Kaspersky antivirus program and then try explorer. Don't surf the net with the antivirus paused. I think you might find the problem is with the settings in Kaspersky.

 

[Shadow703793]

Try FireFox.

 

[nukemaster]

Sometimes there is still items loading that may cause this on startup, but it should not happen any time after that.
Some times defragging can help as the files can be loaded faster.

I am not sure what creative card you have, but with the Audigy cards the creative drivers did not like multi core. Does the creative mixer take long to open and close(it hangs for a bit after you close it?). if it does disable it for now and see if its any better. if it is, post and i will tell you how to fix it....

 

[monst0r]

Try FireFox.

Actually, FF is slower at startup (uses more memory). I still use it because of its functionality, but it's not the problem in this case. OP, seems like either
-your hard drive can't keep up with the request somehow
-check the running processes, one might be stealing clock cycles from IE.

 

[rainmaker]

Sometimes there is still items loading that may cause this on startup, but it should not happen any time after that.
Some times defragging can help as the files can be loaded faster.

I am not sure what creative card you have, but with the Audigy cards the creative drivers did not like multi core. Does the creative mixer take long to open and close(it hangs for a bit after you close it?). if it does disable it for now and see if its any better. if it is, post and i will tell you how to fix it....

I have Audigy 2 ZS...

I disabled all Creative StartUp services in a msconfig, and rebooted - it was the same as before.
then, I turned the KAV startup initialization off, rebooted and it was much more quicker reboot and also the explorer came up almost right after the key input.
then, I turned the KAV startup init. back to ON, reboot, and again received a nice, quick reboot, and open 4 explores with no problem...


so, it could be Creative related. let's try to solve that.

...to firefox...> i think win explorer is something different from IE 7 or FireFox or Opera...

and, btw, what is the difference between My Computer and Explorer ? one can be run while the another does not.

and, may be this problem somehow a hardware related?

 

[SomeJoe7777]

Sometimes, problems with Windows Explorer can relate to some only indirectly-related things.

When you open Windows Explorer, what folder opens up and in what view? If it's My Documents, and you have some pictures, movies, or other large files in there and you're in thumbnail or icon view, Windows Explorer attempts to open each file to generate the thumbnail. This in turn causes anti-virus programs to scan the files for viruses before it lets Explorer open the file. If the files/pictures/movies are really large, you're waiting on the anti-virus program to scan all of them before the Explorer window will open.

This could also be a reason why opening My Computer works fine -- since there are no files visible (only drives), there might not be any wait.

A second possible culprit is CD/DVD drives with a hard-to-read CD-ROM or DVD-ROM in them. Windows Explorer will wait until it has a "media mount" notification from the CD/DVD drive before it will draw the window. If the CD/DVD drive is taking a long time to recognize the media, this will hang up Explorer.

Another possible culprit is toolbars. Any toolbars that get installed for additional functionality in Windows Explorer have to initialize when they start up. Some toolbars take longer than others to initialize (like Adobe's PDF creation toolbar), and some are dependent on other things, like Internet access.

A final possibility is network drives. If you've previously mapped a network drive to a drive letter in Windows Explorer, and the network drive is no longer available on the network, Windows Explorer likes to hang up while it looks for it.

There is no real difference between Windows Explorer and My Computer. My Computer is just Windows Explorer in icon view with the folders pane hidden. If you click on the "Folders" button in the toolbar while My Computer is open, the window will then look just like the default Explorer view.

 

[nukemaster]

Ok for the creative thing. and i can confirm i have seen it cause some problems in the past.

Before you do this make sure you are running the latest drivers from creative. the ones on the CD have a few issues. so update your drivers. Its a shame creative never fixed the mixer other apps.

Before you begin you will need an app called imagecfg(I used a different one, but just tested this one and it works fine). Extract imagecfg.exe to your c:
http://www.reality-xp.com/support/knowledgebase/1006.htm

-CTRL + ALT + DEL and make sure CTSysVol.exe is not running, if it is, end it
-Navigate to C:\Program Files\Creative\SBAudigy2ZS\Surround Mixer\
-Take a copy of CTSysVol.exe to your main c:
-Rename the original CTSysVol.exe to CTSysVol.BAK(just in case you break it any time in the future)
-Click start then run
-In the run window type "cmd" and hit enter
-You should have a command prompt window up now.
-Type "cd\" to get to your root of c:
-Type " imagecfg -a 0x1 CTSysVol.exe"
-Close the dos window and copy the "New" CTSysVol.exe back to C:\Program Files\Creative\SBAudigy2ZS\Surround Mixer\
-msconfig it back and try. At the very least the mixer will open and close faster.

This fix tells the mixer to only use one cpu since it does not work well with multi cpu systems. try to launch all the creative apps(THX,Speaker config ect) that you can from the mixer, since this will make them run on one core as well.

 

[rainmaker]

hi,

I did that "magic" with the Creative mixer but my problem still remains.
I am really confused because this is completely new PC and on my old one, I didnt have such a problem and it was "only" Athlon 64 3000+ with 1GB RAM.

so, now I think that this can be hardware related. but I dont know how... because everything works fine - no lags in games, no problem to open and run programs...

only Win Explorer is making me angry. once again exactly my problem:

right after logging in to Win XP Home, I want to open Win. explorer by WINDOWS+E shortcut and then, my Start bar freezes up and I wait for the Explorer window about 30 seconds... during this time period, I can open anything from my desktop, My computer too.

this same thing happens sometimes also during a normal work. e.g. just few minutes ago, I was browsing the net and wanted something from Explorer, so I pressed WIN+E and the bar freezed and no window appeared...

please, give me another hint... could be this because faulty MoBo or RAm or CPU or VGA??

have the newest BIOS, VGA drivers, also the newest ASUS DVD-RW firmware.

CPU: Intel E8400
2GB RAM, Kingston 800MHZ, Dual channel
MoBo Gigabyte P35-DS3R, rev 2.1
2x SATA HDD, Seagate 250GB - one is for system and one for data, not in RAID.
VGA: Gigabyte GF 8800GT
and Creative SB Audigy 2 ZS.

want to remark, that it happens when ALL processes are loaded, so there is no CPU or RAM usage.

thank you

 

[Zoron]

Sounds like a stretch... but try removing the Audigy and see what happens. I know that you don't have a VIA chipset motherboard; but there have been a lot of issues with Creative cards and VIA chipsets. Since this is a new Intel chipset... who knows... Creative might be having issues with it as well.

If you can open My Computer with no issues... then I really don't have an answer for you. The only other thing I can think of is to make sure you have the latest chipset drivers installed.

 

[nukemaster]

Before you do that, make sure that CTsysvol did infact get its affinity changed.

-CTRL + ALT + DEL
-Right click CTsysvol and select "Set Affinity"
-Make sure only on cpu has a check, if its both the patching did not work

If thats good one last thing to try. Running out of idea's Your system should eat windows for breakfast
-Open My Computer
-Select Tools => Folder Options
-Select the View tab
-Add a check to "Launch folder windows in a separate process"

All this does is make your explorer windows run as a separate process, normally they are run as the same process as the taskbar. A Side effect of this is if you crash an explorer window it will not take out the task bar with it(thats a good thing for most)...

 

[rainmaker]

thank you guys for your answers,

I set "Launch folder windows in a separate process" - so I will see what happens. I will definitely let you know.

and I will remove Creative and try use the Realtek on board. but the strange thing is, while I wait for Windows Explorer , in the Task manager there is steady CPU and RAM usage. 0%-4% of CPU... it looks like there is no request on CPU to do anything, like to open W.E.

one next thing. I have two partitions on the system HDD, one is where WinXP is installed and the other is free for backups. could be this a problem? I am thinking about anything which is different than on my old PC...

thanks

 

[nukemaster]

The 0-4percent usage is only cpu related, if your hard drive is in use(check the HDD led and see if its blinking allot.) you may get some delays. Some users have reported that disabling and re-enabling there page file(with a reboot on each action, sometimes it may be fragmented. so remaking it should try to make it in a free space.) have given better performance.

I have my drive partitioned for my windows media center recordings and other temp work. so that should not cause any problems for you.

Keep us posted.

 

[rainmaker]

-HDD LED indicator is completely calm, not blinking, dark, no activity.

-I have turned the page file off, so the system should use only the physical RAM memory (if I am not mistaken) and it should not create the pagfile.sys on the system HDD.

but it does. even it is switched off, I have the pagefile.sys there, has size of 2GB... why? should I delete it manualy or my logic is bad?

-I repositioned the RAM modules, so now I have them in DDR1 and DDR2 slots - so no Dual Channel, and DDR1 slot is in use for the first time. (the original config was DDR2 and DDR4, in each 1GB module), maybe I should try DDR1 and DDR3 config...

-memtest86, being ran from boot disk, didnt give me any errors

and the problem remains...

just few minutes ago, I turned on the PC, logged in, waited till KAV had updated itself, and then pressed Windows+E. it took around one minute to open it!! and all clicks made on the task bar during this "lag" were also performed after this time...

and again, no problem with opening anything from the desktop, My computer, Word, Task manager (CTRL+ALT+DEL)... very strange

so now, I think it should be either hardware related or the Windows installation is wrong (have the original WinXP Home CD with SP2, year 2002, Czech version).

so what should I try next? what hardware component can cause this kind of a problem?

so far, the only solution is to restart the explorer.exe process via Task Manager...

who to contact for more help? does Microsoft have any e-mail or web form where to write?

 

[nukemaster]

I do not think that the pagefile.sys(i did not check) goes away when you turn it off. Its not supposed to use it. From my tests it did not even though the task manager shows it.

I would have to say try one last time with the AV off(or at least its real time scan engine.).

You have a very unique problem. A reinstall may be the only thing you did not try.

 

[rainmaker]

you are right about the reinstall... I will do it in a close future, will install only Win XP and drivers for HW, no AV or ZA, and we´ll see...

do you think that I may have something wrong with HW?

will try to start PC without AV and ZA and LAN running...

and have next point: this problem does not appear after reboot. only when turning on the PC. (this is so far my observation)

I tried hints form this page: http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives/2007/08/15/solutions-to-taskbar-hangs-or-freezes-in-windows-xp/

but with no success

 

[nukemaster]

I can not think of any hardware problem causing that. Saying it happens on the first start and not restarts almost sounds like a virus scanner's first check for updates of the day.

If you do reinstall. Keep your patched creative mixer. Trust me that can cause some delays in folders with lots of pictures for some reason.

I can not comment on ZA because i have not used it in many years(think windows 98.)

 

[rainmaker]

I think it is not caused by AV, because I wait till he finishes all updates. and then I press Win+E... I wait till all processes are loaded - simply, the system is ready.

but I am trying now another thing. I disconnected LAN (my internet, local network) and shut down the PC. then started with LAN off, and explorer loaded flawlessly. then I turned LAN on, by clicking on the icon and "Allow", and right after that, I pushed Win+E. and the problem appeared. so, i think it is something with my LAN controller - Realtek on board, with the latest driver (checked also on Realtek web page).. now I am running on PCI LAN card, also Realtek but very old one, manufactured by OvisLink (LFE-8139ATX), and will post you the results...

PS: what Firewall do you use?

 

[nukemaster]

does the OvisLink card work work without this issue(i have one from them kicking around too and its realtek as well)?

Maybe check windows update for a driver for your other card.

My onboard is a realtek 8168 Gigabit card with driver 5.674.807.2007.

As for firewall, since its only me running the machine i only have the windows firewall and the one(or 2 if you want to be technical) in my router. Its never been a problem so far. For my laptop(since it goes all over the place) i am running Trend Micro Internet security(its pretty much everything rolled into one).

 

[rainmaker]

it seems it is the same with that another LAn card...
but I think, it is definitely something with LAN. I have "variable" or "not static" IP address in my local net, so maybe the LAN card everytime I turn the PC on asks for a new IP. I will turn it to static IP and will see what happens.

and if this would not work, I will reinstall Win, hopefully in May or June. I will instal only WinXP and VGA driver. then I will see if there would be this issue.

on board LAN is: Realtek 8111/8169 LAN with driver: 5.686.0103.2008

 

[nukemaster]

My computers all have dynamic ip's assigned by the router. that should not effect anything, but you never know this is a strange problem.

 

[Mehrad1362]

Long delay for My computer to show up

I had that experience before...

I removed my floppy drive from my computer ( I no longer need that old tech, It looks better on my desk as a luxury old peace of sth belongs for decades ago)

But I forgot removing it from my Vista. Then I pressed Windows + Break and went to Device Manager then under Floppy Disk Drives I disabled my FDD drive and now explorer shows up exactly when I press Windows + E shortcut (My Computer).

 

[rainmaker]

thanks

I am going to try it.

 

[nukemaster]

You may as well go disable the floppy in the bios too.

I tried but did not see much difference. It loads in maybe half a second(if that) with and without it is instant. A small price to play to be able use my floppy that i just realized was unplugged

 

[rainmaker]

thnx. but i am still having the problem with WIN loading. it takes 3 minutes to completely load from Log in page to ready-to-use status. (all taskbar icons loaded, antivirus...) 3 minutes. terrible. could be this caused by the size of Docs and Settings folders? something around 2 GB...