Windows Explorer

[TCR]

HI, On my DELL laptop ia have Windows XP. When I open windows explorer (NOT internet explorer) it opens up the explorer windows and then a torch appears and it runs for while before I was able to see all drives.

Samething happens if I try to save via excel or word to change the folder , then it will hang on for a long time before I could see the drives and folders.

Any idea why this happening and appreciate any suggestions to resolve it.

Thank you

[kpac]

First of all welcome to Computer Hope!

I dont really understand your problem. Is it that no folders and files come up? And they do when you save a file or change the folder?

[quaxo]

Well, I understand the problem, but could you define "a long time"? 10 seconds? 10 minutes? What?

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

@ Kpac (Quaxo, you posted before me)

I think he means that the thing just freezes a lot. Is that right?

TCR,

Is this the first time or has it always been like this?

[TCR]

Hi All,

Thank you for your quick responses. basically when I fire up windows explorer it should show up all drives and folders. But in my case sooner the explorer opens up a torch staart to run and I would say normally it runs for about 3 minutes before showing up the drives and folders. I really don't know why that is happeneing.

Would it be the case of it searching for something then showing up the drives and and its contents?

[TCR]

@ Kpac (Quaxo, you posted before me)

I think he means that the thing just freezes a lot. Is that right?

TCR,

Is this the first time or has it always been like this?

It happens all the time.....

[TCR]

Well, I understand the problem, but could you define "a long time"? 10 seconds? 10 minutes? What?

I would say the torch runs for about 3 minutes before showing up the drives and its contents

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

Woah that's a long time.

Any Background Processes taking up all your CPU power and RAM? (look task manager)

What is your processor speed and RAM?

[TCR]

I am not sure, how can I check any background processes and if so, can I stop them and how?
As I am not with my Laptop right now , I could check the processor speed and RAM tonight, but as this laptop is fairly new (not more than 3 years old), I guess there should not be any problems with speeds.

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

You would be surprised what can happen in three years, my friend.

To check them, press CTRL + ALT + Delete and go to the Processes Tab.
You list anything that's taking up a lot of CPU and/or Mem Usage. (or everything).

I don't think a HijackThis log is necessary....at least not now...

[soybean]

@ Kpac (Quaxo, you posted before me)

I think he means that the thing just freezes a lot. Is that right?

TCR,

Is this the first time or has it always been like this?

It happens all the time.....

Has it always done this (always: meaning since the computer was new)?

What are the hardware specs on that computer?  How full is the hard drive?

Do you use any disk cleanup utilities such as Windows Disk Cleanup or CCleaner? 

Has that computer ever been networked with other computers?

[TCR]

@ Kpac (Quaxo, you posted before me)

I think he means that the thing just freezes a lot. Is that right?

TCR,

Is this the first time or has it always been like this?

When it was new, I didn't have any problems like this.....after about a year or so this started. Since then I have done disk clean and even I have done factory reset (means deleted everything and brought the laptop back to original set up). When I did factory reset, it started to work fine but after about a month this issue has started again. Only thing I did within that period is that I reloaded my microsoft softwares, internet softwares etc.

As I haven't got the laptop with me right now (I am writing this from work) I could not give you hardware info as requested. But I know it was 60GB hard drive and with I believe 1GB processor. But I would assume there would be about 40GB free space available in my hard disk.

It has never been network connected but has wireless internet access. It has a network card slot, but it has nothing in it, just a plastic cover provided by DELL. Hope I have answered your questions.
It happens all the time.....

Has it always done this (always: meaning since the computer was new)?

What are the hardware specs on that computer?  How full is the hard drive?

Do you use any disk cleanup utilities such as Windows Disk Cleanup or CCleaner? 

Has that computer ever been networked with other computers?

[TCR]

@ Kpac (Quaxo, you posted before me)

I think he means that the thing just freezes a lot. Is that right?

TCR,

Is this the first time or has it always been like this?

When it was new, I didn't have any problems like this.....after about a year or so this started. Since then I have done disk clean and even I have done factory reset (means deleted everything and brought the laptop back to original set up). When I did factory reset, it started to work fine but after about a month this issue has started again. Only thing I did within that period is that I reloaded my microsoft softwares, internet softwares etc.

As I haven't got the laptop with me right now (I am writing this from work) I could not give you hardware info as requested. But I know it was 60GB hard drive and with I believe 1GB processor. But I would assume there would be about 40GB free space available in my hard disk.

It has never been network connected but has wireless internet access. It has a network card slot, but it has nothing in it, just a plastic cover provided by DELL. Hope I have answered your questions.
It happens all the time.....

Has it always done this (always: meaning since the computer was new)?

What are the hardware specs on that computer?  How full is the hard drive?

Do you use any disk cleanup utilities such as Windows Disk Cleanup or CCleaner? 

Has that computer ever been networked with other computers?

Further yesterday's info I confirm hard disk size is 80GB and 53GB free space left. 1 GB processor and it has 1.5GB RAM. Hope this helps.

[TCR]

You would be surprised what can happen in three years, my friend.

To check them, press CTRL + ALT + Delete and go to the Processes Tab.
You list anything that's taking up a lot of CPU and/or Mem Usage. (or everything).

I don't think a HijackThis log is necessary....at least not now...

Hi on the process tab I saw quite a lot of programs running. What do I need to do? Are they important or not? Do you think that is what causing the problem? PLease advise.

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

Anything taking up a lot of Mem Usage or CPU? Also, open Windows Explorer.


Right on the Next Tab, it would be helpful to know what the CPU Usage is and PF Usage when Windows Explorer is open.