Opening a folder to save or open a document hangs for a few minutes,

[mike-flood]

OS is Windows 7 64bit 8 gig of ram. Quad core intel Asus M/B.
Lots of free drive space.
When I attempt to open a folder to save a file, or open a file the hour glass freezes for several minutes. I can click on other items outside that folder.
If I wait long enough I can evenually save or access the file(s)
Programs start and run normally.
Computer is slow to start. At boot it reports that no drives are present but then continues to boot.
I have run SFC. No problems reportd.
Drives are defragged.
Net access has no problem.
Burning a CD or DVD happens aat a normal spped.

Can some offer a solution ? Frustrated at bogged down productivity.
Thanks. . .

[chowur]

Check the vendors site for your make of your hard drive.Then download the Diagnostic tools.

[JoeP517]

Power the PC off and check all the physical connections inside.

Use a tool such as Autoruns or WhatInStartup to check and manage what is started when you boot the sytem.

Joe

[Browni]

I get that occasionally especially when trying to connect to another PC in the local network.

Is your PC standalone or are there other PC's connected to you your router?

[mike-flood]

So far I have run the Seagate Seatools and all the drives on my system (using short self-test) pass. I hadn't thought of checking the disk. I'd been focused on some sort of possible system software problem. Thanks for suggesting drive diagnostics.

Joe I was not aware of the startup checking apps but will take a look at those. Thanks

Browni The PC with the problem is the only ethernet computer connected. I have a wireless laptop which is not always on.
I have two TiVo's and a Sony Bravia device on the router. I'll pull those off and see if that makes any change. Thanks for that prompt.
I'll keep plugging away.

[JoeP517]

If you have shared folders on the laptop your PC will try to establish a network connection to the laptop. If the laptop is not on & booted your PC will try to connect until a timeout threshold is reached. During this period your PC will likely be very sluggish to the point of being non-responsive.

Joe

[mike-flood]

Great idea. I'll turn off sharing. Thanks
I took out a lot of the startup stuff and saw a minor improvement in boot-time.
I recall now an old saying that goes "S_ _ _ expands to fill the space available"

This PC used to boot like a rocket. Then I started adding stuff to make it usefull.

[mike-flood]

Ocassioally I ciick on the Red X in the upper right corner in an effort to close the hung folder.
I then get a 3 point message saying that Windows Explorer is not responding and offers options such as

• close the program
• wait for the program to respond
• and something else (sorry I don't recall but you proabaly have seen what I'm talking about)

[JoeP517]

If Windows Explorer is waiting for a network resource that is not available you'll get that behavior.

Joe

[mike-flood]

If Windows Explorer is waiting for a network resource that is not available you'll get that behavior.

Joe

Any thoughts on a good way to check for that problem?

[mike-flood]

removing connections to the wired network made no noticeable change.
BUT. . .I did run a bootable Ubuntu CD (didn't install it, just ran it.) I saw no delays in accessing files on the drives.
That to me would seem to point to a Windows system problem, not a hardware problem.

[JoeP517]

Did you check the physical connections inside the PC?

Are all your drivers up-to-date?

Joe

[mike-flood]

I use Eset Anti-Virus products. Today, just as an experiment I "blocked the network" via the Eset control panel. I was surprised to find that the computer functioned almost as fast as it did when it was new. Opening a folder to read or write a file has no perceptible delay. Just disconnecting the ethernet cable from the PC doesn't have the same effect.
My challanged now is to figure out WHAT on the network the A/V is looking for that boggs down my folder access.
Anyone know of a way to see "what" the A/V is looking for ?

[bbearren]

What settings are you using for your Eset control panel?

I used to run Norton AV, and then it became Symantec, got bloated and thoroughly entangled into the OS, and slowed everything down. I switched to NOD32 from Eset, and it was like Norton used to be. Then it started getting bloated and more entangled into the OS, and slowing things down.

I'm now running Microsoft Security Essentials, and so far, it hasn't gotten all bloated like the major brands. I find it very good in its protection both in AV and malware; and it's free.

[ruirib]

When that happens, if you open Task Manager, kill the explorer process and then use File->New Task (Run...) and type explorer to restart it and then try to do your save of or open the folder, does it improve?