File explorer suddenly running like a stunned slug

[MartG]

Using my PC last night, and all was well. Booted it this morning and file explorer is running ludicrously slow

The issue happens whether using it directly, or when opening/saving files from a browser ( tried both Chrome and Edge ) - it takes around 10 seconds before the files appear and all the buttons are there, and the same when navigating to another directory.

No new software loaded overnight, and the problem seems to vanish when booted into safe mode

I've tried all the usual remedies without success ( sfc /scannow and Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth etc. )

Anyone come across this ?

[Goaty Bill 2]

Have you checked your system event log?

[MartG]

All drives are fine according the SMART, no extra utilisation when using file manager

[Funk]

Goaty Bill 2 said:

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I didn't want to say that straight out, but if it's constantly slow to respond, that would be my conclusion as well.

Same.

Although it may not necessarily be the primary.

OP, run chkdsk /r on all disks from cmd prompt and see whether it picks up on any issues.

[MartG]

All disks check out as being fine

[Funk]

Next step would be a system restore back to few days ago if I were you. If it continues to happen then it's likely hardware rather than a change to the OS..

[Goaty Bill 2]

But, did you check the system event log?

[TameRacingDriver]

Got any third party virus software on there? I had to remove some from my PC as it was causing similar issues to what you describe.

[Vaud]

The fact that it runs fine in safe mode would rule out hardware issues in my mind?

[Funk]

Vaud said:

The fact that it runs fine in safe mode would rule out hardware issues in my mind?

Not if it's hardware that's not used when in safe mode?

[Vaud]

Funk said:

Not if it's hardware that's not used when in safe mode?

Possible. Some odd network driver playing havoc maybe.

[Penelope Stopit]

Get a startup manager and set everything to off at startup then fire them up one by one to find out whats causing it

[Watchman]

Do you access a network drive at home? When I access our NAS at home, then come to work, Explorer takes a few seconds to register the NAS is no longer attached before it'll let me access or save files. It does this once for every different app that requires to open or save files.

[MartG]

Watchman said:

Do you access a network drive at home? When I access our NAS at home, then come to work, Explorer takes a few seconds to register the NAS is no longer attached before it'll let me access or save files. It does this once for every different app that requires to open or save files.

Absolutely no changes made to the PC or the network between Friday night, when it was working fine, and Saturday morning when it wasn't

[driver67]

Check if Windows Update KB2952664 has been installed recently. If so, uninstall.


Suspect process is compattelrunner.exe (something to do with Win 10).

[WinstonWolf]

What does Task Manager show?

[WinstonWolf]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Unfortunately that doesn't tell us what we need to know. Numbers man, we need numbers Which processes are using the CPU and RAM?

If you can't break it down enough grab the sysinternals suite and drill into the processes that are hogging the machine.

[mebe]

OK I've had this for the last for days on a Win 10 machine, seemed to start after the latest bunch of updates were installed.

For me it's Windows Defender causing the problem. Go to defender settings and disable it and file explorer is perfect again. Sadly defender turns itself back on after a period of time so it's not a permanent cure.

[Funk]

If you're on Pro you can disable it permanently.

[mebe]

Funk said:

If you're on Pro you can disable it permanently.

Didn't know that.

Sadly seems this El Cheapo laptop has Home on it.