Attempting to diagnose explorer.exe delays when accessing media files

[Backdoorman53200]

My tech skills are those of a non-college educated, self-taught, user, who isnt too proud to admit that I have learned many things from my son who went to college - who describes me as a mid-level user.

I'm running the 64bit version of Windows 8 - which was upgraded to v8.1 about 6 months ago, and I have been having issues with explorer.exe taking WAY too long to cut, paste, delete or access media files (avi, mp4, mkv,etc)... but, Im not having this symptom when I access image files, text files, cbt files or pdf files... just when Im accessing media files.

My PC is running an AMD A10-5800K APU with Radeon HD Graphics 3.8Ghz CPU and it has 16GB of DDR3 RAM

The symptom initially started as a subtle issue, but over time, the lag-time has gotten much worse, and is starting to be a problem that affects my ability to use my PC as a media center.

So, after reading a few pages on Microsoft's website - I ran System File Checker tool (SFC.exe) to see if any of the Windows files on my PC are corrupted, and this was the sfcdetails log of the only file that sfc.exe couldn't repair:

CSI 000008ef [SR] Cannot repair member file [l:36{18}]"Amd64\CNBJ2530.DPB" of prncacla.inf, Version = 6.3.9600.17415, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_AMD64 (9), Culture neutral, VersionScope = 1 nonSxS, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, Type = [l:24{12}]"driverUpdate", TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral in the store, hash mismatch

However, I'm not sure that this corrupted file is the source of the delays in explorer.exe... because the last attempt to update the video drivers wasnt as smooth as it normally is - but one problem at a time.

So, how do I repair or replace this corrupted file ?

And if THAT doesnt resolve the issue with explorer.exe - any suggestions of what should I try next ?

UPDATE:

I opened cmd.exe as an administrator and ran : Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth ... and after that completed - it said "Restore Operation completed successfully - the component store corruption was repaired - the operation completed successfully"...

So, I ran the System File Checker Tool again and this time it was able to completely repair that corrupted "Amd64\CNBJ2530.DPB" file.

But, as I suspected, the corrupted AMD file was not the source of the explorer.exe delays with media files - I am still having the same delays when trying to move, delete, or play media files.

I am using VLC media player, and I have the K-Lite Mega codec pack installed, but I rarely use the MPC player & I NEVER use windows media player.

Initially, I didnt have any delays when playing media files - just when I was moving them around, renaming the files, and/or deleting the files - but now Im starting to see delays when I play the files by double clicking on the media files - VLC is the default media player on my PC.

 

[junkeymonkey]

maybe your harddrive is having issues and corrupting things ?? bad sata data cable not transferring data well ? memory issues ?? failing controller ?

thing is what caused the corruption to start with ??? that's the hard part and will it pop right back up at any time ??

 

[Hellfire13]

Your HDD is probably dying and taking the last few breaths on its way out. Download http://www.hdsentinel.com/ and check health and smart data.
Open CMD on elevated level and run chkdsk /r/f.

 

[junkeymonkey]

looking it up seems kinda common with win-8 ?? maybe that fix straightened it out , and may not ever run in to it again ?? time will tell could be a file /program changed it and it got rejected ?

 

[Hellfire13]

^^ Thats a possibility too.

 

[Backdoorman53200]

In reply to Junkey Monkey

1) the corrupted AMD file might have happened the last time I tried to update the video drivers & AMD Catalyst software - there was a power interruption before the update completed, and the PC wasnt powered down - So, after the power came back on a few hours later, I had to start the PC up a 2nd time to do the updates.

2) As for the HDD dying - I hope not ?

I ran HDD Regenerater less than 3 months ago & it didnt report any bad sectors... but I can always run it again http://www.dposoft.net/

 

[Hellfire13]

Then check your cpu/ram usage in task manager. Something might be leaking resource.

 

[Backdoorman53200]

HellFire

The RAM usage is less than 30% & the CPU usage is less than 40%

and my browser WaterFox (the 64 bit version of FireFox) usually is the program or service that is using most of both.

How would I know if something is leaking resource ?

 

[Backdoorman53200]

The thing I find odd is that Im not having the same problem when accessing files that arent media files...

 

[Hellfire13]

Usually if any app/prog./software is hogging ram/cpu, it might be eating resource beyond requirement. See if any background program is taking up your resource. In task manager go to view and activate cpu time. See which process is taking max time to respond. Clear your temp folder. Run chkdsk as suggested above. Run a deep scan with your antivirus and malwarebytes as well. Report back.

 

[junkeymonkey]

don't know ?? this guy just the other day posted with his as well

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3358442/windows-explorer-broken-severely-slow-internet-sole-computer.html

I use VLC but not had issue with its use [so far]

 

[Backdoorman53200]

Im running HDD Regenerator at the moment - then I will run chkdsk after that

I hope its not the HDD (sigh)

I have Comodo Internet Security suite as my antivirus & Firewall; and the antispyware software that I use is Malwarebytes, Spyware Blaster, and Spybot S&D - I update them at least every 2 weeks & run a scan about once a month... and thus far nothing has been flagged as an infection.

 

[Hellfire13]

Also check with harddisksentineel, its pretty good and accurate. Reintall the media apps once again. After this we might have to go to OS level and subsequently hardware level with memtest and all.
Btwn, please list your full specs with a summary of Windows User Experience data scores.

 

[junkeymonkey]

sounds like you may got too much security running at the same time ?? maybe conflicting with each other ?

 

[Backdoorman53200]

sounds like you may got too much security running at the same time ?? maybe conflicting with each other ?

All the security software on my PCs are the freeware versions... so, to my knowledge, other than Spybot SD Resident - they arent in an active protection mode - Instead, I use Malwarebytes, and Spybot S&D as spyware scanning & removal tools that I manually run about once a month.

And, to my knowledge, spyware blaster just blocks my browser from accessing known infected websites, or possibly stops known infections from being able to access the internet by re-setting their web addresses in my hosts file to "0.0.0.0" - so they cant "dial out" to access the internet.

So, unless I dont understand how those software programs operate - I dont see how they could be in conflict with each other as I only manually run ONE antispyware scanner/removal tool at a time - and Im not aware of any conflicts between Comodo Internet Security (combined firewall & antivirus - freeware edition) and the Spybot SD Resident of the original "old school" version of Spybot S&D.

The freeware tools I use are the ones that my son recommended I try using due to ease of use & reliability for a non-college educated user... and I have been using this combination of freeware security software programs, on all of the PCs in my household for years.

I am a low-income person living on an SSI income - and I do "tune-ups" for the other low-income people in my neighborhood, and try to show them how to use these freeware tools to keep their PCs & Laptops working as best as is possible once I have used this combination of freeware malware tools to remove the malware from their PCs - given that most low income people really cant afford to buy the FULL versions of many anti-malware tools.

I am a firm believe in the masses having access to technology to help minimize the growing technological "gap" between the "Haves" and the "Have Nots"... So, by using & teaching others to use freeware security and/or anti-malware software - I try to help close that gap for the low income people in my life, and in my community.

If I am mistaken about the reliability of using this combination of freeware security software - please let me know - not only so I dont create problems for myself - but so I dont do so for the other low income people who's PCs I do "tune ups" on, and whom I show how to use these freeware tools on their PCs.

 

[Backdoorman53200]

Hellfire13 - I just finished running HDD Regenerator -it repoerted that there were no bed sectors reported on my C drive

then I ran cmd.exe as an administrator and entered "chkdsk /r/f" and then rebooted the PC to let chechdisk run during the boot-up

Then a ran defraggler - it only reported 7.4% of my files were fragmented - but to be safe I ran defraggler in Boot Mode on my C drive - and rebooted the PC.

I dont see "user experience" listed - let alone a value for it when I right click MY Computer and select properties.

I was able to create an .nfo file with my system settings - but that list when displayed as a text file is HUGE - is that what you need ? and if so what do you need out of it ? here is some of it

"System Summary"
OS Name [Microsoft Windows 8.1]
Version [6.3.9600 Build 9600]
Other OS Description [Not Available]
OS Manufacturer [Microsoft Corporation]
System Type [x64-based PC]
CPU [AMD A10-5800K APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics, 3800 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)]
BIOS Version/Date [American Megatrends Inc. 5104, 9/14/2012]
SMBIOS Version] [2.7]
Embedded Controller Version [255.255]
BIOS Mode [Legacy]
BaseBoard Manufacturer [ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.]
BaseBoard Model [Available]
Platform Role [Desktop]
Secure Boot State [Unsupported]
PCR7 Configuration [Not Available]
Secure Boot State [Unsupported]
PCR7 Configuration [Not Available]
Windows Directory [C:\WINDOWS]
System Directory [C:\WINDOWS\system32]
Boot Device [\Device\HarddiskVolume1]
Hardware Abstraction Layer [Version = "6.3.9600.17196"]
User Name *************
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) [16.0 GB]
Total Physical Memory [15.4 GB]
Available Physical Memory 12.3 GB
Total Virtual Memory [16.4 GB]
Available Virtual Memory [12.8 GB]
Page File Space [1.00 GB]
Page File [C:\pagefile.sys]
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions [Yes]
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions [Yes]
Hyper-V - Virtualization Enabled in Firmware [Yes]
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection [Yes]

The only thing odd I see is that after I load HDD Regenerator in Windows is that it is now giving me an error message that states that ALL of my PC's 3.5in 2TB & 4TB SATA HDDs are givng me a SMART error of "0x02" - but it's not giving me a value - and wikipedia says that error "0x02" = throughput performance, and that the higher the number - the better - but without a value assigned to the error message - how am I supposed to assess the vulnerability of my PCs HDDs - if one exists ?

I really cant afford to shell out for 6 new HDDs if I dont need to do so yet - and since I dont have any bad sectors yet - do I really need to start replacing HDDs yet ?

 

[junkeymonkey]

Overall (general) throughput performance of a hard disk drive. If the value of this attribute is decreasing there is a high probability that there is a problem with the disk.

may of posted a screen shot of the smart screen ?? you see from here that throughput performance is showing a value ?

that coul;d be due to a bad data cable or a connection or even a failing sata controller or needs a driver update ? I do feel a sata data cable is a crappy link between the board and the drives , sloppy ill fitting for a critical link between them unlike old ide ribbon that was a positive tight fit ?? [opinion] I had to replace / change a few sata data cables causing errors .

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/288727-32-good-hard-drive-monitor-programs-free


this seemed interesting /

''It looks like some non Microsoft program is causing the issue. We recommend you to check if any non Microsoft program is causing this on your computer.''

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-performance/explorerexe-crashes-when-opening-a-folder/a8834e9e-52a6-49fb-b94d-5607b888e66b


https://www.eightforums.com/general-support/53222-opening-certain-folders-causes-windows-explorer-crash.html

 

[Hellfire13]

Is your windows activated and is automatic update turned on???

 

[Backdoorman53200]

I set windows update to notify me of an update - but to let me decide when & if I want to install it - becuse some earlier windows updates were crappy and caused more problems than they solved - so, I wait for at least a month after a new update posts to see if there are any complaints about the new update before I install it.

I dont have hard-disk-sentinel - but I did find another freeware tool called Disc-Checkup - which I installed & ran an extensive scan on my C drive - which took 2-4 hours per drive... here are the results of the scan of my C drive:

*** DiskCheckup V3.4 Build: 1003 Report ***

SysInfo DLL Version: SysInfo v1.0 Build: 1122
Time of export: 04:31:47 19-Mar-2017

Device information:
Device ID: 0
Interface: SATA
Device Capacity: 1430796 MB
Serial Number: 9VS1P305
Model Number: ST31500341AS
Firmware Revision: CC1H
Partitions:
C: 1187355 MB

ATA information:

Disk geometry:
Cylinders: 182401
Tracks/Cylinder: 255
Sectors/Track: 63
Bytes/Sector: 512
Total disk sectors: 2930277168
Logical sector size: 512
Physical sector size: 512
Media rotation rate: 7200 RPM
Buffer size: N/A
ECC size: 4 Bytes

Standards compliance:
ATA8-ACS Supported: Yes
ATA/ATAPI-7 Supported: Yes
ATA/ATAPI-6 Supported: Yes
ATA/ATAPI-5 Supported: Yes
ATA/ATAPI-4 Supported: Yes
SATA Compliance: Yes
SATA Gen3 Signaling Speed (6.0Gb/s) Supported: No
SATA Gen2 Signaling Speed (3.0Gb/s) supported: Yes
SATA Gen1 Signaling Speed (1.5Gb/s) supported: Yes

Transport Type: Serial

SATA 3.0 Transport Compilance: No
SATA 2.6 Transport Compilance: Yes
SATA 2.5 Transport Compilance: No
SATA II: Ext Transport Compilance: No
SATA 1.0a Transport Compilance: No
ATA8-AST Transport Compilance: No
World Wide ID: 5000C50014A30FA6

Feature support:
SMART supported: Yes
SMART enabled: Yes
SMART self-test supported: Yes
SMART error log supported: Yes
LBA supported: Yes
IORDY supported: Yes
CFast supported: No
DMA supported: Yes
Maximum Multiword DMA mode supported: 2
Multiword DMA selected: None
Maximum UltraDMA mode supported: 6
UltraDMA selected: 6
Maximum PIO mode supported: 4
SATA Compliance: Yes
NCQ priority information supported: No
Unload while NCQ commands are outstanding supported: No
Phy Event Counters supported: Yes
Receipt of power management requests supported: No
NCQ feature set supported: Yes
Software Settings Preservation: Supported, Enabled
In-order data delivery: Not supported
Initiating power management: Supported, Disabled
DMA Setup auto-activation: Not supported
Non-zero buffer offsets: Not supported
Trusted Computing supported: No
Host Protected Area (HPA) supported: Yes
Read look-ahead supported: Yes
Read look-ahead enabled: Yes
Write cache supported: Yes
Write cache enabled: Yes
Power management supported: Yes
Security mode supported: Yes
Security mode enabled: No
Device Configuration Overlay (DCO) supported: Yes
48bit Addressing supported: Yes
Auto Acoustic Managment (AAM) supported: Yes
Auto Acoustic Managment (AAM) enabled: Yes
Recommended AAM level: Maximum performance
Current AAM level: Vendor specific
Power-up in Standby (PUIS) supported: No
Advanced Power Management (APM) supported: No
CompactFlash Association (CFA) supported: No
General Purpose Logging (GPL) supported: Yes
Streaming supported: No
Media card pass through supported: No
Extended power conditions supported: No
Extended status reporting supported: No
Write-read-verify supported: Yes
Write-read-verify enabled: No
Free-fall control supported: No
TRIM command supported: No
SCT command transport supported: Yes
NV Cache enabled: No
NV Cache Power Management supported: No

SMART ATTRIBUTES:
ID Description Status Value Worst Threshold Raw Value TEC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Raw Read Error Rate OK 117 99 6 124408294 N/A
3 Spin Up Time OK 100 96 0 0 N/A
4 Start/Stop Count OK 99 99 20 1789 N/A
5 Reallocated Sector Count OK 100 100 36 21 N/A
7 Seek Error Rate OK 87 60 30 632289004 N/A
9 Power On Time OK 57 57 0 37884 N/A
10 Spin Retry Count OK 100 100 97 2 N/A
12 Power Cycle Count OK 99 37 20 1785 N/A
184 End-to-End error OK 100 100 99 0 N/A
187 Reported Uncorrectable Errors OK 100 100 0 0 N/A
188 Command Timeout OK 100 97 0 12885098639 N/A
189 High Fly Writes OK 1 1 0 711 N/A
190 Temperature Difference from 100 OK 52 44 45 35166421040 N/A
194 Temperature OK 48 56 0 48 C N/A
195 Hardware ECC Recovered OK 39 24 0 124408294 N/A
197 Current Pending Sector Count OK 100 100 0 0 N/A
198 Uncorrectable Sector Count OK 100 100 0 0 N/A
199 UltraDMA CRC Error Count OK 200 200 0 7 N/A
240 Head flying hours OK 100 253 0 142940806616046 N/A
241 Total LBAs Written OK 100 253 0 3621547153 N/A
242 Total LBAs Read OK 100 253 0 1281731930 N/A

 

[Backdoorman53200]

Overall (general) throughput performance of a hard disk drive. If the value of this attribute is decreasing there is a high probability that there is a problem with the disk.

may of posted a screen shot of the smart screen ?? you see from here that throughput performance is showing a value ?

I dont know how to create a screen-shot - of the smart screen - Ive never done that before

As for the SATA controller driver - Windows says its already running the most recent driver for it...

Can a lay-person diagnose weather or not their SATA controller is failing, and if so - are there reliable freeware tools that would allow one to do so ?

"that coul;d be due to a bad data cable or a connection or even a failing sata controller or needs a driver update ? I do feel a sata data cable is a crappy link between the board and the drives , sloppy ill fitting for a critical link between them unlike old ide ribbon that was a positive tight fit ?? [opinion] I had to replace / change a few sata data cables causing errors .

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/288727-32-good-hard-d...


this seemed interesting /

''It looks like some non Microsoft program is causing the issue. We recommend you to check if any non Microsoft program is causing this on your computer.''

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windo...

As for this link - Im going to try rebooting into a "clean-boot" to see if its one of my non windows programs that start up automatically that is causing the delay... will update this replay once that is done.

I NEVER use windows browser or its media player - I use VLC &/or K-Lite Mega Media Codec's Media Player Classic HC-x64 as the media player

https://www.eightforums.com/general-support/53222-openi..."

As for the 2nd link - my issue isnt with an external HDD - and explorer.exe isnt crashing -its just moving REAL slow - though runing the chkdsk & defrag did lesson the delays - but they didnt go away completely.

 

[Hellfire13]

All i can think of is to do a fresh windows installation, run all updates and then check whether it is still lagging. If it does then try on another drive and check whether the issue follows the device.

 

[Backdoorman53200]

For now, the symptom has stopped... but I am as clueless as to WHY the symptom started - let alone why it stopped... So, I have no clue if the symptom will return or not.

In the interim - I greatly reduced the number of files in that folder; and Ive applied a few of the recent windows updates; and I have updated my browsers, and theirs plug-ins; and I have updated both my codecs and my media players (MPC & VLC).

 

[Hellfire13]

HDDs tend to diminish in performance over time. If that HDD has been around for a while, it could be might as well playing up due to its age.