Question File Explorer Crashing and Messing With Computer

[OverlyLiam]

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well! I have had a problem where my file explorer randomly freezes when I either click on it or when I try to open up the file explorer through a site to select a file.

I used to have this issue in the past where it would do that but it recently got a lot worse.

When I try to load it up it either works or it freezes for a very long time and doesn't respond which leads to me not being able to look at files or it breaking my wallpaper engine a bit or refreshing my tabs. This is also really annoying when I am trying to save a file from a site because it renders my browser useless. I also know that my files aren't corrupted due to the cmd lines that I found online.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/9y9PdH is a link to my current build. For those of you that don't want to click it, my specs are:
5600G
MSI B550M PRO-VDH Wifi
Corsair RGB Pro 32 GB DDR4-3600 CL18
Western Digital Blue SN550 1 TB M.2
EVGA SC GAMING ACX 3.0 GTX 1070 8 GB (I got this used)
P360A Case
Corsair RM650x (2018) 650W 80+ Gold ATX Power Supply
MSI Optix G273 Monitor and Koorui 24E3 which are both 165hz

I currently have integrated graphics on aswell but my computers are hooked to my GPU so I am not sure if that would help with anything. (EDIT: It could also be my GPU affecting it but I don't know how to test that well since I have also had problems where my graphics just keep getting worse until I update my GPU)

I mainly want to figure out how to fix my file explorer from messing with my whole computer so that I can do college work and do things that I need to do effectively!

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

You might want to try and use DDU to remove your GPU drivers(Intel, AMD and Nvidia) then manually reinstall with the latest version from Nvidia in an elevated command, i.e, Right click installer>Run as Administrator.

As for your OS, did you get to the OS off the bat or did you upgrade to Windows 11 through the internal OS upgrade path?

 

[OverlyLiam]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

You might want to try and use DDU to remove your GPU drivers(Intel, AMD and Nvidia) then manually reinstall with the latest version from Nvidia in an elevated command, i.e, Right click installer>Run as Administrator.

As for your OS, did you get to the OS off the bat or did you upgrade to Windows 11 through the internal OS upgrade path?

I reinstalled my Windows 11 fully on this computer and did a clean reinstall but that was a few years ago.

For the DDU, would you mind letting me know how I can use DDU?

Thank you so much for your help <3

 

[OverlyLiam]

I figured it out. For some reason my 2tb portable SSD just glitches my computer out?

 

[Ralston18]

Make and model portable 2 TB SSD?

External USB connection - correct?

Did the SSD come as a full unit or did you install an SSD into some sort of enclosure? Independently powered?

Look in Reliability History/Monitor. Windows may be capturing some error code, warning, or even and informational event just before or at the time the portable SSD glitches out.

 

[OverlyLiam]

Make and model portable 2 TB SSD?

External USB connection - correct?

Did the SSD come as a full unit or did you install an SSD into some sort of enclosure? Independently powered?

Look in Reliability History/Monitor. Windows may be capturing some error code, warning, or even and informational event just before or at the time the portable SSD glitches out.

IT was an External USB SSD! You just plug it into the computer and it will work. It was a "Seagate Backup Plus Ultra Touch Portable Hard Drive"

I checked and the drive had no errrors but when I plugged it in my file explorer was working. Maybe it was because I had it plugged in on boot or that it was plugged in for months? I don't know.

 

[Ralston18]

The error may not show up as a "drive error" per se. Just watch for future errors, if any, that may be captured just before or at the time the SSD is plugged in.

Should not be a problem if connected for months....

However even though "plug and play" hold off on plugging the drive (or any device) in until Windows is open and running. Connecting during boot up can be problematic.

Especially if there is some electrostatic discharge while the USB plug is being connected.

Or plug in before turning on the power. Even tiny sparks are bad.

Computers get confused when the electrons go the wrong way. 😱

And, as you should always being doing anyway, be sure that all important data on that SSD is being backed up at least 2 x to locations other than the host computer. Verify that the backups are recoverable and readable.