[SOLVED] Windows File Explorer wreaking havoc

[Megunticook]

OK, so maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but File Explorer is really starting to impact my productivity. It's extremely slow, it hangs, and it seems to even be affecting other applications when I try to browse my directories (caused Google Chrome to hang several times today when I tried to download a file from the web).

If I try to navigate to a folder it can take several minutes before it actually shows me the contents of the folder, and sometimes it just hangs indefinitely until I use Task Manager to "End Task."

I'm on Version 10.0.19042 Build 19042.

Interestingly, this used to be a regular issue (though not as severe) on my laptop running Windows 10--annoying but not crippling. Haven't noticed it being a problem there the past few weeks. But now my desktop is afflicted and is becoming almost unusable.

I've spent hours Googling around and trying different solutions but so far nothing has fixed it. Probably need to take a more systematic approach. Check Event Viewer perhaps for clues? Has anybody else dealt with this? Based on what I see from Google it's a common enough issue. But I'm not able to identify the cause or come up with a fix.

Any suggestions would be most welcome--thanks!

From Event Viewer:

The program explorer.exe version 10.0.19041.928 stopped interacting with Windows and was closed. To see if more information about the problem is available, check the problem history in the Security and Maintenance control panel.
Process ID: 1a34
Start Time: 01d740d6e182d02e
Termination Time: 0
Application Path: C:\Windows\explorer.exe
Report Id: 088fc1eb-407e-461c-a025-12b118cb053a
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:
Hang type: Cross-thread

Security and Maintenance Viewer just has the same details.

Problem signature
Problem Event Name:    AppHangB1
Application Name:    explorer.exe
Application Version:    10.0.19041.928
Application Timestamp:    bc61eb13
Hang Signature:    31cb
Hang Type:    134217729
OS Version:    10.0.19042.2.0.0.256.48
Locale ID:    1033
Additional Hang Signature 1:    31cb4c53dfaa8acbf0fb79edcd38bfbf
Additional Hang Signature 2:    b289
Additional Hang Signature 3:    b289ee7baf2960b08ebc99eff3aa7fff
Additional Hang Signature 4:    8423
Additional Hang Signature 5:    8423397822b4d63cc4291e4cda147816
Additional Hang Signature 6:    bc2d
Additional Hang Signature 7:    bc2de0cd8ca9ce962e277555bb534323

Extra information about the problem
Bucket ID:    9f8180ed37865b9f81d8889eda8709a8 (1285927909466769832)

 

[Bob.B]

OK, so maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but File Explorer is really starting to impact my productivity. It's extremely slow, it hangs, and it seems to even be affecting other applications when I try to browse my directories (caused Google Chrome to hang several times today when I tried to download a file from the web).

If I try to navigate to a folder it can take several minutes before it actually shows me the contents of the folder, and sometimes it just hangs indefinitely until I use Task Manager to "End Task."

I'm on Version 10.0.19042 Build 19042.

Interestingly, this used to be a regular issue (though not as severe) on my laptop running Windows 10--annoying but not crippling. Haven't noticed it being a problem there the past few weeks. But now my desktop is afflicted and is becoming almost unusable.

I've spent hours Googling around and trying different solutions but so far nothing has fixed it. Probably need to take a more systematic approach. Check Event Viewer perhaps for clues? Has anybody else dealt with this? Based on what I see from Google it's a common enough issue. But I'm not able to identify the cause or come up with a fix.

Any suggestions would be most welcome--thanks!

From Event Viewer:

The program explorer.exe version 10.0.19041.928 stopped interacting with Windows and was closed. To see if more information about the problem is available, check the problem history in the Security and Maintenance control panel.
Process ID: 1a34
Start Time: 01d740d6e182d02e
Termination Time: 0
Application Path: C:\Windows\explorer.exe
Report Id: 088fc1eb-407e-461c-a025-12b118cb053a
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:
Hang type: Cross-thread

Security and Maintenance Viewer just has the same details.

Problem signature
Problem Event Name:    AppHangB1
Application Name:    explorer.exe
Application Version:    10.0.19041.928
Application Timestamp:    bc61eb13
Hang Signature:    31cb
Hang Type:    134217729
OS Version:    10.0.19042.2.0.0.256.48
Locale ID:    1033
Additional Hang Signature 1:    31cb4c53dfaa8acbf0fb79edcd38bfbf
Additional Hang Signature 2:    b289
Additional Hang Signature 3:    b289ee7baf2960b08ebc99eff3aa7fff
Additional Hang Signature 4:    8423
Additional Hang Signature 5:    8423397822b4d63cc4291e4cda147816
Additional Hang Signature 6:    bc2d
Additional Hang Signature 7:    bc2de0cd8ca9ce962e277555bb534323

Extra information about the problem
Bucket ID:    9f8180ed37865b9f81d8889eda8709a8 (1285927909466769832)

Post a screen shot of each disk using crystaldiskinfo.

 

[Megunticook]

Post a screen shot of each disk using crystaldiskinfo.

OK--you suspect bad sectors on the SSD? I already have Samsung Magician installed--will that give you the same info. as crystaldiskinfo?

 

[Bob.B]

OK--you suspect bad sectors on the SSD? I already have Samsung Magician installed--will that give you the same info. as crystaldiskinfo?

No idea what magician will show.
I'm looking for the SMART data from each disk.

 

[Megunticook]

No idea what magician will show.
I'm looking for the SMART data from each disk.

I ran a short scan and a SMART self-test on the SSD using Samsung Magician. No errors. Am running an extended SMART test now, will be done in a couple hours.

I'm all for process of elimination and appreciate your advice here, but seems unlikely to be a disk problem given the fact that this issue also cropped up on my laptop and seems to be a somewhat common problem among Windows 10 users. But this is definitely a worthwhile test and I'll post the results as soon as they're done.

Is there anywhere I can get more details about the nature of the error? Or can anyone translate the diagnostics quoted above?

 

[USAFRet]

I also suspect a drive issue. Or possibly the data on the drive.

Not "File Explorer".

 

[Alabalcho]

There could be a stale network connection.

Open "Command Prompt", and execute "net use". Check for connections to disconnected resources.

 

[Megunticook]

No idea what magician will show.
I'm looking for the SMART data from each disk.

No errors on the extended SMART self test.

 

[Megunticook]

There could be a stale network connection.

Open "Command Prompt", and execute "net use". Check for connections to disconnected resources.

C:\Users\Ed>net use
New connections will be remembered.

There are no entries in the list.

 

[Bob.B]

No errors on the extended SMART self test.

Now grab a copy of crystaldiskinfo and show a screen shot for each disk.

 

[Megunticook]

Now grab a copy of crystaldiskinfo and show a screen shot for each disk.

OK, will try and get to that later today.

A few more clues. I shut down last night and when I returned to the office this morning the screen was still showing the "shutting down" indicator. So it was hanging all night. Never seen that behavior. Ctl+Alt+Del did nothing. I warm rebooted with the power button then shut down from the UI. I unplugged the 2 external HDDs (USB) and restarted. Problem seems to be gone. Hmmm...so one of those HDDs is the culprit? I suspect an older Western Digital Elements that's probably a good 7-8 years old now. Its sister unit on another machine recently gave up the ghost. Should I scan it with a disk utility like crystaldiskinfo to confirm?

 

[Bob.B]

OK, will try and get to that later today.

A few more clues. I shut down last night and when I returned to the office this morning the screen was still showing the "shutting down" indicator. So it was hanging all night. Never seen that behavior. Ctl+Alt+Del did nothing. I warm rebooted with the power button then shut down from the UI. I unplugged the 2 external HDDs (USB) and restarted. Problem seems to be gone. Hmmm...so one of those HDDs is the culprit? I suspect an older Western Digital Elements that's probably a good 7-8 years old now. Its sister unit on another machine recently gave up the ghost. Should I scan it with a disk utility like crystaldiskinfo to confirm?

Yes....scan all disk.

 

[Megunticook]

Sorry for the delay, here's those crystaldiskinfo screenshots you asked for.

 

[punkncat]

I am curious in another direction.

What is your CPU useage, RAM amount and useage, and what manner of disk activity are you seeing?

I think something is running background.

Full system specs, please? A userbenchmark could be handy as well.

 

[Bob.B]

Sorry for the delay, here's those crystaldiskinfo screenshots you asked for.

Nothing jumps at me from the smart data.
If unplugging both ext disk fixes the problem try one disk at a time.
Are these disk connected via a hub or dock?

 

[Megunticook]

I am curious in another direction.

What is your CPU useage, RAM amount and useage, and what manner of disk activity are you seeing?

I think something is running background.

Full system specs, please? A userbenchmark could be handy as well.

 

[Megunticook]

Nothing jumps at me from the smart data.
If unplugging both ext disk fixes the problem try one disk at a time.
Are these disk connected via a hub or dock?

External HDDs use USB. I'll try reintroducing them one at a time and see what happens.

 

[punkncat]

Well, not what I was thinking.

Have you done anything within "Indexing" lately?

 

[Megunticook]

Well, not what I was thinking.

Have you done anything within "Indexing" lately?

No...should I?

 

[punkncat]

No...should I?

I had an off/on issue with some of the office machines that required me to rebuild the Index. In these instances it was along the line of searches that wouldn't find what you were looking at, or really slow actually opening shortcuts. In these instances Chrome worked fine, but Explorer, Edge, all that were terrible slow.

The thing about rebuilding indexing which is important to note....make sure your computer is set to stay on. Have plenty of time, and be ready to have to manually find things you wish to search for (while it completes). I am not convinced that is what is going on with your issue. My fear would be that it could cause the specific problem you have now (if unrelated) to create a bigger issue.

A safer alternative to try might be to look at chipset and SATA drivers?