Explorer pauses are driving me nuts

Yes, I am running Win 10 and yes it it beta. No, I will not listen do you if you say the problem is it is a beta. I have many machines running it with various hardware configurations ranging from current 2014 custom builds to 2009 dell XPS machines at the shop and between friends and none of those have any issues at all.

Now, my P151HM1 likes to do a little pause thingy when browsing files each time the wallpaper changes. It hangs up in the file browser for 1-5 seconds. My wallpapers change ever 10 seconds. Disabled realtime protection on defender (Security Essentials) and that helped a lot. Did a couple other things such as CHKDSK /f, no issues, SFC /SCANNOW, finds errors and cannot fix them all, and CHKDSK /r, sits at 11% for a while until I figure it is doing no good. Since it is based on Win 8 I am looking at solutions for the same issue in Win 8.

Next step is to do a HDD test though it is only 3 years old.

Possible system backup and clean install if I feel I have tried enough.

Any other suggestions?

 

Well, the wallpaper changing process likely involves loading the new wallpaper and then changing it out with the current one. So you could be looking at a hard disk performance issue related to multitasking, as when it's loading and processing the new wallpaper, it simply grabs a lot of system resources. Maybe run Task Manager and see if it spikes CPU and/or Disk at those intervals. Resolving this could involve drivers. The Intel chipset drivers, or the Intel RST drivers if your system supports it.

 

Explorer has a hard time multi-tasking. Asking it to copy/paste a bunch of files in one window, then open up and browse a different folder on the same drive in a new explorer window will cause some lag. Since explorer is a UI, multi-tasking isn't a priority since you will always have it on top of everything else (unless a program is open). I have the same issue if I try and switch my dreamscene to a different video. It always lags a few seconds before going to the new video loop because it has to stop accessing the current loop, then open and apply the new one.

 

Never had an issue with it before and I am often very evil to explorer with up to 10 or more different windows with file transfers and the works. This install worked fine until recently and I would prefer to no do another fresh install. It is very time consuming.

Occasionally FF would pause when scrolling. Could be related. No other issues with other software.

I noticed another thing it is doing. Seems like it is refreshing the entire open folder/window. In large folders like Music (some 30+GB) I can quickly scroll to the bottom and it will freeze for a sec then refresh me to the top.

Just checked it out. Explorer spikes to 20% CPU. With Firefox, one windows open of the file browser and task manger the highest disk usage was 4% when it momentarily paused. I just have to figure out why it is doing that. I believe I have proper chipset drivers. Win 8 drivers were never released for this machine so I am using what ever generic drivers Windows found same as I did back on 7.

Edit: I am giving it a shot not using the slideshow wallpaper to see if it something with that. I really like that feature so if it is, probably reinstall time.

 

That sounds more like a hard drive lag problem. Combine that with the unresolveable errors in CHKDSK, that points to hard drive fragmentation or corruption. I'd download a free defrag tool and run it to scan the drive to see if there is significant fragmentation.

 

You will definitely want the Intel Chipset Drivers. They do not ship with Windows, and are not on Windows Update. https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=20775

You should also try the Intel RST drivers. Again, don't ship with Windows, not on WU. https://downloadcenter.intel.com/SearchResult.aspx?lang=eng&FamilyId=42&ProductID=2101&ProdId=2101

I have seen the 13.x driver fail to install on 'older' systems but the 12.x versions seem to fill in that gap.

 

Yes, Intel software does not ship with a Microsoft product though Windows is generally decent at finding and installing those drivers that are needed. It found the Intel chipset driver v9.2.0.1016 for me. Same version I have on an OE disk for Win 7. My chipset does not show up on the Intel website. It is the HM65. A google link to that chipset ends in a 404 not found. I do not run RAID and never used RST drivers with my last 5 reinstalls of 7.

I will try the Intel chipset update thingy again.

Update, tried it. Just kinda flashes past install progress and then says complete. Did nothing. Same driver version. RST errors with platform unsupported. Compatibility mode doesnt work.

No errors with CHKDSK /f. Errors with SFC /SCANNOW. CHKDSK /r stayed at 11% for a while. I stopped it so it did not thrash my HDD.

I do not trust 3rd party defrag or other "make your computer faster" tools. See too many of those on completely messed up machines that come into where I work.

 

I didn't say defrag your drive, but you can use something like Acronis or the like to SCAN your drive to see what the level of fragmentation is. They will all show a different number, so the average between them all is what you're looking for. I would run CHKDSK again and leave it to do it's job. It may take a few hours depending on the number of files you have on your drive(s).

 

Finally got a chance to do a full CHKDSK /r and a /f. No change.

 

How long did you let CHKDSK run before deciding it froze?

 

Full run. Stayed at 11% for a couple hours then completed suddenly and booted into windows.

It freezes displaying 11% within a few seconds.

 

Sounds more like it could be a bug in Windows 10.

Are you running CHKDSK in safe mode?

 

CHKDSK at boot. Nothing else will allow access to the disk. Not even the startup tools booting to command prompt.

The 11% or some other % bug is a well documented Windows 8 bug.

 

Hmm. Maybe something to bring up to Microsoft then. If it was present in Windows 8, and is present in Windows 10 preview, one wonders why it hasn't been fixed yet.