Why does my FileExplorer Freeze for 10-25 seconds and then become usable?

CartmansPiehole · May 4, 2024

I've been just dealing with this problem for awhile and finally decided to tackle it. Awhile ago, I was having issues with my sound and blue screens. I actually just uninstalled BitDefender and that problem went away, this was several weeks ago. I've been since depending on Windows Defender, I know...gutsy move.

Whenever I open an app, then do something like File->Open, the navigation pane is blank and the dialog box freezes. Finally 10-25 seconds later, it shows up. This happens on pretty much ever app I've tested: Word, Notepad, several web browsers where I need to upload a file or save to (and I have it set to prompt to tell where to save).

How can I go about fixing this?

FreeBooter · May 4, 2024

This guide focuses on how you can fix Windows File Explorer not responding on a Windows 10 or Windows 11 operating systems.

glasskuter · May 4, 2024

SFC/DISM
Make sure you have no corrupt system files that is causing this problem. Open a command prompt as administrator and type sfc /scannow
Pay attention to the scan results to see if SFC found anything it could not repair. If it found corruption it could not fix followup with this command (note the spaces)
dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
Restart computer
You can followup with another SFC command to verify files were fixed.

CLEAN BOOT
Perform a clean boot to eliminate software conflict causing the issue. If it doesn't happen in a clean boot, you have some software conflicting with Windows. Brink's procedure will help you weed out which one. Perform a Clean Boot in Windows 11 to Troubleshoot Software Conflicts Tutorial

Repair Install Windows 11 Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade Tutorial

Kees · May 4, 2024

A few months ago I had the same problem and eventually it appeared to be a problem with the SSD-system-drive in the PC:

Kees said:
A few days ago I had such a problem as well, that my computer (see my specs) was freezing regularly, without any real reason why. It did that in my browser, in File Explorer, VirtualBox testenvironment and many more programs. Restarting often was not possible, I had to touch the reset button on the panel of the PC. And it seemed to become more serious by days, eventually resulting in a totally unusable computer.

The first thing I did was testing the memory by a selfstarting USB-key with MemTest86. No problems detected.

Because I had read some reports about one of the last updates slowing down the system (in particular the File Explorer), I tried to restore an older image of the system drive, from about one month ago. I do such saving and restoring always with Clonezilla, which is situated on a selfstarting USB-key with Linux driver, totally offline, nothing to do with the Windows system on the system drive.

For some reason the restore did about the same as in the (normal) Windows environment: at a certain point (let's say 21%) it stopped or delayed counting up the Mbytes that were ready or did that very slow (where normally it goes steady on and on). When I would do the same restore again, it would stop or delay about the same percentage. Conclusion: the SSD system drive has bad sectors, which for some reason are not automatically replaced by good ones by the build in managing system in the SSD (I think it would normally function like that).

Because my son had told quite recently, he had similar problems (on an identical system, same make, same components) and he had repaired it by installing Windows 11 again (he too thought the updates were to blame), I tried that first, but already decided that I would replace the SSD-drive anyway. So I ordered another M.2 SSD (of another make).

In the meantime I reinstalled Windows completely, after deleting all partitions from that drive, using AOMEI on a Hirens Boot USB-key. Reinstalled Windows from a fresh downloaded Windows 11 23H2 USB, made by the Windows 11 Media Creation Tool (on another computer). Installation was done very well and rather fast.

Result: problem gone. Did partitioning as the drive was partitioned before, restored the most recent image. No problem anymore. I was very happy with that, because I did not need to reinstall all software and redo all settings that I changed (I have done many tweaks through registry changes, to be found here in the tutorials). Appearently the new windows installation had moved the system to another physical place on the SSD, thus 'repairing' the failure. That's what i suppose has happened, never can be sure about that, of course.

But I did not trust the SSD anymore, which was only one year old, so my decision to replace it, was there to stay.

One day later the new SSD arrived, I installed that, installed Windows 11 again from the Win11 USB, did the partitioning, restored the most recent image and everything was functioning very well. The new SSD had better specs than the old one, so the system is somewhat faster too. Since I changed the SSD and reinstalled the system etc., four days have been passing now without any problems. So I suppose the fault has been cured by replacing that SSD!

So maybe your problem is completely different from mine, but it could be caused by a 'hard disk' failure as well. That's why I mention it here.

The old SSD was of the make 'Kingston' of which @TechnoMage2021 has written some negative things, appearantly rightfully so. Was the first and the last SSD of that make I will buy...

After a few weeks the opening poster wrote this:

Lou said:
An UPDATE with a twist---
Back on 03/08 I stated my issue was gone and I was back to a normal bootup and functioning machine
That was short lived.
3-days later the freeze issue came back and was more numerous.
Long story short-
I did indeed have a hardware issue---a faulty OE SSD.
I replaced the original drive with a WD item (same capacity) but the larger size-2280 verses the original 2230.
I restored my latest IMAGE to the new drive and NO more freeze issues.
My desktop is now back to a normal boot up and has been working for almost 1-1/2 weeks without a single freeze event.
PLS disregard the information I provided earlier regarding services that caused my machine to freeze. That information is faulty as I still had a freeze issue with those services disabled as I was still using the OE SSD.

That does not mean that you have the same problem, but that it is a possibility.

OAT · May 4, 2024

This registry entry may improve your issue.

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00


; Created by Sergey Tkachenko
; Tutorial: These two tricks can significantly speed up File Explorer in Windows 11
; URL: https://winaero.com/speed-up-file-explorer-windows-11/


[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell]
"FolderType"="NotSpecified"

From :

How to Speed Up File Explorer in Windows 11

To speed up File Explorer on Windows 11, apply the mixed content template to all folders, or press F11 to switch it to full-screen mode.

winaero.com

RJARRRPCGP · May 5, 2024

The Bluetooth file bug, which happens on all 22H2 and 23H2 installations, doesn't break Windows Explorer. It does not cause the behavior you are describing.
If CBS.log shows nothing but complaints about a Bluetooth file, that's not your problem.

dacrone · May 5, 2024

Disable the Nahimic service. Set it to manual start. Reboot pc. See how many issues are resolved. ASUS is infamous for this PoS causing issues on many levels. Gaming, VLC delayed launching, FE slow loading, etc.

CartmansPiehole · May 6, 2024

Riddle me this. This is my computer's specs:
CPU: 5960X
Mobo: Rampage V Extreme
64-GB RAM
GTX 980 SC
C:\ Drive - Samsung 960 Pro NVMe 2TB - 234 GB Free
D:\ Drive - Samsung 8TB SSD - 4.46 TB Free
E:\ Drive - 10 TB Seagate HDD - 2.06 TB Free

On my D:\ Drive, I have 25 Hyper-V VMs. Now, I honestly don't remember if my problems started when I put in the new hard drive or if it was after. It doesn't matter if I have my Hyper-V VMs shut down or in the running state, I still have the slow Explorer issue. I can have at least 8 of them running and they run just fine on my PC, my RAM handles it.

Could the problem be related to my VMs?