Dafydd Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 I'm having some odd problems with my computer. I just reinstalled windows on a clean hard drive and I've got everything set up. Suddenly the computer is running very slow and when I look in the task manager, explorer.exe is hogging 50% of my cpu and over 120 MB of ram (I have 2GB, so no problem, but it's a pretty clear sign that something's wrong, right?). This happens when I browse certain folders on my computer and won't stop until I restart the computer (upon which explorer won't close, btw). What's wrong? I've also noticed that when Reason is running, all sounds are played in half their original speed and octaved down (except for reason itself). Movies are also played in half speed. As soon as I close Reason, everything goes back to normal. This has nothing to do with the other problem, I think. It's kinda funny... Any clues? EDIT: I've located a folder which, upon being browsed, causes this issue. The question is, is this because the folder is located on a bad hard drive sector or is there a virus in the folder? I haven't been able to find one, anyway. I'll give defragging a try, see if it can find anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katsurugi Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 I think the more likely conclusion is that it's located on a bad sector, or soon to be bad sector. I don't really know if a virus would be that "friendly" to only overwhelm your system when browsing a particular folder. And if you've just reinstalled Windows on a fully wiped hard drive, there's even less of a chance for an infection. As for Reason, I don't have any experience with it. Did you make sure to update Windows after reinstalling it? Maybe you're missing some new drivers that allow it to work more efficiently. Just check updates for both Reason and Windows. In general, it sounds like a processing problem... but it should be able to be solved with software, at least in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzumebachi Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 A had a similar problem some time back. A few folders on my drive (particularly ones that had tons of images or videos in them) would lag the shit out of my computer when I opened them. After a few weeks of that, the hard drive went completely kaput, so it's either some really nasty virus that's not easily detected, or your drive is about to die. When you formatted, did you do the full format, or did you do a quickie? Did you use NTFS as the file system (I'm assuming you're using XP)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dafydd Posted March 6, 2007 Author Share Posted March 6, 2007 I did a full format first, but then I had to quit the installation because I'd lost my cd key. So the next time I tried I only did a quick format, but then the drive was already empty... and yes, I'm using XP and NTFS. The thing is, there's nothing really special about this folder. It contains only about 20 files or so. What can I do to save the hard drive, then? Is there some nice, free software that can check my drive? Defrag found nothing... Anyway, sometimes explorer crashes (and I mean on all windows computers) and then it restarts itself with a clean memory and nothing in the task bar - but without restarting the computer. Is there a way to cause explorer to crash like this, because closing it using the task manager just leaves you with the task bar and nothing else, meaning you have to restart the compo anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katsurugi Posted March 6, 2007 Share Posted March 6, 2007 As for recovery/defrag software, I don't really know any free software that does a good job. Usually the ones you have to pay for work well. The only recommendation I have as of right now is O&O. I don't have it myself, but I've heard from numerous sources that it is reliable. Still, I don't know if this will solve your problem. Maybe it is how Suzumebachi said and your hard drive is dying. If that's the case, then there's really no other solution than getting another one. I'd start by checking newegg for some deals, just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dafydd Posted March 6, 2007 Author Share Posted March 6, 2007 I spoke to a friend who has had the same problem himself... he said something about windows explorer caching all the files in the folder. Could be true, but I have so many other, much bigger folders on my computer that don't act like this. I guess I'll just stay out of the folder until I can find a solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CH Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 XP does cache thumbnails somewhere, though I forget where. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dafydd Posted March 7, 2007 Author Share Posted March 7, 2007 But I'm viewing the folder as a "detailed list". And even so, this doesn't happen with other folders, even when viewing them with thumbnails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dafydd Posted March 11, 2007 Author Share Posted March 11, 2007 Well, here's why, apparently. And doing this solved it. Thanks for your help, guys! http://www.tweakxp.com/article36849.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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