Opening folders taking too long!

[mikehende]

This problem started happening only when I began working with videos a few weeks ago and now it seems to be getting worse. When I try to open only certain folders it's like the system hangs and I have to use ctrl+alt+delete to close the process, any ideas/fixes please?

Dell Dimension 3000
P4 2.4Mhz 200GB 512MB [RAM] XP Home

[Smokey]

What view are you looking at the folders in? Is it attempting to make thumbnails of hte video or are you in basic list mode to just see the file names? Also, what type of videos and codecs are you using for the videos. I have had this problem with some divx codec versions and other codecs where you open a folder with many videos and Windows hangs as it is attempting to make thumbnails of all in the folder....

[mikehende]

No thumbnails Smokey, I am seeing the hour-glass only when I try to open the folders which contain videos so this should be something that is video-related? How can I tell the which types of codes I have?

[dbarrow]

Did you chkdsk the drive with those folders?
Large vid files are prone to corruption and one bad one can hang the Explorer process.

[mikehende]

No I did not but I just resetted in the folders options and this works, for now at least. Will report back here if the problem re-occurs.

[mikehende]

False alarm, worked great the first few times I tried navigating between the video folders but now it's back to the same problem, any ideas?

[mikehende]

My original files were mpeg2 which I had captured from VHS but I had to convert those files to DVD-Compliance in order to use the DVD-Shrink software to shrink those big files to burn to DVD, I am using TMPGenc to convert from mpeg2 to DVD-Compliance, I cannot open the folder right now to see the exact file types that are in there, when I am able to I will post back here.

[tonyd]

Interesting thing happened today on my XP-Pro machine. For some strange reason, folders are opening up a lot quicker than before. I have no explanation for this. -td

[dbarrow]

Indexing ... Large files, tons of files, large folders.
The Indexing Service can really slow down progress
Really little use for it if you don't do a lot of searching.
Disable the service, or turn it off in folder options

In the folder options, turn off Indexing and compression.
As these files are already compressed, they can't compress any more.

HOLD_CPU usage in the Indexing Service increases to 100 percent in Windows XP and in Windows Server 2003

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822430/en-us
Windows Stops Responding When You Click a Large AVI File in Windows Explorer
(833228) - On a Microsoft Windows XP-based or Microsoft Windows Server 2003-based computer that uses a removable memory storage device, you may find that, in certain situations, CPU usage in the Indexing Service (Cisvc.exe) increases to 100 percent. This...
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/833228/en-us

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/899869/en-us
CAUSE
This issue can occur if the Indexing service is running on the computer. The Indexing service uses the Cidaemon.exe process to index files. The Cidaemon.exe process builds and updates the Index catalog. Additionally, the Cidaemon.exe process typically uses lots of pagefile space and lots of CPU time.
RESOLUTION
To resolve the issue, turn off the Indexing service. To turn off the Indexing service, follow these steps:
1. Double-click My Computer, point to Explorer Bar on the View menu, and then click Search.
2. Click Change preferences, and then click Without Indexing Service.
3. Click No, do not enable Indexing Service, and then click OK.

[mikehende]

No change but still appreciate the help.

[kern]

No thumbnails Smokey, I am seeing the hour-glass only when I try to open the folders which contain videos so this should be something that is video-related? How can I tell the which types of codes I have?

Mike,
If they are .avi files, XP attempts to read and display the file "details" (such as dimensions, bit rate, etc,) when you open the folder, which can slow access to the folder, especially if the folder contains alot of video files, or, if one of the files is corrupt.
The following registry edit will prevent XP from reading the file "details" until you open an .avi file.
Run regedit, backup the registry first, then place a minus sign in front of the following registry key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{87D62D94-71B3-4b9a-9489 5FE6850DC73E}

like this -{87D62D94-71B3-4b9a-9489-5FE6850DC73E}

[mikehende]

They are not .avi files Kern, appreciate the effort, I've tried almost everything including CHKDSK and defrag, about the only thing left is do a restore?

[photolady]

Have you tried sfc /scannow from the run menu? If not, go to Run from Start, type sfc /scannow and have you Dell recovery disk handy. It might ask for you to have it ready.

Also, this could be lack of memory. I noticed you only have 512. I say only because I too have video files and do a lot of video on my system. To compensate for system hangs I installed another 512mb and the system moves, opens files/folders a lot faster.

[dale@fcg]

System specs, Mike? Processor speed, RAM, size of hd and amount of space used. What is running in background? Temporarily turn off all background items (right click each item in system tray and exit each one). If you have MSOffice installed, remove any utilities that from Startup folder and msconfig/startup tab. In fact, remove everything unnecessary from msconfig startup tab- usually only need av, antispyware, adblocker to run all the time- anything else can be opened from Start menu when needed.

[mikehende]

@ Dale

Dell Dimension 3000
P4 2.4Ghz 512RAM
200GB HD with 140GB free space

I had closed off everything in the background from the system tray when I started having this problem.

@Photolady

I did the Restore, no change, I would have considered the lack of memory issue but what confuses me with this is that when I had 80gigs of video on here, I did not have this problem, now that there are only 5 gb's of video on my pc, it doesn't make sense to me that "now" there should be a memory problem?

[dbarrow]

Any other general slowdowns?
Have you run MEMTEST and checked your ram?
Are both sticks showing/reading?

It is possible for a stick or slot to go bad and the machine still function, on one! Been there,done that!

[mikehende]

Oh boy, another test:D, new one again, how do I do this? Right now I am waiting for the pc to finish the sfc/scannow, seems to be taking forever, when that is finished I will look into the RAM issue, thanks.

[mikehende]

Nix on the memtest, found out about it. Getting back to the sfc/scannow, isn't there anything I can do to avoid having to click on the "Retry" button everytime the prompt asks for the disc?

[mikehende]

Been running the Memtest for a while now and no errors so far, I am hoping that this issue is not one of those unsolved mysteries?

[mikehende]

isn't there anything I can do to avoid having to click on the "Retry" button everytime the prompt asks for the disc?

Found this article explaining everything and how to get around this

http://www.compphix.com/windowsfileprotection.html

[photolady]

You can click cancel when it asks for the disk, but the it won't fix the problems. There are problems or it wouldn't keep asking for the disk. Do you not have an xp disk?

[mikehende]

Yes, I used an XP disc yesterday, and the sfc/scannow was done, didn't solve the problem, looks like getting more RAM is the only thing left to do now.

[dbarrow]

Before you dash out to buy more ram ... not that 1 or 2 g isn't going to be an improvement.
Let's review the problem, when it started, what steps you took to fix it.

You have some large vids and conversions.
Too bad Bob "That Blind Guy" isn't around as video was his forte ...
I recall him mentioning that a lot of people who do vid will work with the file on one hd and then wipe and format it after they are done.

Which folders are sluggish (and their contents) and which are not? ie: is this strictly related to video files or folders where you did any video work/conversion? Are other folders performing normally or do you have other symptoms or general slowdowns across the board? ie: isolate the problem to a specific file type or function.

Everything worked correctly before the problem started.
If you go back to that point, and check the dates on the files, what has been added since?

Have you tried moving a few of the (prior) files to another folder and seeing if the same problem is still there? ie: if you take a couple vid files from date prior and move them to a new folder, are they still sluggish?
If not ....
I would start moving the files to another folder, by date, up to the timeline and then do one at a time and check for the problem. It still could be one problem file. One corrupt file in the folder can still be the cause.

Is this a hardware issue?
When you try and open a vid file or the folder, ctrl-alt-del and check Task Manager for CPU usage.
Is this folder or files in it pegging the meter? Look at Paging File usage. Is it extremely high?

You have tested the memory and both sticks are working correctly without error?
Oops! I forgot to mention a run of Prime95 to stress test the memory with 2 instances under full load.

Can you move all the video off to another machine or external hd (and then disconnect it) and see if you still have the problem?

[mikehende]

Moved only the MPEG Movie files as you suggested DBarrow and found out that it is the MPEG Movie files while being in the folder that is causing the problem, any ideas why the problem with only these files? BTW, really appreciate the help!

[dbarrow]

Then it would be something to do with the particular mpegs.
I would try moving them one by one into a folder and see which one hangs.
As I said, one corrupted file that is screwing up the index will farkle the whole folder.
I have seen where one that is corrupted, half way through, will not only kill Media Player as you are playing it but slow down the folder as well.
Find the bad ones and chuck them or store them off somewhere by themselves.

[mikehende]

I am trying to find the "cause" of this and I have narrowed it down to the TMPGEnc Authoring software which is what I am using to convert the original mpeg2 files to DVD-Compliance so anyways, I have learnt a lot from this and also a lot of new stuff [MEMTEST, sfc/scannow e.t.c] thanks to you guys.

[dbarrow]

See... it ain't all in the books....
Not that this will do anything to bolster your studies but, building a "utility toolbox" and doing some real time problem solving will speed you along the path.
Having the tools and know how to do some in depth troubleshooting should come in handy at some point.

I collect "utility" programs whenever I find them, even if I don't need them at the time. If that time does come, it's handy to look in my UTILITY folder and find just the right tool to do the job.

Besides, if you ever want to drive a Tech Support person batty, just tell them you ran this, that, and the other and got the following results. By that point, they figure you know more than they do and eagerly give you anything you want.