I've had a chronic problem with Windows Explorer when I try to work with folders and files (slow to open files and folders, move, copy or otherwise use files and folders), also when I try to download something it takes excessively long to find the folder in which I want to put it. But after the first download after booting up, it doesn't hesitate on subsequent downloads. Opening files or programs from desktop icons also seem to take excessively long.
I looked on the Internet for advice about this when the problem first started several months ago and a consensus of opinion was that somehow my explorer.exe was corrupted. Then I found this on Web site:
________________________________________________________________
Corrupted explorer.exe file fix:
Make a copy of explorer.exe in the same file it's located (usually C:\WINDOWS). Rename it (i.e. explorer2.exe)
Now go to START>RUN and type "regedit". ENTER
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Find the sub named "shell". Double click on it and rename the explorer.exe to whatever you renamed the copy.
________________________________________________________________
I tried this when the problem first surfaced a few months ago and it did help a little. Now my system is back to its sluggishness. I tried this method again, but this time it didn't help.
I did a file search for explorer.exe and found it (same file size and date stamp) besides in C:\WINDOWS, it's in C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386 and also C\WINDOWS\Software Distribution\Download
Should I also rename the explorer.exe in the other locations also? Or any other suggestions about the slowness of working with files and folders and initial downloads?
If it's any help, I already did a virus scan with CA antivirus, malware scans with SpyBot and CA Spyware scanner, and ran CCleaner and ATF Claeaner. Nothing malicious was found on the scans. Doing a defrag didn't improve anything. The only icons in my Systray are the volume, the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon and my CA Security Suite icon. I have a HP desktop using Windows XP home ed as the OS. It has a 1.6 GHz Pentium 4 processor and 768 MB RAM. There's plenty of unused space on the HD. Thanks in advance.
I looked on the Internet for advice about this when the problem first started several months ago and a consensus of opinion was that somehow my explorer.exe was corrupted. Then I found this on Web site:
________________________________________________________________
Corrupted explorer.exe file fix:
Make a copy of explorer.exe in the same file it's located (usually C:\WINDOWS). Rename it (i.e. explorer2.exe)
Now go to START>RUN and type "regedit". ENTER
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Find the sub named "shell". Double click on it and rename the explorer.exe to whatever you renamed the copy.
________________________________________________________________
I tried this when the problem first surfaced a few months ago and it did help a little. Now my system is back to its sluggishness. I tried this method again, but this time it didn't help.
I did a file search for explorer.exe and found it (same file size and date stamp) besides in C:\WINDOWS, it's in C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386 and also C\WINDOWS\Software Distribution\Download
Should I also rename the explorer.exe in the other locations also? Or any other suggestions about the slowness of working with files and folders and initial downloads?
If it's any help, I already did a virus scan with CA antivirus, malware scans with SpyBot and CA Spyware scanner, and ran CCleaner and ATF Claeaner. Nothing malicious was found on the scans. Doing a defrag didn't improve anything. The only icons in my Systray are the volume, the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon and my CA Security Suite icon. I have a HP desktop using Windows XP home ed as the OS. It has a 1.6 GHz Pentium 4 processor and 768 MB RAM. There's plenty of unused space on the HD. Thanks in advance.