 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Windows Forum / Windows 98 / Performance / October 2005How to "refresh" Windows Explorer?
Windows Explorer is locking up more and more. Even to the point of preventing a normal reboot to be able to get things up and running again. Is it possible some file has changed? and needs to be "refreshed"? How is this done? Or, how is the file that's changed found and refreshed? - Robert - How many files and folders within the "My Documents" folder? What percentage of resources are free? > Windows Explorer is locking up more and more. Even to the point of > preventing a normal reboot to be able to get things up and running [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > - Robert - Why do you think that Explorer is the problem? Have you confirmed that other applications continue to run just fine even when Explorer has locked up?  SignatureJeff Richards MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User) > Windows Explorer is locking up more and more. Even to the point of > preventing a normal reboot to be able to get things up and running [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > - Robert - Chris, Jeff, Thank you for responding. in My Documents are 46 files for a total of 11MB and 4 folders (most empty), but one has 96 files for 21MB and 4 folders of around 10 files each. I assume this is well within handling capabilities. The machine is a Pentium III at 750MHz with 250MB RAM. Simply sitting on line reading these messages yielded 66% free which seems a bit anemic to me. Nothing is going on. Yes, *if* I can get ctrl-alt-del to function and specifically kill Windows Explorer/Internet Explorer, usually almost "normal" operation and control of the system resumes. Then I can do a normal reboot and all starts working again as long as I don't try Windows Explorer and expecially Internet Explorer again before doing this sequence. ...try this again, Just to check the performance I shut off a couple of applications: reading a .hlp file and Windows Explorer to see how much more resources freed up. went to 79% free HOWEVER - my ability to finish the above email stopped! Could not add a single item to it. Mouse worked, but keyboard would not add characters. Keyboard worked on other applications, though. so went and rebooted and now have 84% free as I work on this email. Hmmmm.... To repeat, after closing Windows Explorer, I could not edit the other response. Had to reboot and come back. I always look at the list of programs running to make certain they are the right ones only have two basic ones and the additional security download from MS explorer Osa KB whatever then add whatever application I am using just to be on line along with Rnaapp I don't feel my system is heavily loaded down, nor do I keep many applications open at one time. What is with this "resources free" dropping so much with more applications running after rebooting? - Robert - Your figures for free resources are very typical and not related to your problem I may sound a bit like a broken record, but before going any further get some good hardware diagnostics and give them a good run - at least overnight. The random nature of the problem and variation in the way it occurs suggests hardware. At worst you have wasted a few hours and proved that it isn't hardware. At best you will identify the cause. SignatureJeff Richards MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User) > ...try this again, > [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > > - Robert - Jeff, Thank you for your response. Even my wife told me to reinstall the cabling, because it looked like flakey bus transfers. Will look in the hardware area now. It's just difficult to see how flakey hardware doesn't dramatically bomb the system and only "perturbs" it. - Robert - > in My Documents are 46 files for a total of 11MB and 4 folders (most > empty), but one has 96 files for 21MB and 4 folders of around 10 files > each. I assume this is well within handling capabilities. You were misinformed. Many users report difficulties when C:\My Documents includes more than 100 directory entries, that go away when the files are moved elsewhere. (For forgotten reasons originating in Win95 Windows cares only about crowding in C:\My Documents and not elsewhere.) SignatureDon Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) Misinformed? I didn't even know about your 100 file limit. I only knew there is a REAL limit in the C:\ directory that I once went over. I have 46 files and 4 folders. Does that 100 files total including subfolders? But still doesn't answer the question as to why so few applications and so few running programs take me down to less than 60% free, yet after reboot and checking later, with more programs open then yield 92% free. Makes no sense. - Robert - > > in My Documents are 46 files for a total of 11MB and 4 folders (most > > empty), but one has 96 files for 21MB and 4 folders of around 10 files [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > (For forgotten reasons originating in Win95 Windows cares > only about crowding in C:\My Documents and not elsewhere.) > > > in My Documents are 46 files for a total of 11MB and 4 folders (most > > > empty), but one has 96 files for 21MB and 4 folders of around 10 files [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > (For forgotten reasons originating in Win95 Windows cares > > only about crowding in C:\My Documents and not elsewhere.) > Misinformed? I didn't even know about your 100 file limit. I only > knew there is a REAL limit in the C:\ directory that I once went over. > > I have 46 files and 4 folders. Does that 100 files total including > subfolders? Earlier post said RM's C:\My Documents holds 4 x 10 files + 96 files + some dozens more i.e. well over 150 directory entries. Don Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) My Documents had 46 files and 4 folders: My eBook is empty My Music has 10 files My Pictures has 96 files and 4 folders each folder has 12-15 files I only counted approx 50 directory entries Do the subfolders count as entries? - Robert - > My Documents had 46 files and 4 folders: > My eBook is empty [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Do the subfolders count as entries? Yes, all subfolders count as entries. My advice is to remove all folders and files you created in C:\My Documents to another folder .... such as "C:\MyDocs". Personally, all files I create in My Documents don't stay there very long. It's best to keep this folder free from as many files and subfolders as possible. Other things to try... 1) Compact all folders in Outlook Express 2) In IE under Internet Temporary Files, Delete Files ( I actually created batch files which delete all Temp Internet files and Cookies @ startup ) 3) Defragment the hard drive As for for resources, anything greater then 10% shouldn't represent a problem. Post back to let us know if this has any impact on performance. Chris. Is it just me, or does it seem assinine to make *everything* uncontrollably drop stuff into folders so unimaginatively labeled as "My Documents" My Music" etc and then not have the propensity to handle more than 100 entries? Moved everything to a new folder, left 3 files I need there. 1 Purposely *never* installed Outlook Express. 2 Always deleting temp internet files and keep only 22 cookies [some contain membership info] 3 Originally couldn't defrag HD, there's another thread I started on that subject. However, pairing down the My Documents folders may have solved many problems. Defrag ran fo the first time in four months today. Is that 10% free, or 10% left? For me, the information is backward. I would like to know how much I'm using not how much is free. Now I don't know if the hanging of IE and Windows Explorer was caused by excessive files in "My Documents", or not; or was some how related to the low amount of free CPU time that was left. It's like I boot, and there's 97% down to 94%. But after running quite a few applications [and closing them, returning to the original 4] there is only 60% free left. Makes no sense. But I will start watching this more and let people know what I find out. - Robert - Signature"All problems have a simple solution! The more complex the solution, the more ludicrous the analogy!" > Is it just me, or does it seem assinine to make *everything* > uncontrollably drop stuff into folders so unimaginatively labeled as > "My Documents" My Music" etc and then not have the propensity to handle > more than 100 entries? Yup, and as you probably know, that's not the only problem with Windows. =o) > Moved everything to a new folder, left 3 files I need there. > 1 Purposely *never* installed Outlook Express. [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Is that 10% free, or 10% left? For me, the information is backward. I > would like to know how much I'm using not how much is free. 10% free and left means the same thing! The resources that are free starts as a relatively high number. In the 80s or 90% range. The more programs you launch, the lower the number goes. However, if you close those apps, they most often don't release the resources. Why is this? Simple, piss poor programming. > Now I don't know if the hanging of IE and Windows Explorer was caused > by excessive files in "My Documents", or not; or was some how related [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > - Robert - What else can you do to make Windows run faster? Well, you now know not to keep many files in the My Documents folder. Other folders to look @ include: 1) C:\ 2) C:\WINDOWS ( or whatever you decided your Windows folder should be 3) C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND Each one of the folders listed above is part of the PATH. The fewer files are in these folders, the faster Windows will run. Now don't go deleting files @ random. The best thing to do is to move all *.txt, *.log, *.tmp, *.gif, *.bmp and *.cpe ( if you're not using Microsoft Fax ) files from these folders to another folder. I created a folder called C:\WINDOWS\BACKUP. It houses all files which I never use from the above listed folders. There are many other files in these folders which are quite safe to get rid of as well, but some of the MS MVPs might have a fit. =o) Chris. > Is it just me, or does it seem assinine to make *everything* > uncontrollably drop stuff into folders so unimaginatively labeled as > "My Documents" My Music" etc and then not have the propensity to handle > more than 100 entries? Well, it is not just you: it is Bill Gates' decision of more than a decade ago (i.e. it might have simplified life with Win95) now hard-coded into Win98. Win98 mavens have been warning others about the phenomenon for years now. SignatureDon Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) Glad I heard about the limitation now. I met Bill Gates back in the 80's and we worked on a project together. There are few men in the industry I have sincere respect for. He is one of them. He has that enviable quality/ability of all great leaders - to listen. If he asked me to work on another project, I would. However, I still hate Windows. - Robert - Wow! after removing everything from My Documents and subfolders to a zMy Documents and subfolders and leaving the empty folders in place; windows then moved my empty folder My Documents and subfolders to C:\Windows.000 ! ! ! out of C:\ All the Windows programs knew about the change but all of my DOS batch programs missed that change. Is it ok to move the folder back? Or should I leave it there? - Robert - |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.