Windows 8.1 file explorer is Super slow

I have a newish ( a couple of months old) laptop. i7 4700mq gtx765 8gb ram

I'm using an ssd boot dirve and a HDD for storage. The computer has absolutely no problems running programs but it is very slow in file explorer.( I mean like 1 minute just to open up the ''this pc'' window. Opening properties of drives also becomes super slow. ( can take up to 5 minutes)

If I try restarting the system, I get about 5 minutes of File explorer working at decent speeds, before going back to being slow.

Both drives are at less then 25% full. I've only got a couple of games on the second drive and a few programs like office and chrome etc. on the ssd.

Tried fixes:

Indexing both files

Turning off indexing

Indexing only the ssd

Changing the view to details instead of large icons

defrag

general drive optimising

Krishna ravichandran

Posted 2013-11-28T20:26:03.077

Reputation: 21

Same problem here. I've read hundreds of pages on the web, every one suggesting things often in contraddiction with other solutions. I think it has to do with mapped network drives, but have no idea of why. The issue happens at random and when it happens THEN the PC runs perfectly for a while. – Andrea Antonangeli – 2014-09-04T10:00:27.053

1Why was this question protected when there still is no clear answer? – B T – 2016-01-14T21:43:37.787

Do you have any mapped network drives? This could be a SMB 3.0 issue. – None – 2013-11-28T22:49:19.380

follow those steps and capture the slowness: http://pastebin.com/at7DyJxm

– magicandre1981 – 2013-11-29T04:45:09.797

Answers

The most common problem for the "This PC" delays is networking. A network drive that was once connected is not present.

If you boot your PC with the network cable disconnected, then the "This PC" will open instantly if you have this issue.

This is because when you start your PC with networking enabled the "This PC" shortcut execution shows you a dialog with all of your drives and other system elements. It also invokes a parsing agent that looks for all those previous network locations to "fire them up" and "prepare them" for your viewing pleasure.

You most likely have this delay caused from orphaned network locations if when you start your "This PC" it first shows a few icons then after a few seconds, waits and then shows a status bar. At the same time the status bar starts, the "Items count" appears. This is the local "This PC" telling you how many items there are and that it is done opening the "This PC" window. This is where the bug comes in. Now it is going to have a status bar while it tries to connect up to all those previous network locations. The rest of the time it is networking and parsing to find those previous network locations.

I have not found a way to turn this parsing off yet. I am still looking. My PC did not do this until I used it for 3 weeks and discovered some network locations. Turning on and off sharing and network discovery does not seem to change "This PC" network parsing and discovery issues.

George Davey

Posted 2013-11-28T20:26:03.077

Reputation: 11

I do not have Win8 but in previous versions clearing up the "My network places" folder helped. – Alexey Popkov – 2014-11-03T09:25:30.417

It might be a bit late but have to checked to see if the WSearch service is running? If it's not file explorer will be slow! Go to task manager > More details > Services > find WSearch Service and start it. Make sure it autostarts at bootup by right clicking it to go to "open services". You will find it in the Services windows as Windows Search. Right click it and click "properties". Go to the Startup type and select "automatic".

Ryan Newsome

Posted 2013-11-28T20:26:03.077

Reputation: 1

The problem is certainly not related to Search. Enabling it or not, the problem remains – Andrea Antonangeli – 2014-09-20T14:18:20.020