Explorer is having a panic attack.
Explorer is having a panic attack.
Experiencing some frustrating issues with Windows Explorer recently. Desktop icons appear as the default file—folders look blank and images show up as empty spaces instead of actual pictures. After refreshing the desktop, pressing Start+E brings up 'This PC,' but loading drives still takes unusually long, sometimes taking about two minutes with messages like "Working on it..." before finally starting. This behavior hasn’t happened before. Prior to the latest Windows update, opening a video file would cause the explorer to crash and restart, but after that it worked again. I’m not keen on backups or a full reinstall now. My Windows installation is nearly four years old, running on a 970 Evo with 70% health and 100GB free space.
It seems like you're questioning whether something specific might be the cause.
Have you modified any components recently? I experienced a similar situation before upgrading the motherboard without reinstalling Windows.
Execute the following commands in the command prompt:
1) chkdsk C: /F
2) sfc /scannow
3) DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
After completion, open the Control Panel and initiate automatic maintenance. You can also run these tasks via the command prompt. Update Windows as needed. If CPU or drive usage spikes appear in Task Manager, allow it to continue. Disrupting these processes can damage Windows.
70% health on an NVMe isn't ideal, though it's not extremely bad. It could definitely point to some problems. Have you performed any read and write tests? If the status remains "Good" and those tests run normally, I'd suspect the issue lies with the age of your installation. Following @Haswellx86's advice and performing some file cleanup would be helpful. Running Glary to clear temporary files might also assist. A Windows in-place upgrade or repair installation could be a good option. If you keep facing issues and the drives still don't perform well, consider replacing the SSD.
It was stable until recently, not sure what changed. Recently I added a 980GB SSD about 1.5 years ago and upgraded the CPU from 10600k to 10900k roughly 2.5 years back. No issues have arisen so far. I tried RestoreHealth but it didn’t help. I ran a test with Samsung Magician, which worked fine, and plan to try CrystaldiskMark for more detail. It’s been around 4 years, bought in November 2020. I’m also considering whether the OS is outdated, but it’s frustrating figuring out what’s wrong.
Update: Ran CDM and here's the result: Write speeds are very low, idk why.
Have you performed these tests before or with a newer system? Have you experienced the full read speed? If not, it might be limited by your M.2 slot or the PCIe lanes, especially if multiple drives are connected. The drive being nearly full could also impact performance due to cache constraints. If the slowness seems unnecessary, consider its condition—replacing it might be wise. For a smooth upgrade without reinstalling Windows, an in-place upgrade could help. Alternatively, you might transfer the OS to a newer NVMe drive and use the older one just for storage.
Immediately after setting up the 970 Evo and installing Windows, I ran a CDM test. Everything worked properly—both read and write speeds were fine. The PCIe lanes remained unaffected, which is good news since I had already addressed that issue a year and a half ago. I double-checked several times to confirm the speeds are correct and nothing is causing interference. Would you like me to suggest an upgrade path, like moving to Windows 11? I understand cloning can sometimes cause hiccups.
It seems your system is experiencing performance problems, such as low health status and sluggish write speeds. The Windows indicators suggest a failing drive. If this were my setup, I’d swap the drive and create a clone using suitable software. Macrium Reflect and Aomei Partition Assistant let you clone directly from Windows to a new storage device. After completion, you can replace the original drive. Sometimes the system struggles to start, so running a boot fix from Macrium before attempting to boot is recommended. There are many tutorials available on performing an OS clone. An in-place upgrade involves using a Windows installation USB; for Windows 10, this would be the 10 installer, which repairs system files without deleting apps or data. If you have a Windows 10 USB, just open setup.exe in your current session and follow the prompts to reinstall Windows. For Windows 11, newer versions offer a built-in Repair Install option in settings for this purpose.