Windows Explorer stopped working properly.
Windows Explorer stopped working properly.
Essentially, you're facing some major performance issues with Windows 10 Explorer. It's running extremely slowly and has affected your entire Microsoft environment. The problem started gradually over several weeks, though it didn't become critical suddenly. When you open the file explorer, it takes a long time to load—sometimes it finishes almost instantly if you avoid certain shortcuts. On the desktop, opening the Recycle Bin can take up to ten minutes before it opens. Deleting files leaves the folder at 100% with no items remaining after some time. The Office suite, except for Teams, only becomes responsive after a strange delay. In Safe Mode everything functions normally, but booting into Linux resolves the issue completely. If you're using an SSD, browsing feels snappier than before, though some icons load slower than usual. Most games and programs run as expected across all drives. The CPU and disk usage remain minimal when Explorer is active. It seems a fresh Windows installation might be necessary to fully restore performance.
Check for issues by typing 'cmd' in the start menu and launching it with admin rights. Keep your internet connection active. Run the system check with sfc /scannow. If problems persist, proceed to next steps but restart the computer first. Execute DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /ScanHealth and DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /RestoreHealth to examine Windows image health. If successful, restart and verify improvements. If commands fail even in admin mode, boot into safe mode and attempt the steps; otherwise, consider OS repair using installation media or reinstalling drivers via DDU. If issues continue, perform a full system repair with the installation media.
They shouldn't forget to run a disk check. Just right-click the drive, select properties, then tools, and choose check drive for errors. It feels like the drive is failing to me.
Alright, I understand. It looks like the problem has been resolved recently. I used the right-click method on the drive recently, and everything worked smoothly. However, since that was in 1809, it might not be my firsthand experience. I think a faulty drive can still affect performance even if it's not the primary OS drive, so checking all drives is a good idea. I managed to fix the Kingston SSD eventually—it's functioning properly now, though it runs at half speed compared to the advertised rate. It's still faster than a mechanical drive and isn't causing any issues. The Barracuda remains a tough case, though; it works as an external but occasionally slows things down (like freezing Explorer). It’s not permanently connected, so that might be why.
Thank you for your patience. The concepts discussed so far didn’t resolve the issue. I discovered another aspect of the problem: sometimes it simply isn’t present, then appears later. It functioned well yesterday and today, but recently certain folders have started loading slowly across various drives. Now the explorer fails entirely, while previously problematic programs worked and others didn’t, such as the command prompt—unless I open them with administrator privileges. Even though the explorer shows no progress, opening a folder on the desktop launches instantly without symbols. I have four drives in my system; one seems to be failing, possibly due to age and wear, but running a Steam game on it works perfectly. There are no shortcuts that could trigger a loop when files aren’t found. When Explorer is barely operational, the affected drive still functions normally with normal response times and transfer speeds. The other three drives are newer—two SSDs and one HDD—none produce unusual sounds, and all SMART data reports are excellent. They operate flawlessly even in limp-home mode. Restarting the system doesn’t seem to help, though I’ll attempt it again as there aren’t many options left. If that fails, I’ll disconnect one of the drives and test whether the system stabilizes.