Opening Folders Issue

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StevieT

702 posts

Ultimate Geek

#306008 20-Jun-2023 10:59

Why am I having to restart my HP laptop just to open a folder within Explorer? It has happened for three days straight now. I turn my laptop and it doesn't open any folder until its rebooted (eg right now Pictures > Cats won't open, so I'll restart. The other day couldn't access the Documents folder until a restart).

OS: 11 Pro 22H2

How do I investigate the cause of this and fix the issue?

Regards

Stevie

SpartanVXL

1306 posts

Uber Geek

#3092441 20-Jun-2023 11:02

Disk issue? I’d start with a chkdsk or scan.

Otherwise you can test restarting explorer process. If thats works then try a windows repair.

ANglEAUT

2320 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3092479 20-Jun-2023 12:55

SpartanVXL: Disk issue? I’d start with a chkdsk or scan. ...

You should also see errors in the Windows EventViewer system logs if this is the case.

Alternatively, how many files have you got in the folder? File Explorer starts choking & behaving erratically if you have more than 10 000 files in a folder. You can also try turning off thumbnails to see if that helps the issue.

Please keep this GZ community vibrant by contributing in a constructive & respectful manner.

StevieT

702 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3092631 20-Jun-2023 15:39

Next time it happens I'll try restarting explorer.exe. I've only noticed this since HP Wolf Security applied an update on Saturday (required a restart), and I had done my usual routine of deleting all files in the %temp% folder (and also did a Disk Cleanup the same day).

Things work after doing a reboot. But I shut down my laptop each night. No issues starting up the next day.... until I want to open a folder, it seems.

richms

28168 posts

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#3092635 20-Jun-2023 15:56

Could it be hanging generating a thumbnail on something? I have had it freeze when acrobat was having a bad time if there were pdfs in the folder. Ending all the acrobat and adobe processes got it moving again.

Richard rich.ms

Behodar

10502 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#3092642 20-Jun-2023 16:15

What does "doesn't open" mean? Does double-clicking do nothing? Does right-clicking and choosing Open do anything different? Or does it try to open then not show any files? Or give an error message?

StevieT

702 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3092671 20-Jun-2023 16:56

Yes, double click to open the folder. Doesn't achieve anything.

No errors show.

StevieT

702 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3092837 21-Jun-2023 07:41

Unfortunately, the behaviour is continuing.

I've tried right clicking on the Documents folder, but nothing appears (this is after double clicking the folder).

Restarting Windows Explorer hasn't done anything, so I'm about to restart the laptop yet again.

This is after shutting down the laptop last night and turning it back on within the last 20 minutes.

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StevieT

702 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3093294 22-Jun-2023 07:17

Uninstalling HP Wolf Security has thus far prevented the issue was reoccurring.