Windows 7: Odd pauses in Explorer when clicking or opening items

Hi all,

I have 7 home premium 64. This is a fresh build of the OS. I'm getting these occasional odd pauses when clicking on something in Windows explorer. example, i just double clicked a file to open it (a zip), and instead of just opening right up, there was a 5 to 6 second delay, then it opens fine. Also, it may happen when I just click on a file to select it. There will be no response, and then 5 seconds later, it'll turn blue to indicate it's selected.

I've had Windows 7 on all this same hardware since October, but it's just on this recent build that this started happening. I must note that this is only happening occasionally, not frequently, but enough to be annoying.

Anyone have any clues on what might be causing this? The hard drive is otherwise lightning fast and responsive.

i7-920 @ 2.66 | 6GB DDR 1600 | OS on 500GB WD AAKS | Gigabyte UD3R mobo with F11 bios

edit: I just remembered a friend had sent me a registry file with some tweaks in it. Here are the contents:

..............BEGIN COPY
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00



[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"MenuShowDelay"="200"
"HungAppTimeout"="4000"
"WaitToKillAppTimeout"="5000"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem]
"NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation"=dword:00000001
"NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"ForegroundLockTimeout"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control]
"WaitToKillServiceTimeout"="5000"
..............END COPY

Could any of those had anything to do with it? And if so, can they be reversed?

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoLowDiskSpaceChecks"=dword:00000001

Hi ziffel, and "Welcome to the Seven Forums," and thank you for filling in your system specs.

Not really sure this is the answer, albeit I to have the same problem when opening a file or a zip document. It usually happens when I have allowed my HDDs to powered down or not be used for some time. Also when working in Office and I go to save a document it may take several seconds before the file is saved. Again this appears to be because the HDD as again powered down. Once it has powered back up it seems the problem goes away.

May other members will be a little more helpful, albeit that is what appears to be the problem.

Lee has offered you one possible explaination... Drives spinning down.

Another is your anti-virus software... If it's set to scan files as they open, this can be a very time consuming task... *especially* if the AV software picks that moment to update it's database.

Thanks guys. Lee was spot on with the drive power issue. I just checked, and realized there was a small link to get to "advanced power settings". I looked and saw the HD's were set to power down in 20 mins! I bumped that up to 2 hrs.

I'm relieved, I thought I was bugged.

Thanks a bunch!

Glad you found the solution. Thanks for the report back.

Always glad to know that I can be of Help.

Thanks for letting us know the problem is solved.

Yep, and you know, it's funny. Back in the old days, this would have been easy to figure out. The HD's back then were so loud you'd hear them spin up then 'click' on ... drives today are so quiet, I couldn't hear a thing while they waking up!