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#1
Windows Explorer freezes when launching programs
The OS is actually Windows Server 2008 R2, but it's essentially the same as Windows 7, so I hope no-one minds there.
Anyway, whenever I try to launch a program from within Windows Explorer (be it from the Taskbar, the Start Menu, or by double-clicking on a program in a Computer window) nothing happens for 25 seconds (I've timed it, and it takes between 23 and 28 seconds). After ~25 seconds the program finally appears and is shown in the task bar.
There is also a hang whenever I right-click on any *.exe file from within Explorer (or any File Open/Save dialogs), that too, lasts about 28 seconds (but never 30 full seconds, interestingly enough). After that time the menu disappears without giving me a chance to click on it.
When I launch a program from another program, such as from a Command Prompt window then the program launches instantly. So the problem is with Explorer.
The problem is not per-user because when I logged in as a new user (which created a new profile) the problem still exists.
I've disabled all third-party shell extensions with ShellExView and found nothing dodgy when running Sysinternals Autoruns. So now I'm really stumped.
The fact it takes 25 seconds hints it's waiting for a network timeout or something. I had a search through the registry for '\\' to find any UNC paths, but found nothing.
Any ideas?
I had a very similar issue to this a few years ago on a Windows XP machine, in the end it turned out to be caused by a file-type associated with a program stored on a network drive, but no such file types exist on this computer.