Speeding up browsing of large folders

[wallywalters]

I have several folders with large numbers of files, which takes Explorer a long time to scan before opening. I also have the indexing service turned off on my system. Would turning indexing back on speed up the opening of folders?

If not, is there any other way to open folders with large numbers of files without incurring a long wait -- or are there any Explorer replacement programs that read folders faster?

Thanks.

 

[mickey megabyte]

hi wallywalters, and welcome to sevenforums,

when you say large numbers of files, what sort of numbers are we talking about?

it could be that your AV (antivirus) software is slowing you down - i noticed this with mse on one of my machines. what AV are you using?

try temporarily disabling your AV and see if that helps any - don't forget to turn it back on after the testing!

if it is your AV, then you can normally set it to exclude certain folders ion the future...

of course, it may have nothing to do with AV, but it's gotta be worth a try!

 

[Zepher]

If they are video, music, or pictures files, or have combination of any of them, then it could be the folder options causing it to slow down.
I had that issue in the past and was told to right click on the folder, click on properties, and then go to customize, then "Optimize this folder for:" and select General Items, then click OK.
this will speed up the folder access time.

 

[wallywalters]

The problem folders typically contain 800 or more files. The anti-virus isn't at fault, as there is no anti-virus on the machine in question.

And I know I could speed things up by creating more subdirectories, but that would be impractical for my purposes for other reasons.

 

[wallywalters]

Thanks, Zephyr, but I have the "optimize" functionality turned off.

 

[Zepher]

Thanks, Zephyr, but I have the "optimize" functionality turned off.

Check the folder anyways and see what it is set for.

 

[zigzag3143]

I have several folders with large numbers of files, which takes Explorer a long time to scan before opening. I also have the indexing service turned off on my system. Would turning indexing back on speed up the opening of folders?

If not, is there any other way to open folders with large numbers of files without incurring a long wait -- or are there any Explorer replacement programs that read folders faster?

Thanks.

We could use you system specs so we know what hardware we are dealing with

 

[Zepher]

this is the folder customization options,

 

[wallywalters]

System specs are an Athlon X2 645, 16 GB DDR3, 2x2TB hard drives, Windows 7 Ultimate x64.

 

[MilesAhead]

System specs are an Athlon X2 645, 16 GB DDR3, 2x2TB hard drives, Windows 7 Ultimate x64.

Are you opening Explorer in details view? That should be the fastest. If they are media files or images, you can turn thumbnails off in folder options. If none of that helps, try Q-Dir native 64 bit portable:

Q-Dir the Quad Explorer for Windows - Q-Dir

 

[wallywalters]

Yes, Details View is my default -- I should have mentioned that -- and the optimize type is set for "General Items."

I believe this really is a problem of Explorer having to read in every last file name before let me start seeing any of them, and opening these folders would be slow on any Windows machine. That's why I wondered if turning on Indexing would speed up browsing, or if its supposed speed advantages are limited to searching.

 

[logicearth]

Do this simple test. Open a command window, issue "dir" on the directory in question. How long does it take to get a listing?

 

[wallywalters]

Just a few seconds. The file names are displayed the instant they are enumerated. For some reason, the enumerating in Windows takes much, much longer. This is true whethe 8.3 filenames are turned on or off.

 

[logicearth]

Its probably because the MFT is scattered way too much.
You should look into dragging it.

 

[Layback Bear]

Wally defragging might help and won't hurt. Those large files could be scattered all over your hard drive.

 

[wallywalters]

Thanks Layback Bear, but I already did that. (And none of the files are all that large; most are 300K and under).

Logicearth, I'm curious as to what you mean by "dragging" the MFT. I don't think I've ever heard the term before.

Also, if anyone else reading this has any folders with 3000-4000 files in it, how long does it usually take you to open it?

 

[Zepher]

I've got a picture folder with 7505 images in it, 2.56GB, and it opens instantly.
Also one with 4379 images, 659MB.

Others are less than 1500 files, but they all open up instantly.
They are all on a WD 2TB EARX Green Drive as well.

 

[MilesAhead]

Thanks Layback Bear, but I already did that. (And none of the files are all that large; most are 300K and under).

Logicearth, I'm curious as to what you mean by "dragging" the MFT. I don't think I've ever heard the term before.

Also, if anyone else reading this has any folders with 3000-4000 files in it, how long does it usually take you to open it?

Something seems strange. I would try defrag with Puran Defrag:
Puran Software - Quality First

On the Additional Operations Tab check the top 4 options.
It might be a good idea to use something like CCleaner to remove temp files, empty recycle bin, and delete all but one restore point(if you use them) before doing the defrag. Puran is one of what I categorize as "light defraggers" in that they don't do 10 hour super thorough defrags. They run quickly but give good results for the time invested. Doesn't drub your HD to death in other words.

 

[Layback Bear]

I have used many defrag programs but not Puran. I have found that the built in Windows 7 works as well as all the others I have tried.

 

[MilesAhead]

I have used many defrag programs but not Puran. I have found that the built in Windows 7 works as well as all the others I have tried.

I have negative memories of windows defrag. When I brought home my first Vista PC and started defragging with jkDefrag, right in the middle of that defrag, Windows Defrag started. Seems they put it in the task scheduler without mentioning it. Also didn't include a way to determine if the HD was idle before starting. Not very user friendly.

edit: the defraggers are similar because except for the super thorough sector by sector types, they use the WinAPI defrag calls. I like Puran. It gives options that optimize but don't take forever. The one that takes the most run time is Fill Gaps. But I only do that maybe once a month. Even that doesn't take very long if you have a lot of free space on the drive.