Windows 7: Explorer Slow to sort folders/files.

Why is there a huge delay on the sorting of files/folders in windows explorer?

If I enter a folder that has many subfolders and extra files, it seems to load everything at once in alphabetical order, then there's a delay while it sorts the folders and the individual files separately, also in alphabetical order. This delay can be something like 5 seconds with just a few hundred items, and it just grows from there.

What's the deal? Am I the only one experiencing this? How do I change this behavior to be more like XP... snappy and instant.

Hi MasterEvilAce.

Explorer is just like XP for me, snappy AND instant.
Is it just Explorer that lags like this for you? Is the OS otherwise snappy?

Yes, as far as performance goes, explorer sorting is the only thing that is slow. Windows Media Player is rubbish on my system as well.. general instability and such. Everything else is fine.

I use list mode, but it happens in any mode.. thumbnails load quick and snappy

Sorting by name and opening a folder for the first time bogs like I mentioned. I can go into a folder, and out again and it's fine.

But if I sort by DATE, it bogs while sorting... I go into a folder, and out again and it bogs as it sorts again.

The folder in particular that I test this on has 90ish folders and 200 individual files.
XP never had this issue with the same amount of files... The drive is also entirely defragged. If this isn't a widespread problem, then I am stumped.

Some information about your system would be good. How much RAM? What CPU? How much free disk space? Did it ever work as expected?

system specs are up to date in my profile. drives have ~50% or more free space on them.

On XP the folders were snappy. I've never used vista, so I can't comment on how specific the problem is to windows. The windows 7 beta, RC1, and RTM have all performed the same. the beta and RTM were both fresh installs.

Great - since we never know if posters have more than one computer, or if they are helping a friend or relative with their computer, it is necessary to verify.

Drill down to the folder then right-click on it and click the Customize tab and make sure the default setting of "General Items" is set. If already set to General, try one of the other settings.

Thanks
That solved my problem

This also solved my problem, setting it to "General Items".
Sorting was so slow I could take a nap and when I wake up it still
wouldn't be done sorting by date. LOL

Thanks!

This also solved my original problem, too.
Thanks

Been looking for a solution to the same problem and this solved it. I had my video library set to optimize for video and it took forever to sort by date. Changed to general items and its pretty much instant. Thanks.