Weird hard drive activity when I open folders

tgfyhre

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When I first start up my pc, whenever I open a folder with files in it, if I haven't opened that folder since it was shut down, my hard drive starts accessing and my mouse pointer turns into the little circle while it's waiting for something to finish. At that point I can't do much of anything until it's finished, which takes around half a minute or so usually. It happens with a folder with media files in it, and even just text files. What could be causing this? It's very annoying. Could it be my antivirus (Avira)? Is Windows doing this? Could I have some setting enabled in Windows that causes this to happen? Once the folder is opened and it stops whatever it was doing, it won't happen again until I shut off the pc and open that folder again. It seems something is scanning the files in the folders when I open them.
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
custom build
OS
Windows 7 32bit Home Premium
CPU
Intel Core I7 920 Bloomfield
Motherboard
Asus P6T Deluxe v1
Memory
3 GB Corsair DDR3 (3x1GB)
Graphics Card(s)
NVidia GTX 570 (1 GB RAM)
Sound Card
on board
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell P2314H
Screen Resolution
1920x1080
Hard Drives
Western Digital Black 1TB (main OS)
PSU
XION Supernova XON-800R14N 800W
Case
Antec 1200
Cooling
Arctic Freezer 7 Pro Rev. 2
Keyboard
AZIO Prism
Mouse
Logitech G700S
Internet Speed
Verizon FiOS 85/85
Antivirus
Avast
Browser
Firefox/Chrome
Other Info
SansDigital rr622 RocketRaid (with non-raid Driver)
Renesas USB 3.0 card
Could it be my antivirus (Avira)?
Quite possible.
Is Windows doing this? Could I have some setting enabled in Windows that causes this to happen?
Probably, might check the Indexing function.
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Customs, Dell, Gateway, HP, Toshiba, Acer, ASUS
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, Windows 8.1 64-bit, Mac OS X 10.10, Linux Mint 17, Windows 10 Pro TP
Keyboard
Microsoft
Mouse
Microsoft
System Cleaner?

If the folder contains pictures and/or videos, the delay may be caused by Windows generating new thumbnails.

Do you use a System Cleaner (like CCleaner)?
If yes, check the clean up options and make sure that "Thumbnail Cache" is not selected.
CCleaner - Thumbnail Cache.png
 
Last edited:

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
n/a
OS
W7 Ultimate SP1, LM19.2 MATE, W10 Home 1703, W10 Pro 1703 VM, #All 64 bit
CPU
AMD Phenom II x6 1100T, 3.3 GHz
Motherboard
ASUS M4A88T-M/USB3 (AM3)
Memory
12GB DDR3 1333 G-Skill (4GB x 2), G-Skill (2GB x 2)
Graphics Card(s)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660
Sound Card
Realtek?
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung S23B350
Screen Resolution
1920x1080
Hard Drives
WD Green 2TB (SATA), WD Green 3TB (SATA), WD Blue 4TB (SATA), WD Blue 6TB (SATA)
PSU
Cooler Master
Case
Antec GX300 Tower
Cooling
3x Antec TRICOOL 120mm Fans
Mouse
Wired Optical
Internet Speed
DSL
Antivirus
Avast
Browser
Pale Moon (64 bit)
Other Info
2018-12-27 Upgraded HDDs
2015-12-10 Upgraded case, graphics card, storage
2015-08-15 Upgraded motherboard & RAM
2015-07-15 Upgraded LM17.1 to LM17.2

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
custom build
OS
Windows 7 32bit Home Premium
CPU
Intel Core I7 920 Bloomfield
Motherboard
Asus P6T Deluxe v1
Memory
3 GB Corsair DDR3 (3x1GB)
Graphics Card(s)
NVidia GTX 570 (1 GB RAM)
Sound Card
on board
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell P2314H
Screen Resolution
1920x1080
Hard Drives
Western Digital Black 1TB (main OS)
PSU
XION Supernova XON-800R14N 800W
Case
Antec 1200
Cooling
Arctic Freezer 7 Pro Rev. 2
Keyboard
AZIO Prism
Mouse
Logitech G700S
Internet Speed
Verizon FiOS 85/85
Antivirus
Avast
Browser
Firefox/Chrome
Other Info
SansDigital rr622 RocketRaid (with non-raid Driver)
Renesas USB 3.0 card
If the folder contains pictures and/or videos windows may be generating new thumbnails.

Do you use a System Cleaner (like CCleaner)?
If yes, check the clean up options and make sure that "Thumbnail Cache" isn't selected.

Yes, I do use ccleaner and another system cleaner. Thumbnail cache is selected to clean. How can I check thumbnailing in Windows?
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
custom build
OS
Windows 7 32bit Home Premium
CPU
Intel Core I7 920 Bloomfield
Motherboard
Asus P6T Deluxe v1
Memory
3 GB Corsair DDR3 (3x1GB)
Graphics Card(s)
NVidia GTX 570 (1 GB RAM)
Sound Card
on board
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell P2314H
Screen Resolution
1920x1080
Hard Drives
Western Digital Black 1TB (main OS)
PSU
XION Supernova XON-800R14N 800W
Case
Antec 1200
Cooling
Arctic Freezer 7 Pro Rev. 2
Keyboard
AZIO Prism
Mouse
Logitech G700S
Internet Speed
Verizon FiOS 85/85
Antivirus
Avast
Browser
Firefox/Chrome
Other Info
SansDigital rr622 RocketRaid (with non-raid Driver)
Renesas USB 3.0 card
I think the files should be in this location:
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer

Thumbnail Cache.png
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
n/a
OS
W7 Ultimate SP1, LM19.2 MATE, W10 Home 1703, W10 Pro 1703 VM, #All 64 bit
CPU
AMD Phenom II x6 1100T, 3.3 GHz
Motherboard
ASUS M4A88T-M/USB3 (AM3)
Memory
12GB DDR3 1333 G-Skill (4GB x 2), G-Skill (2GB x 2)
Graphics Card(s)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660
Sound Card
Realtek?
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung S23B350
Screen Resolution
1920x1080
Hard Drives
WD Green 2TB (SATA), WD Green 3TB (SATA), WD Blue 4TB (SATA), WD Blue 6TB (SATA)
PSU
Cooler Master
Case
Antec GX300 Tower
Cooling
3x Antec TRICOOL 120mm Fans
Mouse
Wired Optical
Internet Speed
DSL
Antivirus
Avast
Browser
Pale Moon (64 bit)
Other Info
2018-12-27 Upgraded HDDs
2015-12-10 Upgraded case, graphics card, storage
2015-08-15 Upgraded motherboard & RAM
2015-07-15 Upgraded LM17.1 to LM17.2
Can I disable thumbnailing?
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
custom build
OS
Windows 7 32bit Home Premium
CPU
Intel Core I7 920 Bloomfield
Motherboard
Asus P6T Deluxe v1
Memory
3 GB Corsair DDR3 (3x1GB)
Graphics Card(s)
NVidia GTX 570 (1 GB RAM)
Sound Card
on board
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell P2314H
Screen Resolution
1920x1080
Hard Drives
Western Digital Black 1TB (main OS)
PSU
XION Supernova XON-800R14N 800W
Case
Antec 1200
Cooling
Arctic Freezer 7 Pro Rev. 2
Keyboard
AZIO Prism
Mouse
Logitech G700S
Internet Speed
Verizon FiOS 85/85
Antivirus
Avast
Browser
Firefox/Chrome
Other Info
SansDigital rr622 RocketRaid (with non-raid Driver)
Renesas USB 3.0 card
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