accessing "my videos" triggers abnormal cpu usage from explorer.exe

hi

i'm having a problem with my PC, that when i open the folder "My Videos" from anywhere (start menu, my docs etc), my computer runs much slower than normal. this started a couple of weeks ago but i just dismissed it as an annoyance at the time, im only bothered about it now because i want to work with video clips, that i cant use if explorer crashes whenever i try to access them..

using task manager i noticed that explorer.exe jumps to hover at about 50% CPU usage the first time My videos is opened. it then stays there until i open another folder within my videos, this brings overall usage from explorer.exe to about 88-90%. even closing all explorer windows (my docs/my vids etc not sure what the correct name is for them) means explorer.exe is taking about 50-80% of my cpu, even though it seemingly isnt doing anything. the problem seems to have resolved itself a couple of times during me testing it, but for seemingly no reason other than fate.. it starts again once i open my videos again.

trying to open a folder that is about 200mb of video clips then becomes too much for my CPU and the window just crashes.

i have run a virus scan with the latest update from McAfee and it has found no viruses on my PC, though i know there's a possibility of still being one, in that scans dont necessarily find everything.

i will include a Hijackthis log as an appendix to this post, if that's of any use to anyone

also, i ran an "overdrive" test of my machine from pcpitstop.com and it sid that my CPU load test was 100% (with 10% being best). it's a measure of traffic accross the CPU, and says the main cause for high results is background apps. however it also says that background apps dont seem to be the problem for my pc. i'm not aware of anything on my computer which could be triggered by the opening of My Videos.

anyone have any ideas as to what could be causing/how to fix this abnormal use of my cpu by My Videos/explorer.exe? would be greatly appreciated

i'm running a:
2 years old
Dell DM051
xp pro media center edition SP2
1gb DDR2 RAM
3ghz pentium 4
radeon x600 graphics card
disk half full 19% fragmented



i'm here all afternoon/evening so i'll answer any questions hopefully within 30 mins

 

You might want to try going through a few threads in other forums and seeing what comes of that and whether it fixes the problem. I'll tell you where to find these threads but I'll also give you the direct links.

On the main forum page, scroll down to "Guides and Frequently Asked Questions" and scroll down to find "Computer Maintenance" near the end of the list. When this opens, you may not see any thread headings. If not, use the drop down arrow under "From The" to select "Beginning" and click the "Show Threads" button.

The two I suggest you look at in this forum are:

Basic computer maintenance everyone should do
Disable Unneeded Services In Windows XP

Now to the Malware forum (starting back at the main forums page) and go through this one:

READ & RUN ME FIRST. Malware Removal Guide

If you think you need help with Malware after going through these, attach logs rather than pasting them into your post (use Go Advanced when replying or adding more logs - 3 is the most you can add to a post) and don't post any messages to see what's happening if it seems to be taking a while (sometimes referred to as bumping). The guys in Malware take each thread in turn by choosing the one with the oldest post and if you add a new post, you drop down to the end of the list again.

So give that lot a go and see where you're up to after that. :wave

 

when you open the folder are you viewing the files as icons or do you have the thumbnail view where it shows a screenshot from the video as the icon.

If your viewing the thumbnails then your computer is going to have to read each of the files when you open the folder. If one of these files is corrupt in any way then this may be causing some problems.

move all the files from this folder to another location. Does the problem still occur?

 

I'm pretty sure BrokenArrows is correct. One or more of the videos is giving explorer trouble. Try using icon view to see if the problem can be verified.

 

I didn't think of thumbnails... but yes, if there are a lot of files in the one folder, it will take a long time for the computer to finish showing them all and the computer will use more resources and be in more danger of crashing. So if you are using thumbnail view, split them up into sub-folders so the computer has less work to do per folder.

And sub-folders will work well to test if there is a corrupted file - should help to isolate which. Split them half/half and see if one folder opens quickly and the other doesn't. Then just keep dividing into two folders until you track down the offending file(s).