Searching for My Computer...

Whenever I click on the desktop "My Computer" icon or hit the up button while viewing the C-Drive my system begins a 10-15 minute search for my harddrive. And dont let me accidently hit the "my pc" icon while browsing to open or save a file. The whole freaking program freezes up (not responding) for about 20 minutes until it finishes its search. This is nothing new... ive been dealing with this issue for about 6 months, im just finally fed up with it.

:confused You guys wouldnt happen to know how i can give my system directions or a map, or a virtual seeing eye dog to keep it from losing itsself again, would you??

Thanx in advance...
and stop laughing, it aint funny

 

Sounds like it might be searching for another drive or device that's not behaving. Do you have stuff plugged into your USB connections, does 'Device Manager' show any yellow !'s? I'd remove any USB devices and then plug them back in one by one to see if any of them are the culprits.

LOL, nothing funny about that!

 

The only things plugged into my tower are the mouse, keyboard & monitor.

Nope, no exclamations in the device manager.

 

by searching i mean ... i get a flashlight in an empty window swinging back and forth like its lost... lol

yes... i defrag about twice a month

been going on about 6 or 7 months.

 

hmmm...
i do have a network connection...
but im completely, totally, 110% ignorant of this sort of thing...
its on my To-Learn To-Do list

 

forget that...
i do have a network connection... called
"Local Area Connection 2"

but i know absolutely nothing about networking... and nothing about what it might have to do with my lost computer.

 

Do you have a disk in the CDROM?

What is the "My PC" icon in the browse window? On XP I have My Computer on the left. Are you using Vista?

 

No cd in the cdrom

i meant "my computer"... i was just too lazy to type it again... rolleyes
Windows XP Home Edition SP3
but the problem started long before i installed sp3

 

Help, Please!

http://www.geocities.com/cocobuttacurves/feedback.gif

 

I've seen this before.

Go Start --> Run --> "services.msc".

Look for something called "Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)". Right-click it and choose "Stop". Now try opening My Computer.

Any scanning software or camera you have will not work as long as that is stopped. If you want it to stay stopped, double click on "Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)" after you stop it and change the start type to "Disabled". You can try setting it to "Manual" but some other program can start it by asking for it.

 

WIA - the setting "Manual" isnt an option
i can stop it... but the setting wont change from "Automatic"
and my computer is still searching.


I went into properties and was able to change the setting to manual
but my pc is still searching... tho the search time is shorter now.

SCRATCH THAT!!
Windows Image Acquisition Settings = Stopped & Manual
Search time just the same as before.

 

Tho Windows Image Acquisition setting is "Manual" when i close out the service window it restarts itself... smh

 

The only program that could be using it is my Logitech Quick Cam
I dont have it physically plugged in right now... but there are 2 exes running in the background.
LVPrcSrv.exe & LVComSer.exe
I've tried disabling these exes from contently running but if i dont allow them at start up the cam wont work.

 

This is what i see after the search finishes.

Ok... the pic sucks... whats listed there is...

3 1/2 (A: ) Floppy
Local Disk (C: )
CD Drive (D: )
GMail Drive
3 Folders

 

@ Mark

lol... that issue was going to be addressed next
but its true... if i disable them from my start up my QuickCam only shows a black window

 

No... this problem has been going on a while... ive only installed the the GMail Drive 2 weeks ago.

I didnt put those folders there, XP did!! When the separate desktops were created. I would think they would be under C: too. *shrug*
one is a shared folder, the other 2 are user account "my documents" folders. Seems a lil loopy to me too that they are there ... but i just left them alone.

 

Ok... ive been looking at these folders and they are NOT shortcuts...

when i physically type in the address C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\
the "Shared Documents" folder listed there is not a shortcut.

which is funny because when i open the shared folder (which is not a shortcut either) from the "My Computer" window... i get the exact same the path shown in the address bar as well... C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\

So, Im kinda scared to start deleting/moving folders.
But at the same time how can two folders, neither one shortcuts, lead to the same path???

Im going to move these folders to my desktop instead of deleting them and see what happens... pray for me

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ok, Problem! XP wont allow me to move or delete the folders from the "My Computer" window.
How can an issue that seems so small be so hard to resolve???

 

there is no security tab... not even in advanced attributes

 

this...

 

Just a heads up my "My Computer" has Shared Documents folder and isn't slow to load. I think they are what MS calls Virtual Folders like "My Documents" on the Desktop. Moving them would probably involve a tweak like renaming "My Documents" requires.

 

if you look closely you'd see the "private" button is greyed out.
and yes, the properties are EXACTLY the same in each folder. freaky, huh?

i also tried hiding the folders... but doing that for some reason made my drives disappear instead of my folders...

i swear... this pc has Alzheimer's


@ Sach2
Where'd you get that windows skin???

 

the usual options....

Map Network Drive
Disconnect Network Drive
Synchronize...
Folder Options

 

Ok... its day 4... still no resolution.

Who's next to take a wack at my problem??

 

Not a expert, but I did stay at a holiday inn express last night...

Question, Did you ever at any time have a HP scanner or printer plugged into this computer?

The reason I ask is because I had this problem before although my wait was only a few minutes, also any right click would cause a two minute stall also. It started when I installed a HP "All In Wonder" printer/scanner and the drivers. I lived with it a few days, got tired it and uninstalled all the drivers and the problem was gone. I would lean toward something that was installed when this started happening.

Sorry, I got nothing else.

 

As far as I know there has never been a printer &/or scanner hooked up to this pc and I cant find any trace of one now.
I am so at a loss for what to do.

Is there a program that will simply repair my system?

Because now I cant do a search or open any folders at all. :eek
Explorer is freezing up when I try to open anything other than an exe. The desktop and start menu... smh.
I can still access the task manager thru ctrl/alt/del. Good thing im familiar with run commands.

Ive done all the malware scans and I havent found anything.
If I wasnt such a calm person Id be pulling out my hair right now.

 

Nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

[Read: Backup, format, do a clean install of Windows.]

It will take less time to figure out and you'll be back to using your computer more quickly.

 

Those shared folders are normal valid folders. I've three on my XP PC shown under My Computer. So I would doubt that they were the problem.

Try doing a right click on the C drive and untick the Allow Indexing option - my thought being the index itself is corrupt and the time taken is due to that trying to be read.