Explorer.exe CPU Usage & Documents Folder

BFarmer1980

New Member
First off, thanks in advance for your time and for whatever help you can provide.

I'm running Vista Home Premium 32bit.

A couple of weeks ago, I noted that something was causing the explorer.exe program to spike in its CPU usage. When this occurred, CPU usage would immediately spike to over 50%, and would never drop below this level without closing out and restarting explorer.exe in the task manager. If I tried to click on another folder after the 50%+ spike, explorer.exe would immediately spike to 100% CPU usage, and nothing futher could be done until explorer.exe was closed and restarted in the task manager.

In trying to discover the root of the problem, I found that this was happening whenever I clicked my shortcut to open Windows Explorer. This didn't happen, though, when I simply opened "My Computer." Further examination has shown this strange phenomenon to be what's causing the issue: any time a link to the "Documents" folder is clicked, the CPU spike occurs. This only happens when "Documents" is clicked in either the "Favorite Links" pane or the "Folders" pane below it. I can navigate to the "Documents" folder the long way (Users--My Name--Documents) and the spike does not occur. Also, I can click in any of the sub-folders (and all of their sub-folders) within the Documents folder from the "Folders" pane without the CPU spike occurring. The spike only occurs when the Documents folder itself is clicked from either the Favorite Links pane, the folders pane, or upon opening to it directly by opening "Windows Explorer."

So, while I've found a workaround that prevents the CPU spike from occurring, the problem still exists, and I'd really like to be able to find the solution.

Any help that can be provided will be greatly appreciated. Let me know if I can give any further information that would be of help. Thanks again!
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP G60-125NR
    CPU
    AMD Turion X2 Mobile 2.0 GHz
    Memory
    3GB RAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8200M G
    Hard Drives
    250 GB - Serial ATA-150 - 5400 rpm
Did I post this in the wrong forum, or is there just not an answer out there to be had?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP G60-125NR
    CPU
    AMD Turion X2 Mobile 2.0 GHz
    Memory
    3GB RAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8200M G
    Hard Drives
    250 GB - Serial ATA-150 - 5400 rpm
First of all what is your CPU clock speed? IF you are around 1.0-1.5Ghz then your CPU is just having trouble running Vista.

Secondly, try all of this with the Aero glass turned off in the display options...this may help by reducing CPU and GPU usage on main explorer...you dont need the glass..its a waste.

Third you might want to try what it says to increase the Performance of Vista from this link. Its a forum here...

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/81176-speed-up-performance-vista.html

Hope this helps!!!
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion DV7-1129wm Entertainment PC
    CPU
    AMD Turion X2 RM-72 Dual Core @ 2.1GHz
    Memory
    2 x 2 GB Hyundai DDR2 400 MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3200 @ 256 MB
    Sound Card
    IDT High Definition Audio/SRS Premium Sound/Altec Lansing
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" Laptop Screen
    Screen Resolution
    1440 x 900 laptop, external 17 in LCD 1024 x 768
    Hard Drives
    WD Scorpio Blue 320 GB SATA 5400 RPM
    Toshiba 68 GB SATA 5400 RPM Second Drive (backup)
    PSU
    8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
    Case
    Laptop with "light up" HP Logo on outside
    Cooling
    Insane air coming out of Targus dual fan cooler
    Keyboard
    Full Keyboard with numpad
    Mouse
    Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 3000 / Touchpad
    Internet Speed
    Comcast Cable 20 MBps
    Other Info
    Used Primarily for CAD design using SolidWorks 2010.
    Also I love to watch HD movies using the HDMI output(Netflix).
    Linked to my Xbox 360 for Windows Media Center
    3 USB ports + USB/eSata
    HP Remote for Windows Media Center and Quickplay
    Internal Dual Layer DVD+/-RW
    External HP Lightscribe Dual Layer DVD+/-RW
    HP Webcam and Microphone
I updated my system specs so that this info will be there in the future. The laptop is running an AMD Turion X2 Mobile, 2.0 Ghz, with 3GB of RAM. CPU speed isn't an issue until this one item (the Documents Folder) is clicked. The CPU usage idles at 1% - 4%. Believe me, this machine has no issues in terms of processing power. :-)

I did turn off the glass option to see if that would help matters any. It had no effect, which leads me to also believe that the performance increasing tips (some of which I use) would not help, either. This doesn't appear to be a performance issue. There's some sort of problem somewhere that has recently arisen on my system, connected to the Documents folder, that causes the CPU usage for explorer.exe to spike whenever the actual "Documents" folder is clicked.

I do appreciate the reply, though.

Has anyone out there experienced something like this that could share some potential resolution?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP G60-125NR
    CPU
    AMD Turion X2 Mobile 2.0 GHz
    Memory
    3GB RAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8200M G
    Hard Drives
    250 GB - Serial ATA-150 - 5400 rpm
System restore back to a time before it started happening?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Own build
    CPU
    AMD Athlon X2 7750 Black Edition 2.7GHz AM2+ OC'd to 3.1GHz
    Motherboard
    ASROCK N68-S GeForce 7025 Socket AM2+
    Memory
    Crucial 4GB Kit (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz PC2-6400 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    Onboard GeForce 7025
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung MagicBright 22" CRT
    Screen Resolution
    1600x1200 @ 75Hz
    Hard Drives
    2 x Western Digital WD3200AAKS 320GB SATAII 16MB Cache 7200RPM drives in RAID0 array, 100GB system partition, 540GB storage partition
    PSU
    Compaq 250W
    Case
    Compaq
    Cooling
    Stock CPU cooler, stock case cooler
    Keyboard
    Compaq
    Mouse
    USB optical
    Internet Speed
    680kbs
i have a hp G60.oflate the cpu usage has been up to 100% all the time the fun has been on the whole time can some pliz tell me whts going on
 

My Computer

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