Right clicking or edit file very slow help!

[Help.me]

I was trying some compression utilities (Winzip beta and ICEOWS) and decided to remove them. But afterwards when I click on some types of files, I have to wait 5 seconds to get a menu. Or to rename a file. Or open one. 5 seconds for each thing. Odd because some types of files are okay. And some aren't. Even ones that apparently have nothing to do with compression utilities. It's that stupid menu, or relation to it. Even selecting a file and then going to file menu has a 5 sec delay because it has the same options.

So...I did a ridiculously exhasustive search for things that the comp might be looking for, and removed a bunch of ICEOWS/Winzip 9 related items, but it didn't fix anything. Safe mode did nothing...

System restore decided to stop working for the occasion. Great.

...I tried to do a repair install of XP. Real pain to do, but I did it, and..., you guessed, didn't help. In fact it created many other problems. That's to be expected, but I was disappointed. Looks like my only real option is to format.

Say it ain't so!

 

[Abraxas]

Are you sure that your drive doesn't need a simple defrag?
Cause those are the usual symptoms.

 

[Nodsu]

Did you remove the compression utilities properly bu running uninstall and not just deleting them?

Most likely you still have the shell extension handlers for winzip/iceows still in your system registry.

You can try searching the registry for references to "winzip" and "iceows" and removing the relevant keys (a dangerous business, mind you).

You can also try installing the programs again and then if you really hate them, try another uninstall.

 

[Help.me]

I defragment daily.

I used the uninstall programs, but I found that they didn't remove everything. Probably enough, but the problem wasn't fixed, so I spent a long time removing refrences to those programs in the registry and otherwise. Didn't change anything. Winzip uninstalls very nicely, but I can't even get ICEOWS out of the open with menu. Maybe that's it, but I can't get it out. Maybe it's not compression utilities that caused it, I don't know why they would =/

Anyhow. I reinstalled both programs, and Winzip 8.1 numerous times to try to get the regular uninstall prog to remove parts of programs, but the results were the same. Winzip did a good job of cleaning up.

 

[acidosmosis]

Introduction
This document gives step by step instructions for customizing the options that appear on the right-click menu for various file types. I have found this particularly useful for designing and testing web pages.

Typically, before uploading a HTML page, you will want to view it in both Netscape and Internet Explorer, and you may wish to make quick edits using, say, WordPad. To make this easier for myself I have added a "Netscape" and an "Edit" option to the right-click menu for all HTML files, (IE is my default browser). This means I can open HTML files in Internet Explorer, Netscape or WordPad with two clicks, instead of dragging files all over the desktop, or opening applications and doing a "File Open".

For GIFs and JPEGS, I have also added the Netscape option, and I've linked the "Edit" option to my favorite graphics editing program.

Warning
This document discusses editing the Windows Registry. This gives you complete control over the configuration of your menus, but you should be extremely careful not to change Registry values that are used by other applications. The author accepts no responsibility for any problems that may arise as a result of any changes to the Registry, even for those changes outlined in this example.

If you want to avoid modifying the registry directly, many of the changes described here can also be made in Windows Explorer's "Folder Options" menu. To use this approach, double click "My Computer", select the "Tools" menu, then "Folder Options", then the "File Types" tab. From here, you can highlight the file type you wish to change, then click the "Advanced" button to change the menu options that appear for the file type. This won't give you complete control of every option, but it is probably sufficient for most needs, and it is much less likely to cause problems as a result of accidental changes to the wrong registry keys.

Some Common Questions
Before tackling how to add menu options, here are a few interesting or common questions I've received:

Question:
"How do I remove unwanted options that appear on right-click menus after installing software?"

Answer:
Usually, all that is required is to remove the appropriate key under the shellex\ContextMenuHandlers key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT for file type "*". For example:

This should at least help you get rid of those options from your right-click menu.

More information on this at http://www.jfitz.com/tips/rclick_custom.html

 

[StormBringer]

Originally posted by Help.me
I defragment daily.

Why in the world would you need to defrag daily?

Even with the amount of moving and adding/deleting of files that goes on in my downloads partition, I only have need to defrag it maybe once a month, less usually.

If you are having need to defragment on a daily basis, this seems to indicate to me that you either have a tremendous amount of drive activity and absolutely no organization, or you have other problems.

You also said that XP repair caused more problems, please elaborate. This, combined with your other statements indicate there might be something else to blame for all of this.

 

[Nodsu]

I wouldn't mind defragmenting daily if I had an hour of free time to schedule the defragmenter.. It is not about need, it is about keeping your computer at max performance.

 

[acidosmosis]

Daily fragmenting is overkill. Unless your running some kind of very active webserver then I can understand it, but as far as a personal PC you cant possibly use your computer enough to have to defrag it daily. If you do then you have way too much time on your hands.

 

[Help.me]

I just defrag the HD instead of turning the comp off for the night.

The repair necessitates reinstalling all patches to stock XP, all patches, SP1. Got that stupid virus while I was getting the updates, but after an initial "difficulty" dealing with it wasn't a problem.

Really, all I was trying to do was open a .LZH and get rid of the programs afterwards, and then this happened. Something odd happened yesterday, the speed sped up. It's not as fast as it should be, but bearable now. Totally inexplicible, but I now have to wait only 2 seconds to access the problem files, instead of 5. The normal is up to a second. I can live with this without a format, I think.

All I did yesterday was remove information from the registry pertaining to .ICE, in an effort to get rid of it from the open with menu. Oddly enough it's still there.

One guy suggested to me that I need more than one auto-reg cleaner to make sure everything is as it should be, like a second opinion. I'm using jv16 reg cleaner, great tool, but should I delve into more programs I don't know about to try and fix this?

 

[Nic]

If you are running Windows XP and you find everything slow, then take a look in Add/Remove programs for Hotfix Q811493 and remove it. That hotfix can cause a drastic slowdown on some PCs. I can't install it on my older Athlon KT133 based system, as everything grinds to a halt when I do.

Edit: I notice your all fixed now, so just ignore my post.

 

[Help.me]

Hmm, well sort of. It still gives me a 2 sec delay on "send to.." menus. So it must be something in them...I suppose I could just work my way down until it stops, but then again that might just fix refrences to the problem in the "send to" menu, not the problem itself, so regular file access is still an issue...

...you know I should reformat anyway, get my stuff organized...

Thank you all for your input, I appreciate it.

 

[Rick]

Defragmenting daily is a good way to kill your hard disk prematurely.

If this has ALWAYS happen with your system, there is a known issue with slow context menus in Windows XP. http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com has a fix for it, I believe.

 

[Help.me]

Hmm, is that right? I can't afford that...

Please point me in the direction of the evidence saying that "intense disk activity" will wear the spindle out faster. I mean I know it's pretty intuitive, but it's spinning while on anyway, isn't it?

( I looked around online and apparently it's pretty foolproof, excepting that obviously, the more the HD is moving data, the more the actual mechanical parts wear. Look here at this absurdly complete guide: http://www.storagereview.com/guide2000/ref/hdd/index.html)

In the meanwhile I will be conservative regarding the defrags...

In the beating the dead horse dept. I killed and obtained q811493, which did nothing besides give me peace of mind that that part was working like it should.

 

[Rick]

The drive may be always spinning, but the actuator is not moving. As with any mechanical device, wear during usage is inevitable.

The conern I would have is heat generated by a drive in use as compared to a drive that is idle. Temperature is a very common cause of disk failure, causing the platters to expand and contract as they heat and cool. Over time, this will cause drive failure. HDDs are such a precisely exacting device that even small changes like this have big results.

Keeping your disk defragmented supposedly decreases this kind of wear, since it is decreases disk access times and lets the disk do less to find more. Of course, defragmenting daily is a pretty intense work out for your drive.

I usually defragment mine once every week or two. Is this the best method of defragmentation? Who knows. But it seems to do well for me. I'm not saying your method of defragmenting is wrong, but I'd just be worried about disk wear.. That's all.

 

[Rick]

The drive may be always spinning, but the actuator is not moving. As with any mechanical device, wear during usage is inevitable.

The conern I would have is heat generated by a drive in use as compared to a drive that is idle. Temperature is a very common cause of disk failure, causing the platters to expand and contract as they heat and cool. Over time, this will cause drive failure. HDDs are such a precisely exacting device that even small changes like this have big results.

Keeping your disk defragmented supposedly decreases this kind of wear, since it is decreases disk access times and lets the disk do less to find more. Of course, defragmenting daily is a pretty intense work out for your drive.

I usually defragment mine once every week or two. Is this the best method of defragmentation? Who knows. But it seems to do well for me. I'm not saying your method of defragmenting is wrong, but I'd just be worried about disk wear.. That's all.

 

[Nic]

Well said Rick. I have to agree with that synopsis. Usually when a hard drive fails, its not because the motor has stopped spinning, but because the other parts (electronics, actuator, disc surface) have failed. Higher temps and excess mechanical stress can accelerate these types of failures, and both of these can be caused by any form of disk activity, such as defragmenting your drive. Not something to get worried about, but all system components have a finite life span, which depends in part on how they are used.

 

[shaadrak]

Same problem

I have the same problem but on a Windows 2000 computer.
I do not need a defrag.
It does not matter if I'm connected an a network or not.