Windows XP... explorer.exe help please!

[doma916]

I have a folder on my system. C:\Downloads. This is where I keep ALL my downloads, everything from .exe .zip .avi etc files all in the same directory so I can always come back for them if I need them. I have about 100 or so files in there. Everytime I open Windows Explorer, I browse around my files, in every directory it's fine. But as soon as I browse to my C:\Downloads directory, my computer gets SLLLLLOW. I look at system processes and my explorer.exe is using 98/99% of my CPU and 100,000K of Mem Usage. It will do this for about 20 minutes then goes back normal. What can I do to stop this? Is there a way to view this folder like: file.zip size 1meg file2.exe 2 megs? Something very very simple so this won't happen?

My computer specs:
Athlon XP 2000
512 DDR Corsair XMS 2700 Ram
Maxtor 80 Gigabit 5400 RPM ata 100 hard drive.

[jenae]

Hi I bet this is a pretty large folder by now, if you have indexing service activated it could be your problem.Windows XP comes with an Indexing Service which boosts the efficiency of searches. When enabled, the Indexing Service works in the background, extracting the contents and the properties of documents and organizing them in a way streamlined for fast searching.

If your computer strains under the weight of Windows XP, you may want to keep the Indexing Service switched off, as it slows your system somewhat. If you’d like to have faster searches, then turn it on.

You can switch the Indexing Service on and off, and adjust its properties, via the Search Companion:

Open the Search Companion and click Change Preferences.
Click the With Indexing Service option (if Indexing Service is already enabled, the option will be Without Indexing Service).
Select the options you want and click OK.

[doma916]

Hm, my indexing service is off =(. Can I make windows explorer list the files very very simple? I don't like how I click on one of my movie files, and on the bottom left corner, it has it's movie size, movie length, and a little picture of the movie, etc. This is a huge directory yes I know. I'm too lazy to organize it. Its very hard to when my computer is crippled for 20 minutes everytime I go there. I like all the neat features of the windows explorer for windows XP but for this and only this folder. I want to disable EVERYTHING. Is it possible?

[jenae]

Hi have you considered making two new folders and splitting this large one into three, would help with speed. Additional ways to speed up explorer thanks to our very own Ezeebob:-
Speed up Detailed view in Explorer

If you like to view your files in Windows Explorer using the "Details" view here is a tweak to speed up the listing of file attributes:

Viewing files in Windows Explorer using the "Details" mode shows various attributes associated with each file shown. Some of these must be retrieved from the individual files when you click on the directory for viewing. For a directory with numerous and relatively large files (such as a folder in which one stores media, eg: *.mp3's, *.avi's etc.) Windows Explorer lags as it reads through each one. Here's how to disable viewing of unwanted attributes and speed up file browsing:

1. Open Windows Explorer
2. Navigate to the folder which you wish to optimize.
3. In "Details" mode right click the bar at the top which displays the names of the attribute columns.
4. Uncheck any that are unwanted/unneeded.

Explorer will apply your preferences immediately, and longs lists of unnecessary attributes will not be displayed.
Likewise, one may choose to display any information which is regarded as needed, getting more out of Explorer


Remove Owner colummn From Explorer's Details view to dramatically speed up display

Do you sit and wait while Explorer seems to take it's time showing the owner of each file/directory that is displayed? If so, then you might find the following useful:

1. Open Explorer and select "Details" under the "View" menu
2. Right click on any of the column headers (such as "Name", "Size", or "Owner")
3. Uncheck "Owner"

You should see immediate improvements as you navigate around.

To make this permanent for all folders,

4. Select "Folder Options" from the "Tools" menu
5. Select the "View" tab
6. Click the "Apply to All Folders" button

Now, you will not see "Owner" in any folder. If you want to re-display it, simply follow the instructions above and re-check "Owner" in step 3.

In Windows XP everytime you open My Computer to browse folders XP automatically searches for network files and printers. This causes a delay in displaying your icons. You probably see the "default" windows icon and as you scroll it changes to the correct icon. This is how to stop that...

1. Open My Computer
2. Click on the Tools menu and select Folder Options...
3. Under Folder Options select the view tab.
4. Uncheck the very first box that reads "Automatically search for network folders and printers".
5. Click "Apply" or "OK"