xplorer² lite almost freezing

Onno · Post by **Onno** » 2005 Mar 10, 18:46

Since a few weeks a certain problem keeps on reoccurring.
After a while xplorer² becomes excruciatingly slow. For example, just showing the context menu after right-clicking on a file takes 20 seconds or more on my Athlon 2400+ system. Deleting a file takes forever.
When I open my task manager, it shows a CPU usage of 97 % for xplorer², where 1 or 2 is usual. It also shows a memory consumption that varies from 50 MB to 250 MB (I kid you not).
This slows down the rest of my open applications too of course. The only way to end it is by using the task manager. When I reopen xplorer² it acts normally again, until the same problem starts over again.

Another problem is that the file icons don't appear.

These problems don't occur when I use Windows Explorer, but I don't need to explain that I really want to use xplorer².

Is there a solution for this? I have tried the new version 1.2 on my Windows 2000 installation, but to no avail.

Post by **nikos** » 2005 Mar 11, 18:47

from what you describe (no icons) either you have the plain icon option or x2 is busy calculating something in the background, e.g. folder sizes, some checksum... could be anything. Have you seen a pattern to this?

Onno · Post by **Onno** » 2005 Mar 11, 20:46

No, I haven't seen a pattern to this. As a matter of fact, a few days ago I left my PC running with xplorer² acting normally the last time I used it. When I came back about 30 minutes later, Xnews was 'frozen' again.
As additional information I can say that when this problem arises, Alt+F4 only closes down the interface. The task manager still lists xplorer² as a running process, so I have to use 'end process'.

I have tried 2Xexplorer again, which I'd been using for years, and it runs without any problems.

As for the icons, I don't know what you mean by the plain icon option. The pane style I use is Details.
Now that I look at it again, your suggestion that the two problems are linked may be right. Since the first time I used xplorer², I noticed that it took a long time to show the correct icons, sometimes several seconds. So it's likely that xplorer² is so busy calculating something that it doesn't get to show the icons.

Post by **nikos** » 2005 Mar 12, 01:01

you have to note which columns you are using and which folders you happen to browse when the problem starts. I have found that if you leave x2 on a disconnected drive (e.g. removed USB stick) it starts consuming CPU cycles. Actually it is not x2 itself... but anyway as soon as you switch to an existing folder the problem goes away

Onno · Post by **Onno** » 2005 Mar 12, 10:18

The columns I use are:
Name, Size and Modified in one pane
Name, Size, Modified, Author and Title in the other.
The problem occurs in any folder on my HD.

However, I think I have found out what the problem is. When I did some testing (scrolling down a folder using the PageDown key), I noticed in the task manager that my virus scanner got very busy too.
So I temporarily disabled my virus scanner (which was a hassle, I had to boot to my test installation and then move a file) . The problem was gone, even though xplorer² was still much slower than 2xexplorer in displaying file icons.

This also explains why this problem arose without me making any changes to xplorer². My AV scanner updates itself.
I use Bitdefender AV, which is a great AV scanner, and I don't really want to use another. In another thread I read that fgagnon has no problems with Bitdefender under Window XP, I use W2000. I'll ask Softwin to fix the problem, I pay them after all.

Post by **nikos** » 2005 Mar 12, 11:12

Code: Select all

xplorer² was still much slower than 2xexplorer in displaying file icons

this is true and false at the same time (!)
yes, x2 takes its time showing icons and slow column info but you can start working with your files immediately, without waiting for icons to show!

Onno · Post by **Onno** » 2005 Mar 12, 14:24

nikos wrote: x2 takes its time showing icons and slow column info but you can start working with your files immediately, without waiting for icons to show!

Thanks for the clarification and for taking the time to respond.
By the way, and this is slightly off-topic, the problem seems to have disappeared. What I have done exactly is the following:

1: uncheck the 'load at startup' option in Bitdefender > didn't work
2: move the file of the scanning engine > this prevented it from loading
3: after my tests I moved the file back
4: I checked the 'load at startup' option again.

I don't see how this could have fixed the problem. The only explanation I can think of is that un- and then rechecking the 'load at startup' option somehow reset Bitdefender's settings.

Anyway, you can imagine that I'm pleased. Using xplorer² has become much more fun!