Windows XP help - slow loading directories!?

Question

I recently upgraded by PC from Windows 98 to Windows XP. The PC has ~1GB RAM, 80GB hard drive, ~1.5GHz processor, so I think the hardware is adequate. The problem I'm having is in one directory. When I open it, it doesn't show any of my files. Then it takes like 30 seconds to 1 minute before it will show any. Once the files show, there is one ~11MB .RAW file in there that it seems to have particular difficulty with. If I even right click on the file to delete it or open it, XP gives me the hour glass before it brings up the little menu.

The .RAW file gets recreated every time I run a simulation (the directory contains schematic and output files for an electrical circuit simulation program called LTSpice.), so even if I delete it, it gets recreated the next time I run a simulation.

I've already defragged my hard drive. I ran WinDoctor and WinDisk to fix registry issues. I've looked at the Task Manager to check performance and everything seems fine (ie no excessive processor usage, plenty of ram left, etc)

I don't seem to have this problem with any of my other directories. They all load quickly.

Why does this one directory take so long to load in Windows Explorer?

If I delete the .RAW file in this directory, it loads quickly. (of course, as soon as i run another simulation, the .RAW file gets recreated, causing the directory to load slowly again.)

Thanks!

Answer 1

Have you got the .raw file type associated with lspice, only I wonder if XP "thinks" it is a raw format photo and is messing about looking for a suitable helper.  So you see, fully associating .raw with ltspice (in file type options) might help with that.  I don't usually go out on a ledge on Answers with pure theory, but here we go.

Answer 2

Try Going To Run and Type:

msconfig

or

gpedit.msc

or simply compress or extract files to adjust what ever you need or delete items, hopes this helps, if not look for a PC Tech aka Computer Technician.

Answer 3

k nmot sure whats causing or using the .raw but if u can find it and eliminate it

now try a program called error expert it has many tweaks and 1 click fixes after u deep scan the registry try it it works

Answer 4

That's just how it processes folders... especially large ones.

My music folder (about 5GB) takes a pretty long time to load.

Just defrag the drive that the folder is on, that's pretty much the only thing that will make a difference (if any)

You could compress that folder... but I think when I did they would load slower...

Hope this helps!!