Computer Crashes Every Time I Open Large Folder

[ChiangMaiThai]

For the last few months, every time I open any folder with many large images inside, my computer crashes. If I open photoshop, acd, windows picture viewer first and then try to open an image from any large file, it crashes again. its to the point where I simply can do nothing with any large groups of pictures.

What could it be? I've got virus/spyware protection.

Running XP. 256 RAM...

Help!

[Thetyim]

My guess, and its only a guess, it is a RAM problem

Wait for a reply from WalDwarf

[h90]

would also say it is a ram problem 256 is not much, but could be also a hd problem.

What happens if you try to open it as list of files without preview, does this work?

how much free space do you have on harddisk?

how big is the folder, how big are the files?

do you run Fat32 or NTSF file system?

For the last few months, every time I open any folder with many large images inside, my computer crashes. If I open photoshop, acd, windows picture viewer first and then try to open an image from any large file, it crashes again. its to the point where I simply can do nothing with any large groups of pictures.

What could it be? I've got virus/spyware protection.

Running XP. 256 RAM...

Help!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Tywais]

When you say it crashes, do you mean that XP reboots or is it the opening application that crashes such as explorer, ACDSee, etc?

You could try to open a command window. Use 'Start' Run and enter "cmd" to bring up a command prompt window. Then move to the directory the files are in with the 'cd' \path command. Then do 'dir' to see if the files will show up or if it crashes again.

All the other windows class apps and especially explorer will interegate every file briefly to get the file information (size, type, if images - dimensions, etc.) It may be you have a seriously corrupted image or especially if you have any video (mpg,avi,etc.) that windows can choke on. I've seen it but it usually just kills the opening application or causes the app to hang.

[ChiangMaiThai]

would also say it is a ram problem 256 is not much, but could be also a hd problem.

What happens if you try to open it as list of files without preview, does this work?

how much free space do you have on harddisk?

how big is the folder, how big are the files?

do you run Fat32 or NTSF file system?

For the last few months, every time I open any folder with many large images inside, my computer crashes. If I open photoshop, acd, windows picture viewer first and then try to open an image from any large file, it crashes again. its to the point where I simply can do nothing with any large groups of pictures.

What could it be? I've got virus/spyware protection.

Running XP. 256 RAM...

Help!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

When I say it crashes, I mean the application crashes. Everything dissapears from the desktop for awhile and then slowly comes back, minus the application. I have 5.71GB free on the hard drive. NTFS File System. It seems to crash on many folders that have dozens of photos. The folders are anywhere from 30mb to 100mb. The files are not huge, anywhere from 200k to 800k. I can't open it as a list, because I can't keep the window open long enough to switch to list view. This is happened before and when I move the folder from my documents to the desktop, it worked for awhile. In general the computer is really slow lately.

[ChiangMaiThai]

I moved the whole folder to the desktop, tried opening it and it crashed again. Time for a new computer?

[h90]

you can set a different folder to show the list and than there is somewhere an option that all folders should have the same setting (not sure but there should be a way).

Else I would say the usuall virus and spyware check....

And in the worst case: install winxp new, consider to upgrade to 512 MB.

But also with 256 MB most things should work. Reinstalling WinXP, install service pack and patches and only the software you really need.

In many case than you belive your computer is new, because the speed is normaly a lot better.

And do the installation yourself, some shops like to install a lot software/freeware and than the system is slow from the beginning.

I  moved the whole folder to the desktop, tried opening it and it crashed again. Time for a new computer?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Tywais]

You can do the following to get to list view.

Open a folder in explorer that does not have the problem. On the 'View' menu select Details. Then under 'Tools' 'Folder Options' select 'General' tab and then click 'Apply to all Folders' This will reset all folders to detail view. Exit explorer and open explorer again and try. The symptoms indicates explorer is choking on some files.

[Firefoxx]

Some simple elimination:

Many programs affected->Nothing to do with a particular program (preview, etc)

Many folders affected->Nothing to do with a particular corrupt file/folder

256MB ram, 2-800k file, various programs->Not a memory-related issue

My guess is a low level system function that's been corrupted, or some buggy TSR residing in the memory. Either way, a format/install would be the simplest solution for a non-techie.

If you're going to be working with large images (3 megapixels+) on a regular basis, it would be wise to have at least 512MB of memory to speed things up (even better, 1GB). With the ultra low price of ram these days, a small amount of money will go a long way to increasing system performance.

[Crossy]

Interesting. I have an almost identical problem

Certain files cause Explorer to crash when I try to open them (or delete them) all the windows and icons vanish and the re-appear (minus explorer).

This SEEMS only to have started after I installed SP-2

I have no nasties, 512M and about 20g free HDD space. It is definately specific files that cause this (I don't use preview so I can see my directories).

Anyone got any ideas??

I'm not awfully worried at the moment as none of my important files are affected (and have good backups).

[slimdog]

A couple of programs which can cause windows explorer to crash when trying to open folders with either a large number of jpg or other media files:

Photoshop

Spysweeper

In the case of photoshop you will need to either uninstall, and then re-install (but do not make photoshop the default viewer for jpg or jpeg images) or using the associations (find a jpg file and hold down the shift button and right click) and scroll down to "Open with" (also click on always use this application for this type of file) and chose another program such as ACDSee or other image viewer.

In the case of Spysweepwe then you have to disable the option "Add Sweep for Spyware to Windows Explorer Context Menu"

The other possibility is a problem with your graphics card.

Hope this helps

[waldwolf]

ChiangMaiThai - From a little research, it appears your problem is quite common among XP users. What your apparently seeing is a "crash" of EXPLORER.EXE, not your whole system.

First, I doubt it is due to lack of RAM, although 256 is about the minimum for good basic XP operations. 512-1000 would be preferable and faster when dealing with ram hogs like Photoshop or other video software. However windows virtual memory should, in most cases, be able to handle the RAM problem, provided of course your not short on HDD storage space. There is of course the possibility one of the RAM chips is defective, however if that were the case, you should also see problems with other programs.

First, try slimdog's suggestion re: SpySweeper if you have it installed.

If that doesn't help, then we need to do a little Registry surgery. First, if you are not completely comfortable working in the Registry, you will need to find a friend, co-worker or trusted individual knowledgeable on the subject. What needs to be done, is not for the "faint of heart", but will be a good learning experience, and hopefully give one confidence to attack future problems.

Should you decide to go ahead, proceed as follows:

1) Click on START>RUN and type in window "regedit" (without quotes) and click OK

2) In upper left corner, highlight MyComputer, then click "Registry" button.

3) Click on "Export Registry File" and in new window enter a name, like OldRegistry23-JUN-05 and save to a folder on your desktop.

4) Now either double-click HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT or click the + in front of name, to open.

5)Scroll down list until you find SystemFileAssociations, then click + sign.

6) Next to .avi

7) Next to shellex

8) Next to PropertyHandler

9) Now delete the "Default" value, and close window

This will hopefully solve your problem, at least as far as .avi files are concerned. If not, then restore your original Registery (the one you first saved) by double-clicking on the file and answering Yes. The original registry will be restored.

Post back your findings.

cheers

[ChiangMaiThai]

ChiangMaiThai - From a little research, it appears your problem is quite common among XP users. What your apparently seeing is a "crash" of EXPLORER.EXE, not your whole system.

First, I doubt it is due to lack of RAM, although 256 is about the minimum for good basic XP operations. 512-1000 would be preferable and faster when dealing with ram hogs like Photoshop or other video software. However windows virtual memory should, in most cases, be able to handle the RAM problem, provided of course your not short on HDD storage space. There is of course the possibility one of the RAM chips is defective, however if that were the case, you should also see problems with other programs.

First, try slimdog's suggestion re: SpySweeper if you have it installed.

If that doesn't help, then we need to do a little Registry surgery. First, if you are not completely comfortable working in the Registry, you will need to find a friend, co-worker or trusted individual knowledgeable on the subject. What needs to be done, is not for the "faint of heart", but will be a good learning experience, and hopefully give one confidence to attack future problems. 

Should you decide to go ahead, proceed as follows:

1) Click on START>RUN and type in window "regedit" (without quotes) and click OK

2) In upper left corner, highlight MyComputer, then click "Registry" button.

3) Click on "Export Registry File" and in new window enter a name, like OldRegistry23-JUN-05 and save to a folder on your desktop.

4) Now either double-click HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT or click the + in front of name, to open.

5)Scroll down list until you find SystemFileAssociations, then click + sign.

6) Next to .avi

7) Next to shellex

8) Next to PropertyHandler

9) Now delete the "Default" value, and close window

This will hopefully solve your problem, at least as far as .avi files are concerned. If not, then restore your original Registery (the one you first saved) by double-clicking on the file and answering Yes. The original registry will be restored.

Post back your findings.

cheers

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for the info. Before I do this, you say that it should help with .avi files, but these files are all jpeg. Am I missing something?

Also, if I reformat the hard drive, I lose everything right? So what do I do about this? also, I would have to re-install all the software on my computer right? Thanks!

[haha]

I used to do 3rd level tech support. but it's been a long time, so, I don't know what the latest software utilities are for doing the following... you will need to find this out.

anyway, after speaking with a client about their problem, one of the first things I would do in troubleshooting a computer problem was to make a backup of all important files.

...maybe even do a ghost of the whole harddrive.

then, I would run a scan disk, and then, a defrag.

would you believe it? about 40% of the problems that I encountered were resolved by just following this simple procedure. mind you, sometimes it would take hours to complete this simple procedure. but it worked.

different software utilities are available for maintaining NTFS, FAT, etc. since I don't have access to all the software available to test which ones are the best, you will need to find this out yourself.

WARNING: make sure you get the right stuff for the operating system and filing system you are using. otherwise, you may just ruin your harddrive.

currently, I am using norton systemworks, and it seems to do well for me. I have a 40 gig harddrive, windows XP, and both NTFS, and FAT32 partitions on my harddrive.

SUGGESTION: do maintenance at least once a month - a scandisk, and a defrag. you won't regret it.

hope this info helps you out.... good luck.

[waldwolf]

Thanks for the info. Before I do this, you say that it should help with .avi files, but these files are all jpeg. Am I missing something?

Also, if I reformat the hard drive, I lose everything right? So what do I do about this? also, I would have to re-install all the software on my computer right? Thanks!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We're not talking about or suggesting you reformat your hard drive. By following the above instructions, all your doing is (1) saving a copy of your current registry, then (2) editing one line of the registry currently in use.

Think of the registry as the index of a book. In that books index there is an error. The index says such-and-such information can be found on page 155, however the actual information is on page 255. All you will be doing with the suggested edit, would be like your taking a pencil and changing 155 to 255. By first saving a copy of the original registry, should we later determine the index was correct, we can erase the change and return it to its original condition.

The above edit reportedly help with all forms of video (jpg, jpeg, bmp, avi, etc) which are causing explorer.exe to crash. It gets a little technical, but basically this registry entry continually changes depending on various codecs (compression forms) utilized by various video types. (When I say video, I'm including still pictures, as well as moving pictures.)

Again, if your concerned you may unknowningly mess-up you system, then do not do this editing, until you can find some trusted help.

cheers

(PS - Forgot in my earlier post to recommend you also try tywais's suggestion, as the situation he points out, can also cause similar problems to what you experiencing.)

[ChiangMaiThai]

In upper left corner, highlight MyComputer, then click "Registry" button.

I can hilight my computer, but after that, there is no registry button to click. There's all the files on the left hand side and then a blank right hand side...

Edited June 23, 2005 by ChiangMaiThai

[waldwolf]

In upper left corner, highlight MyComputer, then click "Registry" button.

I can hilight my computer, but after that, there is no registry button to click. There's all the files on the left hand side and then a blank right hand side...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

OK, then lets do this.

1) Click START>RUN and type "Regedit" (without quotes) in window.

2) Right click mouse on HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT (in left hand window)

3) Select and click on "Find"

4) In new window type "SystemFileAssociations" (all one word, without quotes) and click Find button. (The name you entered should appear, highlighted, in the left window after a few moments)

5) When you see the "SystemFileAssociations" appear (highlighted) right click on the name and then click "Export" in the new window.

6) When the new "Export Registry File" window appears, click the arrow next to "Save in" and select "Desktop"

7) Type a name in the "File Name" window (ie: SFA) and click "Save" (This will save a copy of that registry entry to your desktop, for reinstallation, if necessary)

8) Now, using you mouse's left button, double click on the "SystemFileAssociations" in left window or the + box next to name. (This will open that link.)

9) In left window, scroll down until you see .avi and click it once

10) In right window, double click on the name, "Default" .

11)In the new window (named Edit String), delete any entry you see.

12) Now close all windows, and do your normal routine to see if you are now able to view your picures.

Post back your results, or any questions.

cheers

[francois]

hi'

just my 2cts here ...

I had a similar problem sometime ago, the culprit was an avi file, either too big or corrupted, but it was encoded in rgb24, for which I didn't have the codec ...

also, the file was making the folder with other avi files too big ...

too big fot the MFT size ...

as I use diskeeper, on a defrag, I ask to the rpogram to check the MFT allocation size and "BoOm", the 2 partitions that were causing problems with large files were corrected and then never happened again.

I moved one avi files(the rgb24 one to a different folder, did it in safe mode) and all was ok.

so, it might be a question of disk allocations space either messing up with the MFT table or cluster's size ...

if you don't have a program that can do the job for you, then ... again, you'll have to enter the registry.

and as Waldwolf said, back it up before.

I won't give you the keys to change, first; I don't remember where they are,

and the problem is discussed over the net, search for windows MFT, and you'll find what you need

hope this can help a bit ...

francois

ps; never forget than a single corrupted file can cause a crash!

and it's easy to fill up a folder with .avi files or .jpg that would build up to more than 2gb ...

[ChiangMaiThai]

Thanks for all the info Waldwolf. I followed your instructions. When I got to the edit string window, there were no values to delete. So maybe Francois is onto something, but I'm not smart enough to fix it. I think the solution is to throw it out the window. Its led a good life.

[Firefoxx]

Remember the facts folks:

1. This happens with various programs

2. It happens with various directories

3. It still happens with a copied directory

I don't see why a directory with large or many files would be a problem. I have one (yes, "1") with 200GB of AVI files. I have another with more than 4000 jpgs. Both don't have any problems (except then normal slow initial loading of the directory).

Go ahead and make a backup, do a format, reinstall. It's much easier than tearing your hair out for a week (and then doing a reinstall).

I rarely use explorer to browse directories... it's thumbnail view is quirky and slow, and the interface in general isn't efficient. I usually use acdsee (and a very old version at that) to browse/move/copy/delete files.

[francois]

hi'

I guess that most of us are right ...

don't take it the hardway, set the pc to boot from cd.

boot from windows cd, say yes to all until you have to choose between 2 main options, "r" for repair(not the first screen(ASR), "enter" for setup.

choose R, and wait, it's a normal setup except that, windows will only replace the damaged files, you'll have to go through windows update again ...

but using this way first, you don't have to format the hdd ... at least for a while, but anyway, make a backup, we always say it as basic thing to do.

francois

Edited June 24, 2005 by francois

[waldwolf]

Would second francois's suggestion at repair. If that doesn't work, then, provided you have an "update" or "full" retail version of XP, a reinstall as Firefoxx suggests, should solve the problem.

Just be sure to backup all your critical data before attempting a repair or reinstall.

good luck

[francois]

hi'

and give us news ...

did it work?

or do you still have the same problem?

francois

ps:feedback always appreciated

Edited June 25, 2005 by francois