Why XP is slow reading folders with thousand of files?

[Kmuland]

Everyone know the problem.

Open a folder with for example >10.000 files and there is a waiting time until windows show them.

Much worse... select now these files and press Shift+del.. and there will be a tedious waiting.. maybe minutes until the process start.

If I use programs like Norton comander... for XP .. these ones that uses a MS-DOS like gui to display files.. (like this http://relaxander.webest.net/fn/

the folders open instantly.. the deletetion process is also instantly...

Why?

There a way to solve this bug or feature of windows? a registry edit?

I use list view when I browse folders.. .. could be possible that the creation of >10.000 tiny icons would cause the delay? Maybe getting rid of these icons the process would speed up?

Edited October 12, 2010 by Kmuland

[pankaj]

Hi kmuland...i think this is just because of that you have installed many programs and softwares on your pc...and your cpu usage is more so that you having a problem of slow speed..if you want to check it out you can open your task manager and then get the cpu usage...and if it is high then you have to remove some programs those are making your pc slow and you can find them in task manager and then process...

i hope this will help you....

[Kmuland]

oh.. I dont have any program installed but audio/video drivers..

no antivirus, no internet, nothing! (its a dedicated machine for encode video, and these apps are portable)

I notice that explorer.exe increases cpu usage when "reading" the folder

I bet that is a problem of explorer.exe..

Edited October 12, 2010 by Kmuland

[Tripredacus]

I wonder if this helps:

We have tested 20 million files / directories on NTFS5. Please note that

most

GUI applications will have an issue with this many files. This is limited by

cluster size, drive size, and your MFT. Please see

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=100108

for more information about the NTFS file system.

found here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/21233-45-files-directory

[Kmuland]

The coder of Far Manager (Norton Commander like app) gave me the explanation:

"Explorer enumerates all files to count total size and to display a progress bar.

Far by default deletes without a progress bar.

If you change this option - far also will slow down."

There is a way to disable progressions bars in windows and the previous count size?

[BlouBul]

Hi Kmuland,

Try not showing all the details http://www.tunexp.com/tips/get_started/speed_up_detailed_view_in_explorer/

Also

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"

http://discussions.virtualdr.com/showthread.php?t=123879

For deleting use command prompt http://stackoverflow.com/questions/186737/whats-the-fastest-way-to-delete-a-large-folder-in-windows

Edited October 13, 2010 by BlouBul

[Kmuland]

oh thanks for the post.. these tweaks are useful for detail view... Using the list view to display only filenames is faster.

Anyway windows continue reading the files... maybe for prepare the time estimation if you select all of them and do right click or press shift+del.

The command lines options are useful here: rmdir /s /q folder

Removing that stupid "read of files for time estimation" for the copy/move/del animations boxes would be better for increase system performance when doing these tasks

[Tripredacus]

Also I think a problem is that not only does Explorer read all the files, but it then needs to figure out how to show them to you. The words are real easy, but then it looks at the file extension to figure out which icon to use. Not only that, I suspect that it actually does load the metadata into memory during this process as well (the info that appears in the hover tooltip) since that info usually appears quickly. I know there are ways in the registry to disable tooltips, but I do not know if it also disables the collection of that info or just don't make it appear. If there was a way to not show different icons for everything, I bet it would be a lot faster too.

[Kmuland]

If there was a way to not show different icons for everything, I bet it would be a lot faster too.

dont show icons:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics]

"Shell Icon BPP"="0"

"Shell Icon Size"="0"

"Shell Small Icon Size"="0"

kill explorer.exe and reload

[coolsites100]

One of the main reasons it takes forever to show those thousands of files is because it has to check them ALL for icons. Another determining factor is your processor speed, or as mentioned earlier, how many programs you have installed and running. I suppose there is a way to stop it from loading all of the icons, which should help it a little bit, I'll post it if I find it.

Hope this helps

EDIT: Sorry, Kmuland. I did not see your post. So, as he said:

If there was a way to not show different icons for everything, I bet it would be a lot faster too.

dont show icons:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics]

"Shell Icon BPP"="0"

"Shell Icon Size"="0"

"Shell Small Icon Size"="0"

kill explorer.exe and reload

Edited October 23, 2010 by coolsites100

[Tripredacus]

My question was, that if you disable the showing of icons, does it still search for them anyways?

[Ponch]

For deleting use command prompt

that also can take time some time, it has to check each files attributes (read only?) and user's rights (if NTFS).