Explorer Lost the Ability to Move or Copy Files

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Guest

Recently (within the past 2-3 days), Explorer no longer seems able to move or
copy files at random occasions. Sometimes, I get one of those permission
dialogs; other times, I get messages stating that the file I'm trying to move
is open in some program when it's clearly not (this persists across reboots
as well). When I cancel these permission dialogs after clicking OK about 20
times (which keeps redisplaying the dialog), I'm left with a zero-byte file
of the same name as the first file I'm trying to move or copy (this appears
in the destination folder). The Explorer progress dialogs either stay on
"Calculating time remaining..." (which should be unnecessary for a single
40KB file) or, if I click Cancel, on "Canceling...". These dialogs will
remain open until I reboot or log off and log back on again; clicking the X
does not close them. (The dialogs in this screen shot,
http://files.nexusproject.org/vista_notmoving.jpg , have been stuck on
"Canceling..." for about six hours so far.)

I cannot kill Explorer through Task Manager; "End Process" keeps warning me
about data loss, I keep clicking OK, and Explorer just sits around. Also, I
had set Explorer to "Launch folder windows in a separate process" for
increased stability, as was recommended under Windows XP. However, this
setting, combined with an explorer.exe that simply refuses to quit, results
in a system that's essentially unusable unless I restart or log off and back
on. Killing the other explorer (the one running the desktop / taskbar /
etc.) and restarting it works fine, except when I try to open any folder
windows or use the Start menu. Because it sees a second explorer.exe process
open, it tries to open the folder views in that process, which causes the
newly restarted explorer to lock up, waiting for the frozen second instance.
I unchecked "Launch folder windows in a separate process," but even after
logging off and back on again, it doesn't seem to have taken effect. I
suppose that it's one of those settings that require a restart, although I
don't recall this ever being an issue under XP.

I would appreciate any ideas or suggestions on how to fix this issue. This
is a relatively new install of Vista (clean installation, about two weeks
old, dual-booting with XP), so it's probably not caused by third-party
software, but who knows...

Thanks,
Raivo
 
Raivo,

My friends and I are experiencing the unable to cancel issue with the
Vista's file copy dialog. Where when a transfer is cancelled the dialog hangs
with a title of "Canceling..." and the other fields show Time Remaining as
"Calculating...". Checking the performance information for the drive the
second the cancel button is pressed the file transfer does stop, but the
current destination file it was working on stays locked and the dialog cannot
be closed.

Initially it was thought that video thumbnailing was causing the issue, but
testing out with large files of a non-video/image type also revealed this
issue.

I have not managed to locate the reason or a resolution to this issue.

If any others have had this issue please post, and if someone out there
knows a resolution please post too.

Thanks,
 
Recently (within the past 2-3 days), Explorer no longer seems able to move or
copyfilesat random occasions. Sometimes, I get one of those permission
dialogs; other times, I get messages stating that the file I'm trying to move
is open in some program when it's clearly not (this persists across reboots
as well). When I cancel these permission dialogs after clicking OK about 20
times (which keeps redisplaying the dialog), I'm left with a zero-byte file
of the same name as the first file I'm trying to move or copy (this appears
in the destination folder). The Explorer progress dialogs either stay on
"Calculating time remaining..." (which should be unnecessary for a single
40KB file) or, if I click Cancel, on "Canceling...". These dialogs will
remain open until I reboot or log off and log back on again; clicking the X
does not close them. (The dialogs in this screen shot,http://files.nexusproject.org/vista_notmoving.jpg, have been stuck on
"Canceling..." for about six hours so far.)

I cannot kill Explorer through Task Manager; "End Process" keeps warning me
about data loss, I keep clicking OK, and Explorer just sits around. Also, I
had set Explorer to "Launch folder windows in a separate process" for
increased stability, as was recommended under Windows XP. However, this
setting, combined with an explorer.exe that simply refuses to quit, results
in a system that's essentially unusable unless I restart or log off and back
on. Killing the other explorer (the one running the desktop / taskbar /
etc.) and restarting it works fine, except when I try to open any folder
windows or use the Start menu. Because it sees a second explorer.exe process
open, it tries to open the folder views in that process, which causes the
newly restarted explorer to lock up, waiting for the frozen second instance.
I unchecked "Launch folder windows in a separate process," but even after
logging off and back on again, it doesn't seem to have taken effect. I
suppose that it's one of those settings that require a restart, although I
don't recall this ever being an issue under XP.

I would appreciate any ideas or suggestions on how to fix this issue. This
is a relatively new install ofVista(clean installation, about two weeks
old, dual-booting with XP), so it's probably not caused by third-party
software, but who knows...
Click to expand...

There's now a fix (allegedly) for this:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931770/en-us

Cheers,
Simon
 
Hey Simonmar,

Thanks for the reply! I had a look through the KB article you linked to, and
while it does seem to be close to the issue I am experiencing it does not
explain it fully. I seem to be getting these "Cancelling...." windows when I
am doing local file copy operations.

I might use up one of my technet support incidents to get this one resolved.

If anyone else has any ideas please do post.

Thanks,
 
I also have a similar file problem, and posted it under "explorer
hangs"....my problem occurs when trying to delete or move large video files.
The dialog box calculating time remaining hangs, explorer eventually crashes,
the file neer gets deleted. I found a fix that EXACTLY describes this
problem, but it applies to Win XP, not Vista.
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822430) The article YOU mentioned is similar
to my problem, but it looks like it is not a free downloadable fix? Also it
seems to apply to networks & servers, and I have just my own home computer,
so not sure if it applies.
 
No it doesn't. It is about rebuilding indexes on indexless avi. You are
talking about mpeg. It was fixed a long time ago (XP SP2).

What happens if you rename them to avi.

The hotfix in that article is for XP SP1 (for those who can't install SP2)
 
I can't rename them, explorer hangs & stops responding then too. Are you the
same "." that answered my post about this in another forum category, and
suggested I use the command prompt? If so, that solution worked & didn't
work. I was able to delete two very large .mpg's right away. Two files are
left, but they will not delete...even the .cmd seems to "hang'....the
blinking cursor just blinks & blinks....I waited 10 minutes once before
closing it. However, on the two files it did delete, it worked immediately.
At the same time, explorer again starts using 100% CP and hangs.
Maybe I can rename one in the .cmd window??
 
Same as delete instruction but

ren oldname.ext newname.ext

so

ren myvideo.mpg myvideo.avi

And I am the same . I hate filling in forms. I also saw this your post in
the video forum.

I'm surprised cmd hangs though. That's very unusual. One would expect an
error message of Access Denied straight away. Not a hang.

Try this to delete the files. It bypasses some checks on why windows
shouldn't delete it.

del \\?\C:\whereeverthefilefolderis\filename.ext

It is the path prepended by \\?\

You may have to type the path in full, Shift + Right click file - Copy As
Path

Then in Cmd, Right Click titlebar - Edit - Paste

Prepend to the path
del \\?\
 
Well, ".", thank you for all your good advice. I finally got everything
deleted, but for some reason, no one method worked on all the files, even
though they were all created & saved by the same program. I too was surprised
that cmd stopped responding. I would have expected an error message of some
sort.
Just BTW, the program that started this whole mess was a Hauppage TV
recording program. Related to this whole thing, media player will not play
these files, although the Hauppage TV program will play them. I installed the
same program on our other computer, which has Vista Ultimate. There we have
no problems working with the .mpg, (so far), we can delete them as normal.
AND media player will pay them. So much for thinking I could get away with
anything called BASIC. :-)
Hmpf.
A
 
Programs like TV, DVD burning, Media Players, perhaps Video cards all
install codecs. Then it depends on what order they were installed in and
other things (like did a butterfly flap it's wings in brazil today). MS
could list the decisions MP takes to decide. But that's too easy. So they
don't.

I just refuse to install most programs that also install codecs.

And my life now works.
 
I'm afraid that is an elusive goal for me :-)

Now that I have found this forum though, it looks like at least my computer
life will be smoother.
Thanks.
 
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