It's just SO SLOOOOOOW!

[Sonars_UK]

Hi,

I think that I've got a reasonable spec system but it is really slow when
viewing the contents of a folder which contain jpg's.

I've got a young family so I've taken loads of photo's which are all
organised in their own folders. Each photo is around 1.5MB which I know is
quite large, but on my friends lesser spec system his simular folders/files
display immediatley.

When I open a folder which contains say 20 images it takes literally 15-20
seconds for all of the icons to dispaly properly. This happens in all
views: details, thumbnails, etc... When I click on a folder to see it's
contents I will see the list of files with an icon next to them (this icon
normally means that there is not a program installed on the system to view
this type of file) then gradually one-by-one these icons will be replaced by
an adobe photoshop icon. It is only when all files have the photoshop icon
next to them that I can open any of them.

I think the problem started when I upgraded the MOBO and processor a year or
so ago. I'm finding it really frustrating now as it can really slow my
productivity down when I'm working with a folder with say 50-100 images in.

If there's anyone out there that can offer me some advice it really would be
appreciated.

Regards,

Sonars UK

Here is the system spec: Athlon 2400XP Processor, Gigabyte 7VAXP Ultra MOBO,
512MB OEM RAM, WINXP HOME, 120GB 7200RPM Maxtor HDD, DVD Writer, DVD DRIVE,
Floppy. Norton Antivirus is constantly running in the background (but has
no effect when it is disabled).

 

[Nick]

Hi,

Norton Antivirus is constantly running in the background (but has
no effect when it is disabled).

Disabling things like Norton once they've started, by using the disable
function in them, has very little effect on anything. To disable it fully go
into Services, within Administrative Tools, and stop AND disable it there.
Then restart the computer.

Then again, I have no idea if that'll actually help. It sounds more like you
have a pagefile issue, and need to clear it out (for which there are plenty
of programs available.) Perhaps you just have too many services running, try
looking at the processes under Task Manager and google for them.

Another idea would be to check that you aren't also running excess spyware,
junkware, malware, etc.... spybot and ad-aware will both check it out for
you. (It's recommended that you run more than one, as they catch different
stuff.)

Nick

 

[Alien Zord]

I think that I've got a reasonable spec system but it is really slow when
viewing the contents of a folder which contain jpg's.

I've got a young family so I've taken loads of photo's which are all
organised in their own folders. Each photo is around 1.5MB which I know is
quite large, but on my friends lesser spec system his simular folders/files
display immediatley.

When I open a folder which contains say 20 images it takes literally 15-20
seconds for all of the icons to dispaly properly. This happens in all
views: details, thumbnails, etc... When I click on a folder to see it's
contents I will see the list of files with an icon next to them (this icon
normally means that there is not a program installed on the system to view
this type of file) then gradually one-by-one these icons will be replaced by
an adobe photoshop icon. It is only when all files have the photoshop icon
next to them that I can open any of them.

In Windows Explorer, Tools, Folder Options, View and un-tick "Do not cache
thumbnails".

 

[Sonars_UK]

Hi Mr Zord,

Thanks for the reply. I had high hopes as your suggestion sounded logical
but it didn't have any effect on my system.

Any other advice would be appreciated.

Regards,

Sonars UK

 

[Jon Danniken]

I think the problem started when I upgraded the MOBO and processor a year or
so ago. I'm finding it really frustrating now as it can really slow my
productivity down when I'm working with a folder with say 50-100 images in.

Did you reinstall Windows (or do a repair install if using WinXP) at that time? Is your drive defragmented?

Jon

 

[Midnight Moocher]

Needless to say, you shouldn't be experiencing this problem with your spec. the way it is.

You say you have some file association problems.

When I click on a folder to see it's contents I will see the list of files with an icon next to them (this icon
normally means that there is not a program installed on the system to view this type of file) then gradually
one-by-one these icons will be replaced by an adobe photoshop icon.

If you open up your picture folder, select a random image, hold down the shift key, and right-click.

From here, choose 'Open With'. A dialogue box will appear. From the list, choose a program in which you wish to open this file type
with in the future.
Though I use Adobe Photoshop to edit my pictures, I use 'Windows Picture and Fax viewer' as the default viewer. I suggest you give
this a try.

Ensure you put a tick in the box next to 'Always use this program to open this file' then click ok.

This clears up the association problem.

No idea how to fix the slowness though sorry.

 

[Alien Zord]

Thanks for the reply. I had high hopes as your suggestion sounded logical
but it didn't have any effect on my system.

Any other advice would be appreciated.

Tools > Folder Options > File Types, click New, type jpg, click Advanced,
select Adobe Photoshop image, click OK to overwrite existing definition.
Make sure your picture files do have jpg extension.

 

[Sonars_UK]

Thanks for the further advice Mr Zord. It still didn't have an effect
though.

Regards,

Sonars UK

 

[Sonars_UK]

Hi Jon,

I'm not sure whether a complete re-installation of WinXP Home was done at
the time of the upgrade, but I've had a new hard drive in the last month or
so when WinXP was re-installed. I have experienced exactly the same problem
on both installations and hard drives. Also, my drive has been
defragmented.

Regards,

Sonars UK

in.

Did you reinstall Windows (or do a repair install if using WinXP) at that

time? Is your drive defragmented?