Windows 10 Explorer eventually stops responding

[RodBarnes]

Having some odd behavior I've not yet figure out. It could be hardware related but not convinced that is the case. I'm running Windows 10 Pro. I have 8GB DDR2 RAM, E8400 Core 2 Duo CPU. Four Samsung 850 SSD connected via a Link Removed and three Samsung 753LJ 750GB connected to the motherboard. All of the drives are currently configured as independent drives -- no raid, no hyper-duo.

Generally, the system performs well. But at random times it will reach the point where Explorer ceases to respond. It appears to be related to disk activity in that it seems to manifest when I go to do something that requires access of a disk. I'll get the spinning cursor, and then, as I continue to try to get it to respond, it will become increasingly unresponsive, with windows no longer opening or responding to a close. Opening File Explorer, it won't refresh any of the drive icons -- they all appear as blank icons -- but the stock icons all appear.

Eventually, I have to just do a reset to get it to restart and come back up. I have not yet been able to identify a pattern or a trigger so just looking for input and ideas.

What's new to this system is the Syba card and SSD drives and Windows 10. Previously, I had the Samsung HDDs only and running Windows 7 Home. I started with a fresh install (not and upgrade) and added the SSD drives and card.

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

Hi there,

Let me confirm with you that you are talking about Windows File Explorer (used to be Windows Explorer, the file management utiltity), and not Internet Explorer (IE11). Is this correct?

And, thanks for posting on our forum!

The first thing I always suggest with systems with multiple hard drives for troubleshooting, is to eliminate all the interaction of the secondary drives and isolate them from the C: bootdrive. If the problem is on the C: drive hard drive, then that drive needs to be thoroughly tested with drive diagnostics, and the RAM just in case. Once we check your hardware (RAM, Hard Drive, and Motherboard), we can move onto seeing if it's related to a problem in W10, the upgrade, Windows system file corruption, etc.

I'll provide a link for the testing details later on. In the meantime, you should also temporarily REMOVE that Syba SATA controller from your Motherboard for the above testing configuration as well. This means that the only hard drive you should test with W10 is the C: drive with the W10 on it; no PCI SATA controller card, no other drives. This is crucial to the process. My link will provide you with the Hardware testing and Software testing which should check out your basic system, using the C: drive connected via cable from the SATA port on the Motherboard to that C: drive only. The goal is to weed out any hardware failures with your system, and if any are found then corrected with replacement hardware, or if no errors are found, you can proceed to the Software testing and repair of your Windows and correct the problem with File Explorer if possible.

Once we can do that, you can begin adding additional drives back to your Motherboard one at a time. If the problem reappears, then you'll have to test that drive that was just added; say the 2nd drive causes the problem to reoccur; you'll have to test the 2nd drive and try to correct it with repairs such as reformatting, or replacement. Then the 3rd drive, then add back in the Syba PCI controller and begin adding drives 1 at a time, retesting for the original problem each time. If my count is right and you have 7 drives total, this of course will take some time. If you were going to do this right, such as in an IT environment, each and every drive would need to get individually tested anyway.

This process is something I do pretty much every day, just expanded to cover the additional drives. Here's the link to my Post which has all the hw & sw testing you now need to do: Cursor cannot reach top of Quick Launch area

This saves me a whole lot more typing. Please note also that since you upgraded your system from Win7, that system is probably 4-6 years old whether you built it yourself or it's an OEM build (Dell, HP, Acer, Samsung, etc.). And the #1 cause of failure in computers 3 yrs. old and older is hard drive failure. You have 7 of them of varying ages, but most likely that your C: bootdrive was the original drive that came with your computer, and it's quite old, and likely to be failing or failed and replacing it will get you going again.

Most folks like to keep their computers around for 6-10 years or more, but they don't realize that hard drives fail after 3 yrs. of age or so, and that they have to be replaced. People try lots and lots of software repairs, all for nought; as my recent mantra here on the W10 forum is "NO SOFTWARE ON THE PLANET CAN FIX BROKEN HARDWARE!!"
Next to that, people hate to reinstall their Windows, whether it's their original version or W10; but since you've gone through the upgrade process, I suggest you do a W10 Clean Install using this ISO file here: Link Removed
Since your legit upgrade is already stored on the Microsoft Activatioin servers, you shouldn't have to reinstall your Win7 and then upgrade again. This will save you some more time.

EDIT: Oh, and when you did your W10 upgrade, were all 7 of those drives hooked up as they are know? (forgot to ask you this earlier).

Give this a go and let us know how it goes, and if you get stuck feel free to post back and ask us questions. There are several of us here who have been through W10 upgrades and repairs and we're always available.

Best of luck,
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>

 

[RodBarnes]

UPDATE: I opted to slice the problem down the middle: I disconnected all three of the HDD drives from the MB just to see what difference that would make. Interestingly, I've not had the Explorer misbehavior manifest itself again since then. Of course, since it does not appear consistently, I may just be "lucky" at the moment. I'm going to give it a while longer and then connect them all again and see if it shows up once more.

I still suspect that this is related to the new PCIe card since these HDD are the same drives that, previously, were the only drives in the system. However, if I have to, I can live without them since the new SDD drives on the PCIe card are hugely faster.

 

[HenkB]

..... However, if I have to, I can live without them since the new SDD drives on the PCIe card are hugely faster...

SSD's don't live forever, but the number of writes to a memory location on the SSD is limited. There is special firmware built in into an SSD to spread the write load over the all memory locations. SSD's become terrible slow when they are either too full (load can't be spread) or too old (number of writes close to limit). And a slow SSD may also cause your problem.

Just a thought
Henk

 

[RodBarnes]

These are brand new SSDs, just purchased.

 

[RodBarnes]

UPDATE: I did encounter the problem again even while using only the PCIe card. I opted to just purchase a new motherboard with sufficient SATA 3 ports (Asrock Z97 Extreme6 has 10). Since the upgrade, I've not had any issues -- yet.

SIDE-NOTE: A friend purchased the same Syba SATA card and has had no issues with his system. So, YMMV. It might be worth a try for the price of the card but it may or may not work well for you.

 

[HenkB]

Great to hear!
Thanks for reporting back,
Henk