windows explorer related functions suddenly become unresponsive randomly

[jing_liu]

is it possible for a future update to resolve this issue at some point? windows reset is my last resort and id rather avoid it if i can.

[phillpower2]

Possible but only if the issue was caused by a buggy update but yours is the only issue I personally have seen on any of the forums that I frequent.

Post a new Speccy url for us so we can see what Windows updates you have installed.

[jing_liu]

http://speccy.piriform.com/results/ydlgmVZLxWg5ePdS8XNVCAa

it started happening at around the 8th of this month, some days it doesn’t happen at all and on others its borderline makes the laptop unusable

[phillpower2]

Got a lot to add but the forum is playing up and won`t let me post it all at once so we need to do a bit at a time

The fact that it does not happen all the time would normally suggest that it was not a Windows issue but here were two big Microsoft updates installed on the 9th of this month.

Too late now but for future reference, never update or make any changes before creating a new system restore point first, they are not infallible but they can get you out of a hole if an update causes problems.

[phillpower2]

Disable Hibernation.
Turn Off Hard Disk after: (On AC Power): 30 sec
Turn Off Hard Disk after: (On Battery Power): 30 sec

Change both settings to Never else the computer will go asleep when you momentarily get distracted.
DriverFix

Missed it first time but get get rid of this snake oil, apart from such programs being crap you don’t need it as all your drivers 100% must come from HP and once those drivers have been correctly installed you leave well alone, see my canned explanation below;

Once Windows has been installed, you install the necessary drivers for the MB and other hardware and then leave well alone, drivers should not be allowed to auto update and you should never update any driver/s unless the new drivers are intended to resolve a specific issue that you are having, installing new drivers unnecessarily can actually cause you the very issues that any new drivers are intended to resolve and uninstalling the new drivers may not resolve the problem/s that installing the new drivers has caused.

Depending on priority it can take many months before the driver provider releases any fix and depending on the age of the hardware or software concerned they sometimes do not even bother or may have already announced an end of support.

The exact same policy applies to the BIOS, do not update it unless it is advised by the manufacturer of the hardware or alternatively if it is to allow for a CPU upgrade.

Updating things for no reason has a 50/50 chance of bricking your computer, don`t gamble unless you can (A) Do without the computer (B) have loads of spare cash and can buy a new one with no problem or (C) Both of the previous.

[jing_liu]

alright, I’ll try all of what you suggested and see if it works

[Malnutrition]

Only posting this as a possible solution if there might be an issue with a program running. This will essentially put your machine in a clean boot state. You are in good hands with Phil this is just a possible Avenue.

Download and run KillEmAll
Unzip it to your desktop.
Right click run As admin.
This will kill all non essential processes.
Including your browser, so save anything you are working on prior to running the tool.
Let us know if there is any change in the issue after using killemall.
Do not reboot after using this tool, it is a temporary tool to kill non windows processes to see if that is an issue.

Run the tool and the test report back.

[jing_liu]

i ran the killemall and it didn’t do much of anything, oh yeah there is detail a i may have forgotten to mention. as a possible by product if this issue, when i open the windows+p menu i often find it stuck on “pc screen only” and the whole laptop starts treating the monitor screen as if its the only one plugged into the device, if i try to change it nothing happens, if i close the menu and reopen it, it returns to the “pc screen only”.

honestly i have no idea if this has anything to with the original issue but I’m just trying to provide y’all with as much information as possible.

[jing_liu]

another little detail i think i should include is that i use my laptop with the lid closed and displaying on to the monitor, if i open the lid, everything works just fine, this includes both issues, the one i made the form about and the one in my last reply.

[phillpower2]

Should have been mentioned in your OP

Normal behaviour so nothing to be fixed here.

[jing_liu]

are you sure? before all of this started happening to me, i distinctly remember the laptop detecting its built in display at all times even if the lid is closed. also sorry for not including it in the op, i had completely forgotten about it at the time

[phillpower2]

Like Hibernation and the storage devices that you set to turn off after only 30 seconds closing the lid affects the notebooks behaviour, you have said so yourself that the issue does not happen if the lid on the notebook remains open.

If you have noticed any change in the notebooks behaviour at all apart from the crazy settings mentioned above there is only one thing that could change any behaviour and that would also be Power Plan related as in selecting what the notebook does when the lid is closed, if you do not have the Do Nothing option selected the notebook effectively goes to sleep once the lid is closed and the delay in response is the time that it takes for a signal from the mouse etc to tell the notebook to wake up.

[jing_liu]

i have it set to do nothing, could be something else?

[phillpower2]

As already explained, the behaviour is completely normal and there is nothing that you can do about it

Notebooks are limited and if you are trying to use it like a desktop forget about it,

If you have changed the storage device times to Never, disabled Hibernation and kept the monitor setting to Never turn off there is nothing more to be done here.

[jing_liu]

damn, thats truely unfortunate, but i guess it cant be helped. thanks for all the help tho brother ❤️