Problem with HDD (i guess)

[Noctosphere]

Hello friends

I'm having a problem with my computer since yesterday
When I browse on windows explorer, files are all white sheet (blank icon) and it takes lot of time to load
At first, I'd though about an HDD about to die, but it does that with all my drives (C: D: E: and G: (yea got no F:, weird???))
So I'd like to have your thought, could it be actually just the C: drive that is dying? The one with Windows?
Or could it be a bigger problem? Like a CPU problem? RAM problem?

Any thoughts?

Thanks

PS : I have absolutely zero problem with video games, they all seem to be fine, they are all located on the E: drive

 

[SylverReZ]

Hello friends

I'm having a problem with my computer since yesterday
When I browse on windows explorer, files are all white sheet (blank icon) and it takes lot of time to load
At first, I'd though about an HDD about to die, but it does that with all my drives (C: D: E: and G: (yea got no F:, weird???))
So I'd like to have your thought, could it be actually just the C: drive that is dying? The one with Windows?
Or could it be a bigger problem? Like a CPU problem? RAM problem?

Any thoughts?

Thanks

PS : I have absolutely zero problem with video games, they all seem to be fine, they are all located on the E: drive

Try plugging in the HDD through a USB adapter and into another PC, if you can access it just fine then there must be something wrong with Windows.

 

[godreborn]

maybe look in the default apps + all in windows. I don't know if it's on windows 11, but it's a feature in windows 10. it's also possible that the iconcache is fucked up.

 

[Noctosphere]

Try plugging in the HDD through a USB adapter and into another PC, if you can access it just fine then there must be something wrong with Windows.

I don't have any other PCs
Also, are you saying it could be a problem with windows itself? As in not the hardware itself?

 

[SylverReZ]

I don't have any other PCs
Also, are you saying it could be a problem with windows itself? As in not the hardware itself?

It could be either that or something else. You tried defragmenting your HDD?

 

[Noctosphere]

maybe look in the default apps + all in windows. I don't know if it's on windows 11, but it's a feature in windows 10. it's also possible that the iconcache is fucked up.

default app? what is that? do you mean startup app? those that auto start at windows booting

 

[SylverReZ]

maybe look in the default apps + all in windows. I don't know if it's on windows 11, but it's a feature in windows 10. it's also possible that the iconcache is fucked up.

You can use "Winaero Tweaker" to reset the icon cache.

 

[Noctosphere]

It could be either that or something else. You tried defragmenting your HDD?

Well, the one with windows is an SSD, I don't think you can defragment those, can you?

Post automatically merged: Dec 3, 2022

I'm on Win11 btw

 

[SylverReZ]

Well, the one with windows is an SSD, I don't think you can defragment those, can you?

Post automatically merged: Dec 3, 2022

I'm on Win11 btw

Thought you was referring to a HDD and not an SSD.

 

[godreborn]

go to all settings, apps where the notification pops up.

 

[SylverReZ]

default app? what is that? do you mean startup app? those that auto start at windows booting

Default apps are linked to file types that require them.

 

[Noctosphere]

Thought you was referring to a HDD and not an SSD.

Well, when I first wrote the title, I was thinking about my Plex drive, which is an ext.hdd
But then, while writing my topic, I realised the problem occurs on all drive, hdds and ssds

go to all settings, apps where the notification pops up.

will try

Post automatically merged: Dec 3, 2022

Default apps are linked to file types that require them.

oh that, idk, I haven't touched anything about default app, plus, it's literally ALL files that are blank icon (except folders)

 

[fringle]

Give this a try and see if it sorts it out.

https://www.thewindowsclub.com/rebuild-icon-clear-thumbnail-cache-windows-10

 

[Noctosphere]

Well, when I first wrote the title, I was thinking about my Plex drive, which is an ext.hdd
But then, while writing my topic, I realised the problem occurs on all drive, hdds and ssds


will try

Post automatically merged: Dec 3, 2022

oh that, idk, I haven't touched anything about default app, plus, it's literally ALL files that are blank icon (except folders)

noticed something else
When in small icon mode, icons appears, it's only when in big icon mode that they are blank

 

[godreborn]

maybe something to do with dpi, but I really don't know at this point.

 

[SylverReZ]

maybe something to do with dpi, but I really don't know at this point.

Me neither, could be literally anything.

 

[godreborn]

this is the reason I keep disk backups (in case something fucked up happens with the computer). it's easier than researching a bunch of ideas that fail to work.

 

[Sypherone]

Ya, there are different possibiltys that can cause the issue. Maybe the explorer has a issue, or Windows, the drive or your Ram.

There are different tools for Powershell to scan Windows, which also will repair it.
With System File Checker "sfc"
sfc /scannow
or with Deployment Image Servicing and Management "dism" must be entered in this row :
dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

For the drive run in Powershell chkdsk X: /r it checks for filesystem and sector errors and repairs them.

You can also check your drive health with Crystal Disk Info which reads the smart value of the drives.

Windows 10 has also memory diagnostic tools on board for checking the Ram.

This is a script for resetting the Windows Explorer :

@echo off

::kill explorer.exe
taskkill /f /im explorer.exe

:: To reset folder view settings of all folders
Reg Delete "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU" /F
Reg Delete "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags" /F

Reg Delete "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\Bags" /F
Reg Delete "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\BagMRU" /F

Reg Delete "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU" /F
Reg Delete "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags" /F

Reg Delete "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags" /F
Reg Delete "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU" /F

:: To reset "Apply to Folders" views to default
Reg Delete "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams\Defaults" /F

:: To reset size of details, navigation, preview panes to default
Reg Delete "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Modules\GlobalSettings\Sizer" /F
Reg Delete "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Modules\NavPane" /v ExpandedState /F

:: restart explorer
start explorer.exe

 

[SylverReZ]

this is the reason I keep disk backups (in case something fucked up happens with the computer). it's easier than researching a bunch of ideas that fail to work.

I keep most of my stuff on a singular 1TB SSD, I don't really have the patience, money and resources to upload to the cloud or invest into a NAS.

 

[godreborn]

I keep most of my stuff on a singular 1TB SSD, I don't really have the patience to upload to the cloud or invest into a NAS.

I can't invest in a NAS, but I do have 8 10TB hdds that house all my stuff. it was really bad when my m2 drive was 512GBs. I'm using a 1TB one now.