June 30, 2009 in Computer Tweaks by admin

Computer freezes few seconds before opening any file (Windows XP delay in opening files)

Problem: When I try to open any file in my Windows XP SP2 system by double clicking the file, it hangs or freezes for few seconds. The file would open up after few seconds. This happens even when I right click a file or folder. The right click menu will appear few seconds. It also happens when I try to copy any file. When I click Copy or Cltr+C, the system would hang or freeze for few seconds. The worst part is, this problem happens randomly – it may happen now in the morning and it would be gone in the afternoon and then all of a sudden it would appear again during the night!

Solution: The problem can have many causes, but here I would like to consider it being caused by System Sleep or Hibernation setting because in the few computers that I have tested, this solution worked pretty well.

1. Go to Control Panel > Power Options
2. In the Power Schemes Tab, chose Always On for Power Schemes OR set the System standby and System hibernates to Never.

That will hopefully solve the problem. But if the problem persists, try to run a system check disc in the next startup. To do so, follow the instructions below.

1. Right click the system drive and go to Properties
2. Under Tools Tab in Error-Checking option, click Check Now.
3. Check both the check boxes and click Start.
3. Click Ok if it ask for scheduling the Error check in the next system startup.
4. In the next system start up, allow the chkdsk to run.

The above two processes solved the problem in all the systems I have tested. But if these steps don’t work, I would suggest you to install all unwanted software and then follow second step once again. Hopefully that will solve the problem. If you have any further query, do let me know and I or someone here will try to help.