Windows 10: Automatic refresh doesn't work in File Explorer, Desktop, Recycle etc.

And in safe mode? I don't think you've commented on that yet.

Solutions from a general web search:
What to do when Windows Explorer doesnt refresh | ITworld
- quite a list - note some of these would be covered by a test in safe mode.
http://www.thewindowsclub.com/deskto...ically-windows
Windows 7 Annoying Bug: Explorer doesnt refresh automatically when Create/delete/move any file/folder | Syed Jahanzaib Personal Blog to Share Knowledge !

 

Same in the safe mode, no changes...

I have tried pretty much all those suggestions from various sites, but none of them worked for me.
What I have seems to be a major issue, they even call it WEDR bug.
The only thing that slightly changed recently... sometimes, a few times I managed to get automatic refresh for the Desktop, if I for example do the right click and create a new folder, it does create instantly and is visible straight away.... hoewever this never happens in Windows Explorer... I think I once got a file in C: to be processed automatically but thats it... and never had ANY automatic refresh for any of the folders and files on external drives.

 

If no other ideas, you may end up having to do a clean install. Only other option is an in-place upgrade repair install, but if it's a setting change that is retained, that won't help.

 

I have to do something as the issue is extremely annoying, having to manually refresh every single file and folder...
How exactly is in-place upgrade repair install done ?
I have tried anniversary update but the process didn't work out, I don't know if I were to try to update in Safe mode, would that make a difference and give more chance for success ?
And what about Reset PC... would that do the trick ? I would lose a lot of apps and would have to reinstall a lot, but if it would solve the issue I'd go through it.

 

Hi, depending on the failure to upgrade (anniversary edition) you might even be lucky and find that doing an in-place upgrade repair fixes that. But the failure could simply be that your system drive has no unallocated space.. or maybe you experienced a problem downloading and updating, and manually downloading the iso might fix that. You may learn more from the setup.etl log file as to what went wrong.

Now, there are very significant similarities between doing an in-place upgrade (which would take you back to build 1511 as of Nov 2015) and doing the anniversary upgrade as far as maybe fixing things is concerned- in both cases you get a fresh copy of windows.

However if the failure to refresh is, say, a 3rd party program effect or a registry setting that is carried over, your problem will not be fixed.

What I suggest therefore is this:
Create a disk image of what you have (Macrium Reflect (free) + external storage + its boot medium). That was you can always restore what you have now.

You can then experiment with Reset, in-place upgrade, upgrade, clean boot, and any other fix you care to try knowing you can restore what you have.

Here's my text on in-place upgrade repair based on my experience of it- used successfully several times:
Precede it with this in case sthg has happened to your file system:

From an admin command prompt
[Windows key + X, click command prompt (admin)]
chkdsk C: /F
Your PC will need to restart.
Make sure the result is clear or fixed.
Post back the result, which you can get after a restart as follows:
How do I see the results of a CHKDSK that ran on boot? - Ask Leo!

An In-place upgrade repair install will fix many things, but not those where the settings are not changed by the procedure.

For this you need an installation medium with the same base build as you have installed.

Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade - Windows 10 Forums

This will refresh Windows, after the manner of a Windows installation.
- all/most associations will be unchanged
- all your programs will be left installed
- you will lose any custom fonts
- you will lose any customised system icons
- you may need to re-establish your Wi-Fi connection
- you will need to redo Windows updates subsequent to the build you have used for the repair install
- Windows.old will be created
- system restore will be turned off- you should turn it on again and I recommend you manually schedule a daily restore point.
- you will need to redo any language downloads including the display language if you changed that)
- inactive title bar colouring (if used) will be reset to default
- if Qttabbar is installed, you need to re-enable it in explorer (Options, check Qttabbar)
This is one of the better features of Win10: as each major build comes out, that's your updated reference build, and as updates are mostly cumulative, there will be few to do.

Recommendation:
Before you perform this major repair procedure, do create a disk image.

Please consider using disk imaging regularly. It's a brilliant way to
- preserve your system (and your sanity)
- back up your data
- restore your system to a previously working state in a relatively short time

Recommended: Macrium Reflect (free/commercial) + boot disk/device + large enough external storage medium.

 

I have tried numerous ways to update Windows from current version 10.586 to latest 14393.10 (August 2nd 2016):
1. Automatic (doesn't work, endless 'searching for updates' loop in Settings)
2. Manual (Anniversary update - I did get the file going, it even ended - but when it did I chose 'Restart Now' button instead of waiting for 30:00 timer to do its thing... after restart I just got back to standard login screen, no notification that updates was a success and in Settings no change in version nor any sign of update in Update history; I've tried the same update a few more times but then it just gets to 99% finished and gets stuck there without ever finishing)
3. ISO (I downloaded the file, mounted it, but setup.exe won't open - I tried regular way, as Admin, even in CMD... but setup.exe simply won't open and start the process)
4. Update Troubleshooter
5. Various manual ways & .BAT scripts for stopping & restarting WindowsUpdate - usually I get it to stopping, but never to stopped;
I also managed to delete everything in WindowsDistribution folder (in Safe Mode)... but it didn't help either... there might be another
file 'cat' or something that I didn't find or delete, but not sure if that was the remaining problem

As for refresing problem directly, I tried:
1. Registry edit, I added DontRefresh and marked 0
2. Tried sorting everything by name
3. Re-enabled user control to always notify
4. Icons cash rebuild (via software)
5. Disabling 3rd party shell extensions - STILL I have to check if this might have worked
5. Disabling indexing
6. Various default views changes, hidden files, on, off...
7. Turned off sharing
etc.

If refresh problem is caused by 3rd party - is there a way to figure out what exactly it might be ?
I have several programs that might be causing it - AMD Catalyst Suite, Windows Themes, CyberGhost, Windows Defender seems to be behaving a bit ackward too...

IMPORTANT: I noticed that RIGHT AFTER I start Windows - if I right click on Dekstop & do 'New Folder' ... it shows up instantly, automatic refresh.... but if I try to do it later on, its impossible to get the same result as there is no automatic refresh. I thought this was a one off rare luck but now that I think of it - maybe it means exactly what You mentioned - that one of the 3rd party programs that loads somewhat later with Windows(but NOT instantly after login) is somehow blocking refresh on Desktop & Windows Explorer later on. Does this make sense ? Would it have to be something like graphic card program or it could be any ?

 

Ok, here's my suggestion:
1. Create a disk image of what you have now so you can restore it.
2. Install Geek uninstaller. (It scans for leftovers for each program uninstalled).
3. Run Geek uninstaller,, and from it progressively uninstall each program you have installed, including the scan for leftovers.
4. See if explorer refreshes as it should.
5. If you find one, reinstall and check the effect.
6. Reinstall the others and check explorer still refreshes its display - in case there are two or more sch cases.

7. If necessary restore your image and uninstall the culprits.

 

GREAT NEWS SO FAR !!! I think I got it and I'm not even sure how !
Last thing I was trying out was uninstalling all network adapters in Device Manager - I was going through all possible solutions on various websites and someone somewhere suggested this worked for them, so I gave it a try and initially got into bigger mess as I lost my local area connection and could only connect via wi-fi. I was also experimenting with some driver updates. I'm not sure if this did the trick... also I did restart & was previously going through almost all from the following - could be option 8 or 10 :
What to do when Windows Explorer doesnt refresh | ITworld

Automatic refresh now works smoothly everywhere - Desktop, Windows Explorer, both C: and external drives.

PS. Some other things things I've also changed recently is Performance Options / Selected - Adjust For Best Appearance, I uninstalled some programs like GoogleDrive, CyberGhost, WindowsUpdateAssistant...

Its hard to tell what made the difference, but whats most important is that annoying issue seems to be solved and I can properly work with files and folders once again.

 

Another positive & significant change, for the first time available Windows updates are showing up in Settings,
this has never happened before, it has to be that refresh & updating problem are somehow connected, hopefuly now I'll be able to update as well :

 

Great-you've been very patient, and patience sometimes has its rewards. That was an article I suggested in #6.

 

Same here - after having struggled a lot of time with this issue i came up upon this thread and sure enough after removing some virtual network adapters i had installed, problem went away.
Go figure!