Windows 10: explorer frequently freezes

Hi all. I'm running Windows 10 home (10.0.19041) on a Thinkpad X1 carbon. In the last week, explorer has started to freeze very frequently. There are two behaviors that seem to trigger a freeze:

1) When attempting to save-as from Google Chrome, explorer will become unresponsive (including the save-as dialogue itself, the desktop, and any other explorer windows currently open). Forcing explorer.exe to quit is the only thing that helps - at which point the save-as dialogue is unfrozen, allowing for the file to be saved without issue.

2) When transferring a file, the transfer will initially hang at 0% for 30-90 seconds before eventually transferring. (At first I thought this was only an issue when transferring to a network drive, but it actually happens when I'm transferring within my laptop's SSD.)

I've fiddled with explorer's settings as suggested on other posts, and I've run virus and malware scans. Nothing seems to help. Any ideas?

:)

 

Windows Explorer freeze

Hi Igor,

For us to better assist you, we'd like to ask a few questions with regard to freezing File Explorer.

• Have you made any changes to your computer before experiencing this issue?
• Have you tried any troubleshooting steps before posting this concern? If yes, what are those?

Looking forward to your response.

 

File Explorer freezes when hovering the cursor over the "create" section.

Hi Alex,

To better assist you, we'd like to know the following:

• Did you make any changes prior to this issue?
• Are you getting any error messages after File Explorer freezes?
• What troubleshooting have you done so far?

In the meantime, we suggest you restart Windows Explorer by following the steps below:

• Type Task Manager in search bar.
• Click Task Manager.
• On the pop-up window, under Windows processes, scroll-down to
  Windows Explorer.
• Right-click Windows Explorer, and click Restart.

We look forward to your response.

Thank you.

 

Windows Internet Explorer (11.0.42) freezes and unable to close

Hi Ted,

The freeze error that you encountered with Internet Explorer can be caused by a corrupted cache or cookies. To effectively assist you with your concern, we'd like to ask the following:

• Have you made any recent changes to your device prior to your concern?
• Are you getting the same error when browsing on other sites?
• What are the troubleshooting steps that you've performed to resolve your concern?

Meanwhile, we suggest that you
clear your browsing history, cookies, and website data to ensure that your Internet Explorer is set to its optimal level. Click the drop-down arrow for the
To delete cookies topic to view the steps. Once you're done, restart your device and check if you encounter the same error.

We're looking forward to your response.