Windows 10: File Explorer consistently fails at random times, needs to be restarted

When doing file management in File Explorer sorting files and folders by dragging and dropping this works for a while, then stops; I can no longer drag, drop, or copy/paste or cut/paste. The only recourse is to open up the Task Manager, select Windows Explorer, then restart; or to restart from the command line.


Can this be a clipboard or buffering issue?


I have plenty of RAM 32 GB.


I have several drives on this computer - my system drive is a 500gb SSD; my working drives are 1TB 7200 RPM drives; this malfunction happens on any and all drives.


I do this maintenance a lot; I am a professor and I download multiple large student files; I place them in specific folders, unzip & rename them, and sort them so I can reference & store them.


I did try a solution offered by another member, which was to open a command-line window and type:


DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth


But this did not fix the problem.


Any ideas?


Thanks

:)

 

File Explorer jump list doesn't consistently show location popups

Thanks for your reply.

Whatever "it" is exactly, all I know is, it does not behave consistently. This is so across multiple systems. Also, it isn't just recent items, but pinned items that fail to produce the popup on mouse over (when they should).

If the File Explorer setting you're referring to is "Show pop-up description for folder and desktop items," I already have that turned on.

Based on my tests, I tend to think this is a bug. Did you try reproducing it?

1. Right click File Explorer in taskbar to open the jump list.
2. Mouse over any of the pinned or recent folders and see if the popup with the location path appears (as shown in the screenshot with the original post).
3. If it does appear, close out of the jump list by left clicking anywhere outside of it.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 until you find the popups not appearing. In my experience, it always occurs, even if not right away. And all too often when I need them most.

 

random restarts

Hi,

If a Windows computer random restarts, the device usually have some damaged system components. For us to provide an accurate solution, we would need you to answer the following questions:

• Which build, version and edition of Windows is installed on your computer?
• What changes have you made to the device before this issue occurred?
• What troubleshooting steps was already performed to your laptop?

In the meantime, it will be best to make sure that the latest update of Windows is installed on your device. If the same issue happens after installing Windows Update, we suggest running the power troubleshooter. To do so, follow these steps:

• Open the Control Panel.
• Using the search bar at the upper-right corner, type troubleshooting.
• From the search results, click on Troubleshooting and then select System and Security.
  
• Click on Power and then follow the prompts to successfully run the tool.

We are looking forward to your response.

 

File Explorer jump list doesn't consistently show location popups

Anyone else have this issue?

When right-clicking File Explorer in the taskbar, a jump list appears, showing pinned and recent folders or locations. Mousing over these items should cause a small text popup to appear above the item that shows the full system path of the location:





The problem is the popups do not appear consistently. In some instances, they'll appear, in others they simply won't. They either appear immediately or not at all. Repeatedly right clicking the File Explorer icon and checking, the popups may work several times consecutively before they don't. It seems completely random and unpredictable.

The reason the feature is important to me is I often work with different subfolders with the same name that are located in different parent folders. When I see multiple instances of these subfolders with the same name, there is no way to know which parent directory they're from unless the popups with the full path appears on mouse-over. Without the popups, it becomes a guessing game.

This behavior occurs on multiple computers running Windows 10. Some are upgrades from Windows 7. Others are brand new OEMs with Windows 10 pre-installed.

Any ideas?