Windows 10: Windows Explorer Erratic Behavior Renders Computer Useless

So the computer boots normally. Windows loads. The sign-in screen comes up fine. Once I sign in, I get a black screen and the mouse arrow. The arrow responds fine.

Eventually (several minutes) explorer sort of half-loads.The taskbar is visible, but when I hover over it the arrow turns to the blue "loading" arrow. The taskbar does not respond to clicks. Desktop icons do not come up, and the desktop background doesn't come up either.

CTRL-ALT-DEL works. When I try to open task manager, it takes a good 3-5 minutes to come up, and responds very slowly when it does (eg when changing tabs). Looks like there are no processes using CPU.

Other keyboard shortcuts do not work (eg WINDOWS+R). I tried to see if I could run a program using "run new task..." in task manager. I was able to get the command line to open (after a lengthy wait), and that pretty much it. I can't use file explorer (constantly displays "working on it..."). When I try to type in a program's path manually, the program will not run (just blue "loading" mouse cursor forever).

I have no idea what could be causing this issue. I have tried multiple things, including:

- System restore (made no difference at all)
- Reset PC keeping files (got an error message, PC could not be restored)
- Booting into the various safe modes (made no difference at all)
- fix startup (startup was never an issue but figured why not)
- SFC /scannow command (found no problems)
- chkdsk (found no problems)

I'm willing to entertain any suggestion at this point.

Desktop
AMD FX-6300
Onboard graphics
8 GB RAM
Asus M5A7BL-M board
Windows 10 Home Version 1703 Build # 15063.483

:)

 

100 Disk Usage after Startup

This is the Microsoft Telemetry process which is utilize the whole I/O capacity of a computer independent of your model. It happens on all my Windows 10 machines and together with the Windows Defender process this can render your computer to 100% useless
for sometimes more than 10 minutes. It's a well known behavior since introducing Microsoft Telemetry.

 

MY COMPUTER WAS RENDERED USELESS

Hi,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community.

I regret the inconvenience caused to you. Let me help you.


I would suggest you to Run Startup Repair using windows 10 dvd and check if it helps.

Method 1:

Steps to perform Startup Repair on your computer:
1. Insert the Windows installation disc into the disc drive, and then start the computer.

2. Press a key when the message indicating "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD …" appears.

3. Select a language, a time and currency, and a keyboard or input method, and then click Next.

4. Click Repair your computer.

5. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, choose the drive of your Windows installation and click Next.

6. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Startup Repair.

Method 2:

If issue persist try Resetting your pc. It will let you choose whether to keep your files or remove them, and then reinstalls Windows. Please refer these below article and check if it helps.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-ca/windows-10/change-startup-settings-in-windows-10


http://windows.microsoft.com/en-ca/windows-10/windows-10-recovery-options

I hope the above information helps. Kindly let us know if you need any further assistance with Windows. We are glad to assist you.

Thank you.

 

Hi, can you boot to Safe Mode successfully?
E.g. SHIFT + left click Restart (can do that from the login screen).

If so, try a clean boot and advise the outcome:
Perform a Clean Boot in Windows 10 to Troubleshoot Software Conflicts Windows 10 Performance Maintenance Tutorials
part 1

If you can get Windows up and running well enough, then download and run Hard Disk Sentinel (trial) and check your desk. Post a screenshot of its GUI
To post a screenshot please use the Insert Image icon above your post to the left of the video icon

History: do you have any clues what led to this? When did it start happening?
- upgraded to the creator's build
- installed something
- one day I switched it on and..
etc.

Please advise whether it was running ok with the Win 10 build presently installed.

 

Thank you very much for taking a moment to help out!

Booting into safe mode produces the exact same result, the only difference being the build number being at the top of the screen and the "safe mode" text in the corners. Taskbar still non-functional. Still long delay between opening task manager and it actually opening. File explorer still doesn't work. Still can't run a program by typing it's path manually.

 

Yes it was previously running normally with that build.

The computer was left on over the weekend (it's an office computer). Upon returning Monday morning, it had restarted and was installing an update.

I initially thought the update broke the computer. I tried to use system restore to return it to its pre-update state, but though it said the restore was successful, nothing changed.

 

Do you have any USB devices connected which could be slowing things down? If so try disconnecting them then rebooting.

 

Unfortunately the only connected USB devices were mouse and keyboard.

 

The usual way to return to the pre-update state would be to uninstall the update rather than try a system restore. System > Update & security > Windows update > Update history > Uninstall updates.

Look in the Update History first to see which update was installed over the weekend. It's unlikely to have been the latest cumulative update (KB4025342) as that was released two weeks ago. You may have to look in the 'Other updates' part of the history to find the update concerned. Let us know what you find before trying the uninstall.

 

Yes I agree. However I am unable to navigate to "system," or anywhere else.

So far the only thing i've been able to do is open the task manager (which takes quite a while). From there I have successfully opened a command line window, and that's about it. Even entering a program's path manually will not work.

 

Opening a run box (WINDOWS KEY+R) also does not work.

 

It seems to be the Creator's Build 15023 - I can't make out the build number, which would indicate the update last applied (See the threads in the News section here e.g.)

(Just realised you said you'd tried Safe Mode in your first post).

Now as you have also successfully (?) used System restore, that suggests it's not just the most recent update; further, as you had restore points available, you had presumably not just upgraded to the Creator's build.

If you were able to create a new user, that would be worth trying, but I'm not sure if there's a way to do that as it is.

Also please get a copy of Kyhi's boot disk from the top of the Software and Apps section here, boot your PC from it and run HDTune to check your disk. Post a screenshot of its GUI. (That's different to chkdsk etc).

What do you see if you press Windows key + X and click Control Panel?

I'm also doubtful you'd be able to start an in-place upgrade repair install (needs to run setup.exe from a mounted iso or bootable Win 10 medium of the same build, base language and 'bitness')

 

Kyhi's boot disk eh? OK i'll give it a go and report back.

I will also try to create a new user with the command line, as that's one of the few things that I can actually access.

 

That should also give you the ability to enable the built-in Administrator account and try that too.
Enable or Disable Elevated Administrator account in Windows 10
If you can't do it from its own command prompt, see Option Five to do it by booting from a Windows 10 installation USB or recovery drive.