[Solved] Breadcrumbs for virtual folders slow under win 7x64

[petermad]

Under Windows 7 64-bit the breadcrumb menu for virtual folders - invoked by the triangle to the left of the current path - is extremely slow

It can take up to 20 seconds for it to open, and the submenus the same - often showing a little exclamation mark in a red circle to the right of the subfolder.

Often the folder "Libraries" does not open at all.

If I doubleclick on the triangel (BreadcrumbDelayButton=-251) and then press escape to remove the directory menu, then the breadcrumb menu opens immediately - but subfolders still opens slow.

If I click twice on the arrow-down button (BreadcrumbDelayButton=250), then it also opens immediately - but still subfolders are slow.

If a subfolder is slow to open, I can often make it open by clicking outside the breadcrumb menu (in the file panel).

It almost seems like the breadcrumb (sub)menu is opened - but not visible.

I have tried with a clean ini file and whith Windows started in safe mode - but still the same probem.

I have tried disabling folder icons completely, also without results.

I have tried different Windows themes (basic, classic) to rule out that this could cause the problem.

Here is a list of the main folders in the breadcrumb (translated from Danish):

Desktop
Libraries
Computer
Homegroup
Network
Recycle bin
User Name
\ftp

All these folders works fine in the file panels.


Is it something with my Windows 7 (I don't have the problem with any of my XP installations) - or have other people experienced this too?

[Henrie]

I have not experienced it.
Using TC at work on Windows 7 64-bit, a portable version which I placed permanently on a mapped network drive.

I just wish there was an easier way to access the Libraries than through navigating by the triangle in the breadcrumbs bar, but i have not found it yet.

[petermad]

Copy this code to Clipboard:

Code: Select all

TOTALCMD#BAR#DATA
cd ::{031E4825-7B94-4dc3-B131-E946B44C8DD5}

imageres.dll,202
Libraries


-1

Right click on TC's button bar and select paste - then you have a button that will open your Libraries folder.

[ghisler(Author)]

I guess that there is some third party Explorer extension in one of these virtual folders which takes so long to load. Or maybe some files in these libraries are located on slow network drives?

[petermad]

The libraries are almost empty - only containing the sample files that comes with Windows 7

There are two shared network drives under "Network" - but why should they influence the other virtual folders.

If I start without support for network (safe mode) it is just as slow - if not slower.

Anyway, why should the reasons you suggest only slow breadcrumbs down, bot not the same content when opened in the file panels?

The problems is also present if I start as another user (fresh account).

[Henrie]

@petermad
Thanks for the button

[petermad]

I have really tried a lot to make it work, but still without any luck.

1. I have tried completely removing all Libraries.
2. I have tried starting Windows7 in Diagnostic startup with only basic services and devices.
3. I have tried starting TC with a fresh ini-file.
4. I have tried disabeling Network shares.
5. I have tried disabeling all TC plugins.
6. I have tried disabeling all icons in TC (has no effect on icons in the virtual breadcrumb).
7. I have tried disabeling both the mousepad or the mouse.

8. I don't have a Homegroup
9. The Recycle Bin is empty (and disabled on system level).
10. The only third party .cpl's in Control Panel are "Java" and "QuickTime"

Some observations on how it works on my Windows 7 :

A. When opening the main virtual folder menu with BreadcrumbDelayButton=-250:
1. The menu usually pops up almost immediately, the first time I try it after a reboot or after logging out and back into Windows.
2. If I do not click in the file panel, opening the menu works reasonably fast several times repeatedly - but if I click around in one or more times of the file panels, then it will take 20 seconds or more for the menu to open.
3. If I doubleclick or right click the triangle and then press Escape, then the menu pops up immediately.
4. If I hover the triangle and then quickly move the cursor upwards to one of my drive buttons, then the menu opens immediately! - but not if I move to the combobox, the buttonbar, the menu or a folder tab.

B. When opening the main virtual folder menu with BreadcrumbDelayButton=250:
1. Most often I have to click twice on the downarrow button (not like when opening the breadcrumb menu of a normal folder which only equires one click).
2. The menu will also open if I click on the downarrow button, and then move the cursor away from the button.

C. navigating in the virtual folder menu:
1. Most often the submenu at "Libraries" do not open (even though it has 4 items) and the arrow to the right of "Libraries" dissapear, falsely indicating that there are no subfolders.
2. It seems that opening the "Network" subfolder once, will make the "Libriaries" folder open when tried thereafter.
3. Most often it takes from 10 to 30 seconds for a subfolder to open.
4. Moving the cursor outside the breadcrumb menu area and performing a click in the file panel can often make the submenu pop up.
5. When a submenu takes a long time to open, then sometimes an icon with a red circle with an exclamation mark is shown to the right of the item name - but not always (mostely not).
6. If I have managed to make the menu open all 1st order submenus, they seem to open almost correctly (still slow 1-2 seconds) as long as I don't close the beadcrumb menu. If I then leave the menu and open it again it seems reasonably responsive, but if I click in the file panel after closing the breadcrumb menu, then it is back to being very slow (10-30 seconds) for everything to open.
7. When BreadcrumbDelayButton=-250, moving the cursor outside the breadcrumb menu area while TC is trying to open a subfolder, does not close the breadcrumb menu until the subfolder is finaly opened.
8. While waiting for a subfolder to open, it requires one click (BreadcrumbDelayButton=-250) or two clicks (BreadcrumbDelayButton=250) in the file panel to force the breadcrumb menu to close. - an extra click compared to normal behaviour.
9. The "Network" folder seems to be the slowest to open - even if it is empty (no TC-plugins, and Network registration disabled).

It seems to me that there are some issuses for TC with getting and keeping the breadcrumb in focus involved in the problem...

[ghisler(Author)]

Unfortunately I cannot offer any help here because I cannot reproduce it. If you find a way to reproduce it reliably, it would be nice if you could describe how to reproduce it, so I can try to get the problem here too...

[petermad]

Yeah, it's a bitch.

On my Windows 7 it is not a matter of HOW to reproduce it - it is there ALL the time. I can just hope that it goes away one day, and I happen to notice what did the change.

[Zmeyw]

Yeah, it's a bitch.

On my Windows 7 it is not a matter of HOW to reproduce it - it is there ALL the time. I can just hope that it goes away one day, and I happen to notice what did the change.

Agree with a quote - Win7 x64 on a desktop and on a laptop have the same not slow but awful performance/speed when try to access main directory of a shared network drive nevertheless from XP or Win7 32/64 bits. It took between 20 sec and 1.5 min to access the drive. You can cancel the operation when and IF pop-up window appear and then it is working fine till the next main directory access, but mostly you should wait on a blank white Total Commander's window to finish. From Win7 32 everything works like a charm the same as in Explorer. Transfer speed is up to 60-70MBps so there is no problem with it but access... Till now - no way to avoid...

I think it could be reproduced easily.

2 x Win7 x64, 2 x Win7 x32, Win XP, 3PCs, 2 laptops, Gigabit network, shared disks with free access for everyone but un/pw to access respective machine, stopped UAC, drives are with dirs - 7-80, files 20-140... (nothing unusual), TC7.56A, icons standard/no icons, standard copy method.

[ghisler(Author)]

I'm using Windows 7 x64 myself, and accessing 2 XP machines in the same net is very fast. So something must be causing that slowdown on your machine. Do you use Vmware?

[petermad]

I'm using Windows 7 x64 myself, and accessing 2 XP machines in the same net is very fast

I have no problems accessing my two XP machines form my win 7 x64 machine either. This is SOLELY a problem when trying to use the breadcrumb panel with the virtual folders in the triangle menu.

When accesing the same virtual folders by navigating in the file panels, separate trees or file panel trees I have no problems.

[Zmeyw]

I'm using Windows 7 x64 myself, and accessing 2 XP machines in the same net is very fast. So something must be causing that slowdown on your machine. Do you use Vmware?

No virtualization. no power saving on the shared disks and so on, all suggestions till now are included!
And as I said it's a very slow access to the root directory of the each (!) shared disk (Fat32 or NTFS on x32 or x64) FROM Win 7 x64 TC. After that in subdirectories (one of them with 185 dirs and 3960 files) no problems with the access at all - read/write speed is perfect, but when should be accessed root directory the problem appear again. From Explorer and other file managers the problem didn't exist. From Win 7 x32 and XP everything is working fine too.

[Zmeyw]

I'm using Windows 7 x64 myself, and accessing 2 XP machines in the same net is very fast. So something must be causing that slowdown on your machine. Do you use Vmware?

No virtualization. no power saving on the shared disks and so on, all suggestions till now are included!
And as I said it's a very slow access to the root directory of the each (!) shared disk (Fat32 or NTFS on x32 or x64) FROM Win 7 x64 TC. After that in subdirectories (one of them with 185 dirs and 3960 files) no problems with the access at all - read/write speed is perfect, but when should be accessed root directory the problem appear again. From Explorer and other file managers the problem didn't exist. From Win 7 x32 and XP everything is working fine too.

Resolved!
With a clean install the problem disappear. Till now I moved the existing ini file between machines. Something there is in conflict with Win 7 x64. I'll try to find it...

OldStyleDir=0 in [Configuration] section resolved the problem. It was set to 1 in immemorial past.

[petermad]

2ghisler(Author)

I pulled myself together and reinstalled my Win7 x64 Packard Bell laptop, using the reinstall program from Pacard Bell (Acer) that comes with the computer, which totally erases the C: drive and reinstalls the OS from a hidden recovery partition on the harddisk - I don't have an original win 7 installation DVD.

But much to my disappointment the problem in TC's breadrumb menu for virtual folders still exists, even with a brand new installation of Win 7.

During the reinstallation a lot of extra programs from Packard Bell / Acer, Microsoft and others are installed. I then uninstalled everything (except the Recovery Management program) using Windows "Add or remove programs" dialog. But the problem still remains.

What can the cause then be? Some hardware or driver issue? I even uninstalled drivers for screen and mousepad (running on Window's own drivers.