What causes this phenomena: A pause on opening directories (and more)

Running Windows 7 Home premium with an i7 Q820, 8 GB ram.

I notice this phenomena quite often on some days, not so much on
others.

On a fresh boot it does not happen but not sure just when it does kick
in.

The phenomena goes like this:

(I have a pair of chevrons indicating the quick launch
list.... Normally when I click it a list pops up instantly.

But then after a fresh boot has been running a while it will get to
where, when I click the chevrons, a blank dialog pops up and after a
few seconds its populated.

When the above is happening, its usually also true that opening any folder
with file browser will experience the same wait. Ditto for a sub folder.

Also holds true for the start button. It takes several beats longer
to populate, so again I end up with a blank dialog box for a few
moments.

I tried several times to see if some heavy duty process was underway
but I don't see anything particularly dramatic (using `process
explorer')

However the problem seems to cure itself for a while but does recur.

Having gone to the expense of acquiring an i7 and 8gb of ram I didn't
expect there to be hefty pauses when opening the quicklaunch list or
any folders.

It seems it must be something to do with power consumption or can
anyone offer some ideas about what might be causing the delays.

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Harry Putnam wrote:
Running Windows 7 Home premium with an i7 Q820, 8 GB ram.

I notice this phenomena quite often on some days, not so much on
others.

On a fresh boot it does not happen but not sure just when it does kick
in.

The phenomena goes like this:

(I have a pair of chevrons indicating the quick launch
list.... Normally when I click it a list pops up instantly.

But then after a fresh boot has been running a while it will get to
where, when I click the chevrons, a blank dialog pops up and after a
few seconds its populated.

When the above is happening, its usually also true that opening any folder
with file browser will experience the same wait. Ditto for a sub folder.

Also holds true for the start button. It takes several beats longer
to populate, so again I end up with a blank dialog box for a few
moments.

I tried several times to see if some heavy duty process was underway
but I don't see anything particularly dramatic (using `process
explorer')

However the problem seems to cure itself for a while but does recur.

Having gone to the expense of acquiring an i7 and 8gb of ram I didn't
expect there to be hefty pauses when opening the quicklaunch list or
any folders.

It seems it must be something to do with power consumption or can
anyone offer some ideas about what might be causing the delays.

Turn off the power monitors / controls and see if that helps.