Windows Explorer in Windows 7 takes forever to load

[sygyzy]

I have a fairly new build (maybe 4 months old). Here are the specs:

Windows 7 Professional installed on a 120GB Intel SSD
i2500K
8GB RAM
3 SATA Hard Drives
Connected via wired ethernet to a giagbit switch.
Windows Home Server NAS also attached to the same switch. Shows up under Network.

Problem: Pretty much anytime I am accessing Windows Explorer (the file manager, NOT the browser), the address bar on top (that normally shows you your path), displays a progress bar that slowly, I mean painfully slowly, goes across the bar while Explorer is loading. I have no idea what it's loading either. My guess is it has something to do with my WHS (NAS Device) and maybe it's trying to pre-load the file listing. What's funny is I can immediately presss Windows + E top open another Explorer window and the fresh one will be ready to go (no progress bar).

Sometimes I open the NAS location directly from my desktop. I have an icon that just is a shortcut to the network location. This usually opens up without delay but sometimes it's slow too. I am not trying to browse a folder with 5000 files or anything. For example, my Movies folder has maybe 2-300 folders (with files underneath). It's possible if it's trying to scan recursively and index all the files, that would explain the slowness. I don't think it's doing that though.

Just as a precaution, I went to my Libraries settings and removed all network folders. So even though I have movies on the NAS, I removed it from the Videos Library.

Has anyone else seen this issue? It really affects my productivity.

 

[sundev]

Happens to me too, but only on certain folders. I can't figure it out either, it's pretty annoying.

EDIT: Actually I just figured it out, I right-clicked on the folder, went the "Properties", click the "Customize" tab, and then under the "Optimize this folder for:" section I selected "General Items".