[VA] Please Help with Windows strange problem

[Valentin Albillo]

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Hi all,

Sorry for "intruding" your weekend but right now I'm experiencing a strange problem with Windows and I'll appreciate your help. Details:

- running Windows 7, two monitors, not connected to Internet, antivirus active and up to date

- plug in one of my backup external USB hdds and proceed to copy a whole folder to the desktop by dragging the folder icon to the desktop 2nd monitor

- nothing else running at all, just Chrome open and minimized but I'm not connected to the Internet, and also Task Manager minimized as well

- the copy dialog appears and says it will take 20 min to copy the 9.000 files in the folder

- the copy proceeds Ok , with me clicking every so often on "More details" to briefly see how many files remain to be copied and then hiding again the details

- mid-copy I notice that Task Manager is minimized, so I restore it to foreground (everything seems ok) and terminate it to help the copy speed

- when just 60 seconds remain I show details once more and hide them but I notice that in the background the icons in the desktop have refreshed unexpectedly to me. As this happened frequently with Win XP I don't specially care

So far so good but the copy ends, the copy dialog disappears, the copied folder icon (which initially appeared in the main monitor though I dragged it to the external second one) gets moved to the 2nd monitor, and here comes the strange problem, all the Direct Access Links in the Desktop have now a little traffic Stop sign where the little arrow used to be !!!

It seems as if the direct access links are now forbidden but I've checked and tbey seem to work ok, accessing the file or folder they linked to and the icon itself is correct save for the little Stops on it. Also, all 9000 files were correctly copied to a folder in the desktop and their checksums match with the originals.

Now for the help:

1) do you have any idea what may have caused this ? Apart from me noticing the refresh, there's been no error or warning or message of any kind. Could dragging the folder icon, which was in the first monitor, to the second monitor have anything to do ? I usually work with both monitors.

2) May it be a symptom of something worse waiting to happen if I ignore it an go on working ?

3) How do I get rid of the little Stop signs and restore the little arrows back. ? Is there some way to Refresh or Restore all the icons at once or at least one by one ?

I've googled for it but couldn't find even a single reference to this problem with the little Stop signs, so I think the many extremely knowledgeable gurus here will be able to help me understand and correct this problem as quickly as possible, as I was in the middle of preparing something for the benefit of HP calc community and having to stop now will be problematic.

This is my main system as two others I used unexpectedly died, so I fear continuing to use it till the problem is understood and solved lest things go catastrophically wrong. Better safe than sorry.

Thank you very much in advance.
V.
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[AndiGer]

Hmmm ... No real idea ...
Found that on links on the desktop, maybe it helps?
https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-...ows-vista/
You can modify / remove the arrow or whatever. Maybe the Stop sign as well?
Good luck

[J-F Garnier]

May this help?
https://scottiestech.info/2016/02/07/fix...n-windows/

J-F

[Valentin Albillo]

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Hi, AndiGer and J-F:

(06-22-2019 08:00 PM)AndiGer Wrote:  Hmmm ... No real idea ... Found that on links on the desktop, maybe it helps?
https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-...ows-vista/
You can modify / remove the arrow or whatever. Maybe the Stop sign as well? Good luck

Thanks for replying and for your kind wishes, your link probably leads to a solution as well, much appreciated.

(06-22-2019 09:01 PM)J-F Garnier Wrote:  May this help?
https://scottiestech.info/2016/02/07/fix...n-windows/

Absolutely !!!
It worked like a charm, completely correcting the problem in an instant, I think it took me just a few seconds to do as explained at that link and whooosh, all icons were restored at once.

After posting my help request I continued searching the web for solutions and everything I found required some Windows' Registry juggling and reboot/re-logging after that, which I can't do at this time, so J-F's solution (which requires none of that) has been miraculously ideal.

Thank you so much, J-F, I owe you one (more) and have a nice weekend.
V.
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[Leviset]

Looks like the suggested fix of refreshing the desktop only works once and next time you fire up Windows they’ll be back with the little crosses.
One post I did notice was that the problem was connected to syncing with One Drive.
Stop One Drive and they disappear for good.

[Valentin Albillo]

(06-22-2019 11:15 PM)Leviset Wrote:  Looks like the suggested fix of refreshing the desktop only works once and next time you fire up Windows they’ll be back with the little crosses. One post I did notice was that the problem was connected to syncing with One Drive. Stop One Drive and they disappear for good.

Would you please post the URLs to the references you mention ? Thanks.

This pc is always on so if that's the case I won't notice for many months. What really irks me is that Windows seems to be prone to such random and wholly unexpected nuisances which suddenly happen just because, no apparent cause at all. I'm pretty sure I did nothing new, pure routine (just copying a folder, for crying out loud !)

Also, I've never used One Drive or any cloud services, nor do I intend to. My private stuff is always kept locally in my HDDs and other local media.

Thanks again and have a nice weekend.
V.
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[Leviset]

If you go to the link that’s in J-F-Garnier’s reply (https://scottiestech.info/2016/02/07/fix...n-windows/)
and keep scrolling way down past all the self congratulatory posts about fixing it, you’ll finally come to posts talking about trying to find the reason(s) for this strange Windows behaviour and possible causes being syncing One Drive (and/or Dropbox). Looks like it’s been lurking around for at least 3 years affecting Windows 7/8 & 10.
There are a number of possible reasons given.
Perm any 3 from 7!

[Claudio L.]

(06-22-2019 07:12 PM)Valentin Albillo Wrote:  1) do you have any idea what may have caused this ?

Icons are cached for performance. My guess is it uses a some quick hash to index the cache and that hash is (quite) prone to collisions. So every now and then one icon will collide with another and will be essentially substituted with another icon that has the same hash, but it's only temporary and only a cosmetic problem (until the cache is flushed), so in general it's not a symptom of an underlying bigger problem.

[rprosperi]

Claudio beat me to it, I'm sure it's exactly what he said.

There is a simple and safe procedure for flushing the icon cache here:

https://www.thewindowsclub.com/rebuild-t...he-windows

[Valentin Albillo]

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Hi, Claudio and rprosperi:

(06-24-2019 07:44 PM)Claudio L. Wrote:  Icons are cached for performance. My guess is it uses a some quick hash to index the cache and that hash is (quite) prone to collisions. So every now and then one icon will collide with another and will be essentially substituted with another icon that has the same hash, but it's only temporary and only a cosmetic problem (until the cache is flushed), so in general it's not a symptom of an underlying bigger problem.

Good to know that it's not a symptom of something worse, but if a hash collision is indeed the culprit then that says a lot about the Windows' programmers who programmed that performance 'improvement'. Some improvement.

Anyway, what can one expect from Windows, really ? There was a time when I would defend it against what seemed to me unfair criticism. Not anymore.

(06-24-2019 11:54 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  Claudio beat me to it, I'm sure it's exactly what he said. There is a simple and safe procedure for flushing the icon cache here:

Thanks, Bob, if the problem does ever reappear I'll try the procedure you mention first thing.

Have a nice weekend.
V.
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