I'm currently running a multi-boot system with Windows ME, 2000 Pro, and XP Pro. I'm having a problem in Windows ME when I try to access certain drives or folders (mostly the root of C:\, D:\, and the My Documents folder) where when I try to open the drive/folder it takes about 30 seconds to show up with anything. Most of the other folders on the system show up fine, but everytime I try to access the root of C:\, D:\, or the My Documents folder through anything (Run dialog, Open dialog, My Computer, etc.), I get these 30 second delays. I've checked with Process Explorer, and found that there's no abnormal increase in CPU usage during this time, and the problem isn't present at all in Windows 2000 or XP. I know 2000 and XP are considerably better on a system like this, but 30 sec. delays seems a bit much, even for ME. I also was having this same problem when I previously had Windows 98SE on this system. Any ideas on what the problem is, and how to fix it?

Too much in the my documents folder? I try not to use my documents for storing large amounts of files/folders; slows things down.

I do have a fair amount of stuff in the Documents folder, but there's not much at all in the root of C:\, and the problem still happens there are well. And there's no slowdown at all in 2000/XP. I would expect some slowness in ME, but 30 sec. seems a bit much...

I create folders in the root of C to store files I don't wish to keep in my documents. Try that and see if Windows Explorer speeds up. I have no such slowness problems.

Weird... Now I'm even more confused than before... Before I saw your most recent reply, here's what I did: I ran across your registry tweak here, and even though it didn't sound like it completely applied, I decided to try it out (after setting a system restore point first, to be safe). I restarted the system, and I don't remember noticing any difference. Then, a little later, I tried to access some files on an NT 4.0 Workstation PC on the network, and got an access denied error, since I had forgotten to add my Windows ME login name to the list of users in NT 4.0. I added the name to the list in NT 4.0, which allowed me to access shared resrouces on that system easily from this one, in WinME. And now I've just realized that the Windows Explorer problems are gone! Things like C:\, D:\, and My Documents are all opening nearly as fast as they do in 2000/XP, with no delays at all. I'm not really sure which of those two things I did affected it, all I know is the problem is gone now, so I'm pleased... :D

It does seem odd. I'll have to try to remember this. Glad it helped.