Windows Explorer screwed up - help!

Hardware and technical stuff
1

OK - Windows 7 64 bit.

All of a sudden when I open up Windows Explorer, instead of getting the folder list down the side I just get the Desktop icon, Libraries icon, the Homegroup icon. And they each have the magnifying glass moving over them as if the system is doing searches in each of them. But I can’t actually open anything.

I was able to get my C: drive icon showing, but again I can’t get it to display the folders under it, just the moving magnifying glass over the C:. Status bar on all of these is saying “searching for items” but it seems to be in an endless searching loop.

Help!

2

What’s shown in the target for your explorer shortcut? %windir%\explorer.exe or something else?

3

%windir%\explorer.exe

4

Did you try going to Organize > Layout ?

5

Yep. It just sits with the “searching” comment in the status bar on the bottom, and the rotating magnifying glass on the few icons it shows in the folder list. Ugh

6

Ah the infamous GRoD. Green Ribbon of Death.

This helps a little for me: http://www.sevenforums.com/performance-maintenance/10330-explorer-slow-large-folders.html