Windows 10: Windows 10 Photos App Freezing, Slowing Down System, and Failing to Load Thumbnails - Issue...

I am an IT support specialist, and for the past 4-5 months, I've been encountering a persistent issue with the Windows 10 Photos app across multiple systems. The issue manifests as the Photos app freezing and becoming unresponsive when loading a large number of images, even with background activity disabled. This significantly slows down the entire system and often causes the file explorer explorer.exe to freeze as well. The core problem appears to be the failure of the Photos app to load thumbnails; the actual images open fine once clicked, but the thumbnail previews fail to generate, leadi

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Slow thumbnail loading on SSD with Windows Explorer

Hi, FelipeGiannelli

Welcome to the Microsoft Community.



Thank you for reaching out to us regarding the slow thumbnail loading issue you're experiencing with your PNY CS900 SSD on Windows 11 Ver. 23H2. I understand how frustrating it can be to encounter performance discrepancies, especially when transitioning between different drives.

Based on your detailed description and the tests you've conducted, it appears that the slow thumbnail loading is specific to the PNY CS900 SSD when used in conjunction with Windows Explorer. While the drive performs well in other scenarios such as game loading and file transfer tests, it exhibits significantly lower reading speeds when generating thumbnails for large PNG files.

Here are some additional troubleshooting steps you can try to further diagnose and potentially resolve the issue:

1. Check Disk Health: Use disk diagnostic tools like CrystalDiskInfo or SSD utilities provided by PNY to check the health status of your SSD. Look for any signs of wear or potential issues that could affect performance.
   
2. Optimize Drive Performance: Windows includes built-in tools for optimizing drive performance. You can try running the Disk Cleanup utility to remove temporary files and unnecessary system files that might be impacting performance.
   
3. Update Graphics Drivers: Although it may seem unrelated, updating your graphics drivers can sometimes improve overall system performance, including the rendering of thumbnails in Windows Explorer.
   
4. Test with Different File Types: Try generating thumbnails for files of different formats (e.g., JPEG, BMP) to see if the issue persists with specific file types or if it's more generalized.
   

I hope these suggestions help you diagnose and resolve the slow thumbnail loading issue with your PNY CS900 SSD. Please let me know if you have any further questions or if there's anything else I can assist you with.

Best Regards

Martin | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

 

Windows 10 thumbnail issues, Open With freezes, Apps & Features freezes, all at once

My Windows 10 install is exhibiting a handful of abnormal behaviors that all occur at once and persist until a relog or restart. I haven't yet managed to nail down exactly what triggers the issues but it seems to be related to viewing a large amount of thumbnails in a short period. I don't usually encounter the issues unless I go out of my way to view many thumbnails, such as when editing and sorting photos.

The three symptoms I have encountered so far:

• Windows gives up generating thumbnails at all. Instead of even attempting to generate them (and getting an endless loading bar), folders load instantly with all thumbnails being the default 'empty paper' icon.
  
• Explorer (including the taskbar) freezes when attempting to open the 'Open With' context menu.
  
• The 'Apps & Features' app locks up on open and just shows an empty window.
  

These are all isolated issues and the rest of the OS behaves exceptionally with zero problems.

Even before these specific behaviors occur, thumbnail generation is lackluster at best and seems to get worse the more thumbnails you view and the longer Windows is running. Folders of images will be 50/50 thumbnails and the default JPG icon, all videos will just have the default video icon (VLC in my case), etc. The thumbnail cache is never more than 30 or 40 MB when these issues begin.

Open With freeze happens even on .txt files with only five entries in Open With: Notepad, Notepad++, WordPad, Search the Store, and Choose another app.

Fixes I've tried (unsuccessfully):

• Installing a third-party thumbnail manager (Icaros). Thumbnails still die like they did before.
  
• Clearing thumbnail cache and disabling SilentCleanup's thumbnail cache deletion via registry.
  
• Running CCleaner on the registry to remove obsolete 'Open With' entries.
  
• sfc /scannow
  

HW/SW Info:

• Windows 10 Home x64 10.0.17134.471
  
• System disk is a 500GB Samsung 860 EVO (with plenty of space left)
  
• Two HDDs also installed, in addition to two HDDs simple mirrored with Storage Spaces
  
• System and OS install is only a few months old
  

Is there a specific cause for this issue, and is a fix available? Or does anyone have any additional insight into this issue?

 

Photo app in Windows 10 is extremely slow

Rebuilding the search index in your computer may help speed-up the loading of photos in the app. The search index is like a directory of files and media in your computer. Follow the steps below:

• Click Start.
• On the search bar, type Indexing Options, and click on Indexing Options from the results.
• Click Advanced.
• Under Troubleshooting, click Rebuild.

We also suggest that you download and install any pending updates that needs to be installed on the computer through Windows Update and check if it helps resolve the issue.

If the issue persists, you may reinstall the Photos app. For steps on how to uninstall and reinstall the Photos app, follow the steps provided by Anil Madishetty on this thread:

Why won't my Photos app load on Windows 10.

Let us know if you need further assistance.