Did Eraser cause Windows Explorer problems?

B

braindea

New Member
Hi, I used Eraser 5.3 on my Win2K Pro and Win2K Server machines - where I set it up to erase all the unused space on all the local drives. I let it run over night.

The next day, I encountered an odd anomaly. When I run Windows Explorer and Right-Click anywhere in that program (like if I wanted to change properties on a file, or view the graphical pie-chart of how much hard drive space is available,) Windows Explorer locks up.

The hourglass just stays there, and in the Task Manager, it shows as Not Responding. I have attempted reboots and regclean, but it seems to be stuck like this now. I have not noticed this in any other applications except Windows Explorer.

Has anyone else run into a problem like this?

- Rick Bellows
braindea@hotmail.com
 
quote:Originally posted by braindea
When I run Windows Explorer and Right-Click anywhere in that program (like if I wanted to change properties on a file, or view the graphical pie-chart of how much hard drive space is available,) Windows Explorer locks up.

Does it help if you deselect the background entropy polling option from preferences (and reboot)? Or if you uninstall Eraser altogether?
 
I have not tried uninstalling Eraser. However, I re-installed Windows 2000 server on that machine (actually, "upgraded" Win2K server TO Win2K server - just to overlay files and such). Then re-applied SP3 and all the Windows updates. I did this instead of rebuilding the whole machine; and wa-la, Windows Explorer now works.

I tried the same exact approach on my Win2K Pro machine (remember, I ran Eraser on all drives - on both machines; which created identical Windows Explorer problems on both machines). It has not fixed the problem on the Win2K Pro machine though.

What I figured was going on, was something like Eraser corrupting some file somewhere, when run to clean multiple drives. Reinstalling the Windows 2000 off the CD should (in theory) have replaced the files. I have several other things that Im going to try before trashing the whole installation and rebuilding the machine. I really like Eraser, and want to use this outstanding utility.

I will try turning off that entropy thing first, and then try to uninstall Eraser. Im happy that my server is working correctly now, but the Win2K pro machine may be dust. Its really a shame too, because thats the only weirdness I have. When I right-click anywhere in Windows Explorer (or btw, hover over the "File" or "Edit" menu items), it immediately hangs. Very strange.

Thanks for the suggestions.

- Rick
 
Hold the phone!

It WAS the entropy polling. I had apparently turned it off on my server, and thats why Windows Explorer started working again. Turning it off on the Win2K Pro machine - made it stop hanging on the Right-click. Thank you very much for this suggestion!

- Rick
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top