Downloads folder won't open: Motoring Computer Related forum

Computer Related > Downloads folder won't open	Computing Issues
Thread Author: James Loveless	Replies: 10

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Wed 21 Sep 22 17:20

Downloads folder won't open - James Loveless

This is a recurring problem, though fortunately it doesn't happen often.

This is a Desktop computer whose OS is Windows 10, which is fully up to date.

Once in a while my Downloads folder located on Drive D (HDD) refuses to open. I get the spinning thingy which goes on for ever and I have to use Task Manager to stop Windows Explorer, after which the desktop has disappeared, the Windows key doesn't work and I have to manually restart the PC.

Fortunately I religiously back up Drive D every evening on an external HDD, so I delete the original Downloads folder from Drive D and copy it back from the external drive. All is well until the next time. However, it would be good to know why it happens in the first place and whether it could be prevented.

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Wed 21 Sep 22 17:32

Downloads folder won't open - smokie

My rather obvious initial thought is have you error checked the disk lately?

Presume C drive opens OK?

NB you can probably get the PC back without a reboot. Ctrl/Shift/Esc brings up the task manager, then click File/Run New Task, type in explorer.exe and press enter.

Last edited by: smokie on Wed 21 Sep 22 at 18:42

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Wed 21 Sep 22 17:51

Downloads folder won't open - Zero

You need to check the drive

www.avg.com/en/signal/how-to-use-chkdsk-windows#chkdsk-commands

I wouldn't back it up while its having issues, you could corrupt your back up unless you are do incremetals

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Wed 21 Sep 22 18:10

Downloads folder won't open - James Loveless

Many thanks for the replies.

I have run CHKDSK on Drive D and get the message "... found no problems. No further action is required."

Is there anything else I should do?

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Wed 21 Sep 22 18:34

Downloads folder won't open - Zero

Move it to another STATA port maybe, think about changing the drive

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Wed 21 Sep 22 18:43

Downloads folder won't open - James Loveless

"Move it to another STATA port maybe, think about changing the drive"

I'm afraid that's beyond me, but thanks anyway.

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Wed 21 Sep 22 21:13

Downloads folder won't open - smokie

"I'm afraid that's beyond me, "

Power it down, unplug it and take a bit of the cover off and have a look. It's really very straightforward. Even just "reseating" the cable (i.e. pull it off and put it back on) might improve things. There's a photo on the page below under the heading SATA cables which is all you need to do.

www.newegg.com/insider/hard-drive-buying-guide-choose-the-best-storage-for-desktop-pcs/

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Wed 21 Sep 22 18:34

Downloads folder won't open - Biggles

Are the contents of the folder also stored on Onedrive?

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Wed 21 Sep 22 18:45

Downloads folder won't open - James Loveless

"Are the contents of the folder also stored on Onedrive?"

No. I have a paid-for utility - Acronis - that automatically backs up Drive D once a day somewhere in the cloud.

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Wed 21 Sep 22 20:52

Downloads folder won't open - Biggles

Maybe worthwhile suspending the Acronis service to see whether this affects your access to the download folder.

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Sun 25 Sep 22 16:11

Downloads folder won't open - sherlock47

You say it is backed up every day. Is the Backup initiated by you, or do you know when it is happening? Could be that you cannot open the folder when Backup is in operation?

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