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I am using Windows 7 Utlimate x64.

Once a week, or so, when I boot up n the morning and launch Windows Explorer it shows up blank, as the following screen shot show.

enter image description here

Clicking on my Computer doesn't load anything.

Interestingly, I can go the the Address bar at the top and type in a folder name. This brings up that folder's files and subfolders, but as I drill around the tree of folders on the left only shows the immediate folder and not its siblings. There's no plus icon to expand the folder, etc.

enter image description here

My usual "solution" is to reboot, which typically brings everything back to normal, but this is a frustrating remedy. Any idea what's going on and how to fix it? Some Googling turned up this discussion, but the remedy was to uninstall a particular piece of software that I don't have installed (Virtual Clone Drive).

Thanks

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2 Answers

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This happens because your drives aren't being scanned for whatever reason by Windows Explorer.

It could be hardware or driver-related (hence the Virtual Clone Drive thread you cited), so I'd check that your drives are plugged in correctly, and do a full surface scan of your drives (a chkdsk won't hurt).

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Thanks for the insight. I wonder if it has to do with USB, because this seems to most often happen when/if I have my iPod plugged in. – Scott Mitchell Mar 10 '11 at 3:51
That is entirely possible. You'll need to test it a few times to establish a pattern (three times or more). – Randolph West Mar 10 '11 at 5:41
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You should scan your system for malware / virus.

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I doubt this is the problem. – Randolph West Mar 10 '11 at 1:18
Why not? Has happened to a client of mine about a month ago. Had to use 3 antimalware apps to get rid all of them... – LaLeX Mar 10 '11 at 8:12
Can you please provide more information, so that we can all learn from your experience. Which malware was it? Which malware tools did you use? Were they rootkits, trojans, viruses? Anything you can tell us will be useful. – Randolph West Mar 10 '11 at 20:39
It was a trojan (can't remember name right now) and used Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware to remove it. – LaLeX Mar 10 '11 at 21:13
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