Explorer.exe constantly refreshing thanks to "Thumbnail Handler Extraction Host"

System
Dell Optiplex 9020 MT (Refurbished)
Windows 8.1
32 GB Ram


Since a Windows Repair on 3/16/23 any time I log into my computer, the screen begins refreshing rapidly. I narrowed it down to a function in the "Thumbnail Handler Extraction Host" in the task manager. I've researched and found plenty of instances of others going through this year's ago, but their fixes didn't work for me usually it was because of Norton, which I never had.

Quick Recent History Rundown
This all mostly started after moving my primary HDD from one PC (HP Pavillion 500-023w) to the current PC listed above. Virtually everything worked well after the swap, except for getting constant BSoDs when trying to fiddle with Bluetooth drivers (happened long before the swap) or doing virtually *anything in FL Studio 21 (AFTER the swap). I did everything I could think of from updating all of the drivers and the BIOs to using Tweakings Windows Repair and I uninstalled several applications. One of the last things I tried to do was update to the most recent Intel graphics drivers for my system (from Dell's website). I ran multiple SFC scans and a DISM to no avail. Did multiple hardware tests and everythimg looks fine (the HDD is only two years old and cloned from the stock drive from the HP computer). Nothing worked so decided to burn a Windows 8.1 ISO DVD and repair my install (the one that says 'Keep files, apps and settings' etc.). I've yet to test whether the BSoD problem had been remedied because I'm with the current issue...

After the Windows repair
All seemed normal until I tried to go and continue uninstalling old software the Control Panel would just quit with no error messages or explanations of any kind. So I decided to back to Dell's website and re-download the graphics drivers and then restart and that was the last thing I did before the constant refresh started.

Things I've tried so far

So far Safe Mode is the only way I can use Windows, and I've had to log into it several times to try and remedy this.
I ran a Kaspersky scan which found two items, both cured. Didn't fix anything.
Malwarbytes found 13 issues which I took care of but still no luck. My research shows that it's a Windows issue but I wanted to cover my bases anyway.
I've read that AVG, just like Norton, can cause this after updating Windows so I uinstalled that in addition to several other programs, to no avail. I even uninstalled the AVG secured browser which used for almost the past year just fine, and still nothing changed.

sfc /scannow and dism were run and nothing changed (neither fixed my BSoD issues either fwiw). I noticed that after the Repair my primary drivers paging file changed or got disabled so I set it at the recommended size. That seemed to slow the issue down for a bit it didn't stop it.

In my searching, I noticed sometimes people mentioned the issue happening after moving things to their desktop screen, so I got rid of the most recent item I saved there (an Avisynth script for Daum PotPlayer) again to no avail.

There are other instances of AVG showing up on my drive and in my Startup tasks (it says AVG [Re]Starter) that I can't figure out how to get rid of.


Again this all seemed to start after repairing Windows, and though the issue is quite old, this is the first time I've personally ever dealt with it. I should have some images to restore to, I just haven't tried them yet since again I never resolved the BSoD issue.

I realize 8.1 reached EOL in January and I plan to upgrade to either 10 or begin using a Linux OS such as Mint but I want to get this issue squared away first so I can at least use my computer to prepare in the meantime.

Hi, was the hard drive cleaned of all the previous OS stuff on the drive and the partitions wiped and merged ??  Or did you just stick it in ??

 

If just stuck it in the problem is the previous motherboard and settings in the registry/ drivers as well as the HP partitions.  Needs a clean install.    

 

Can provide a screen shot/picture from Disk Management Tool.  It is a 3 Step process to attach : https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/698076/attaching-files-to-posts-on-bleepingcomputer/#entry4791802

 

Try this for AVG : https://www.avg.com/en-ca/avg-remover#pc

 

Is Malwarebytes a Paid program, if so it is a full blown A/V program and can not run 2 A/V at same time re Kaspersky.   Even if is just on-demand need to exempt all folders of Kaspersky from being scanned in C: and also in the Users folder.

 

Please Post a "link" of Speccy Report.
Please install Speccy Free : https://www.ccleaner.com/speccy/download
Use Custom Install
  At the Top Left Corner of Speccy --> Click File and then Click Publish Snapshot Report, a window will popup and Click YES. --> Another popup will appear and then Click "Copy To Clipboard" then Paste that "link" to your next reply in your thread.

 

Download Minitoolbox from the below link :
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/minitoolbox/
  Run the tool and only select the following tick boxes.
    -List last 10 Event viewer errors
    -List installed programs
    -List devices
    -List users, partition and memory size
Now click "Go" and Copy/Paste and post the output text in your next reply

To make a long story short, I intended to do a clean install on a separate drive, until I realized I overestimated how much space I had on that one compared to this primary one. I backed up the image of the current Windows install to at least see if after the clean install I could load that image and pick up where I left off (since I've had this same install since Day one and it is a LOT to do over).

While brainstorming on what I do with that, just for kicks I stuck in the OG drive to see if it would even work at all, and what problems I would run into. Surprisingly, things mostly seemed normal except for the occasional BSoD's, one of which I was dealing with even before I made the swap. It would happen anytime I started fiddling with Bluetooth Drivers. The second one I didn't even notice until days later when I wanted to run Fruity Loops, which I reinstalled, re-registered etc. Aside from that, everything ran fine. Faster boot, the increase in RAM was definitely noticeable. Fruity Loops didn't even start crashing initially; I noticed a significant performance improvement there, then the BSoD's started — again related to Bluetooth the first time, then it threw up a new code every time. Other programs I purchased such as Vegas Pro, or  huge memory hogs like Unity never had this issue.

 

There was really nothing wrong with this install initially, I just needed more speed and more customization options for video and editing and gaming since there seemed to be virtually no options for upgrading the HP system I had.  I figured at least a Windows Repair would tide me over until I could completely switch either to 10 (which I don't trust on this HDD so I wanted to wait until I got an SSD) or to Linux. It seems the repair made everything worse; I can't even test to see if the BSoD issue got remedied because the constant refreshing makes it impossible to do anything. 

 

Anyway...

 

 

Here is my Speccy report

http://speccy.piriform.com/results/rqGrhhHNwfgojwolDeUfQfX

 

Here is my MiniToolBox log

 

Edited by TheRealJustan, 20 March 2023 - 05:17 AM.

I did the uninstall for AVG and I'll get that Disk Management screenshot for you ASAP, I'm using Safe Mode to do everything so it's taking a little longer with the limited display.

ETA: To your other question, I'm only using the free version of Malwarbytes, I definitely know how running multiple full AV apps complicates things.

Edited by TheRealJustan, 20 March 2023 - 05:43 AM.

I'm so sorry, this is the best I could do as far as screenshots, since I'm having trouble loading images in Safe Mode.I tool these with phone.

 20230320_063416.jpg   103.41KB   0 downloads  20230320_063617.jpg   91.45KB   0 downloads

 

UPDATE: 

Arrgh! It looks like IDTNC64.cpl was the problem. I uninstalled the IDT Audio Driver and restarted and I've not had the screen do anything funky. Is that an audio driver that I need? I still heard sound coming the from the PC's built-in speaker. 

Edited by TheRealJustan, 20 March 2023 - 08:21 AM.

Hi, your problem lies in the fact that you have not deleted any Primary Active Partitions and you have Various Recovery Partitions and different drives as well as Multiple Recovery Drives as well the Drive Letters of these are all over the place.

(to name drives when empty or are storage only, name the drives further down like Z then can move the drive letters around so that C: , D: E are all on C   Having them all over the place is crazy.  Rename letters further down alphabet, then rename them next to what it should be)

 

Would do a clean install on wipe all of Disk 0 which is C : and delete every Partition on the drive.

 

Would then make a new Partition on C: that does not need to be larger than 500 Gig for the the new C : Drive for install of the OS and things that do not ask where to install to.

 

Would then use the 2nd partition on C: to move everything off of the 2nd drive Disk  to D: then rest of that drive then format it and delete all the partitions again.   and so forth.  

 

The Toshiba Data should have been deleted, the Partitions should have all been deleted and renamed into one.    2 Many Boot info in those things. 

 

Just plain bad management of your drives. 

In this Day and age it is not needed to create so many partitions.

Make Folders and name them properly like a filing cabinet by subject.

 

===

It seems the IDTNC64.cpl is a needed file and should uninstall and reinstall and check for updates.  If it is not part of the motherboard what is it needed to run and why use the program. ?

& it is a known issue to crash Explorer : https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-10-explorer-keep-crashing-and-restart/47c91fbf-dc5e-4795-b00a-37efc99956aa

Does this then mean it is not needed to look at the MiniTool Report ?

Thank you for responding, Pkshadow. I appreciate you looking into this for me

 

I don't think you'll need to look at the MiniTool report unless you suspect I missed something. It was this report that helped deduce the culprit with the rapid refresh problem. Over eight hours  later after I removed it, and Explorer hasn't flickered once! Even though it's not the main issue I also figured out that the BSoD's that I briefly touched upon were caused by Bluetooth. In Safe Mode, I uninstalled the drivers for my ASUS Bluetooth dongle and reinstalled them in normal mode from the CD. No BSoD's so far. Nirsoft Bluescreenview aided in researching that. 

 

Regarding your point about my hard drive management. I understand your concern but in all honesty only one partition was created by me and that is G: 815.04 GB on Drive 0, and that was for a long-since cancelled project that I was participating in in 2020. After said project got canned, real life picked up and I merely forgot to merge it back with the main drive, but it also hadn't caused any issues.

 

The other partitions were either OEM (one is labeled as such) or were created via a recovery process in the past — and I've had to run a few throughout time, this setup is essentially from when I bought the original PC new many years ago. Basically, those partitions have been there awhile and though I cannot narrow down exactly when without locating and looking through my old notes, I know for a fact they have not caused any issues that I've been able to see. I don't create new partitions on a whim, in fact I rarely go out of my way to make them since through my work I can often come by removable drives and/or external HDDs free or at a steal. Keep in mind, Drive 0 is a clone of the stock primary drive from my original HP desktop and is quite larger than it too. I almost want to say that at least one of the extra partitions on that drive was created during the cloning process, but since I did it two years ago during the peak of the pandemic, I unfortunately cannot say for certain. One thing is for certain is I would not actively and needlessly create more partitions on that or any other drive.

 

I hope that makes sense. I'm typing this in a rush so bear with me..

 

I realize the lettering for my removable drives may be questionable, but honestly unless there is something I'm misunderstanding, it works for me. In all fairness I also chose those in a pinch while trying to get their respective drives online during a time where I was having trouble getting them recognized by the computer. I left them as is because...well again, the drives worked. The other reason is since I only have two internal drives, it was easy to deduce which letters went to what when it came to plugged in drives. Granted, I do realize that for the purpose of seeking assistance, it would have behooved me to label them differently; it slipped my mind since this particular saga was the most in-over-my-head I've been with this system in a long time. I noticed sometimes the letters may get swapped accidentally after I've had trouble getting one or more devices up and running.

 

The storage capacity of Drive F got away from me, but again, I have storage options at my disposal and it will be taken care of. The majority of the real estate taken up on that particular drive is very recent anyway, it hasn't just been sitting like that. 

 

I do realize it is time update things in general (the OS for one). It's just that everything pretty much worked up until the 19th. Next time I swap a drive, I'll go with my first instinct about doing a clean install. 

 

Anyway, I don't mean to ramble. I just wanted to paint a picture of what's going on. The last thing I need is to give off the impression of carelessness with this system which just isn't true. Thank you for your efforts to assist me. I realize you've got many people to tend to  so I won't hold you

Was not speaking of the removable drive.  Only see one marked as removable.  When submitting that sort of stuff should be disconnecting all USB devices to make things clear to us as well as removable devices can be the issue. So no you unplug them all before asking for help.  Keep them unplugged while getting help.

 

It is the Restore stuff on drives that are not removable and other partitions I was speaking of.

 

Event-ID 1008 ==  and  Event-ID 10005  === are getting hard to find cures for Win 8.1  (I also skipped Win8 so no idea about the OS)

 

Uninstall - Will end up causing grief : AVG Update Helper ========================USE your Support Page/s.

Update all your Programs, this will do some : https://patchmypc.com/home-updater

 

Why not just back up your important stuff, run from a AdmIn Command Prompt : DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth command then Enter Note will pause for awhile. "Completed Successfully" means Reboot.

&

Then another Admin Prompt and run SFC /SCANNOW and reboot if any errors fixed.

 

Update your Stuff from the Dell Support Page for Win 8.1 that have not been done and marked Critical plus BIOS update: https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-ca/product-support/product/optiplex-9020-desktop/drivers

NOTE : Will need to go back to the page after Updating to Win10 and reinstall Drivers and Maybe BIOS again.  NOTE can skip and go right to Ubuntu 12.04 on a clean install or make a Virtual Drive.

&

 

&

then try the 1st button here Update to Win10 : https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows10 see what happens.

Fair enough about not seeing the removables and all of that. Thank you for the resources, that drivers page on the official Dell website has been a lifesaver. You mentioned Ubuntu and Virtual PC's, Are Virtual PC's efficient for everyday use like that?

Isn't it recommended to use Windows 10 on an SSD instead? I've read people saying that Windows 10 runs poorly on HDD's but I don't know how common that is. I know every experience is going to he different, but I just don't want to trade a headache for a migraine if my current hardware setup isn't sufficient. I absolutely plan to upgrade, I just want to make it as smooth as possible. I'm trying not to overthink it.

Edited by TheRealJustan, 21 March 2023 - 03:20 AM.

Hi, I have been running SSD's since Win7 released so yes of course it would run better :=}, anything will run better.  500gig is all need is, plenty.   Am running a 250 on this, the same one from Win7 and if install properly will only use 1/2 of the disk.

 

You must Update to Win10 to get it free.  Then can do Clean Install.     Some say there is a way around that but not sure where info is.

I've heard amazing things about SSD's, I wish I'd chosen one outright when buying this PC and its parts but then the price would have went over budget. I'll be buying asap, though. Live and learn, right? 

 

So Microsoft still allows me to update to Win10 for free? That's good to know. I know you recommend a completely clean install which is duly noted but if I just update to 10 from my current installation, will that still keep all my settings and everything? Will I be able to just pickup where I left off? I'm considering doing the clean installation but I just want to know as it has been difficult finding information on Google which spell this out. I'm trying not to overthink everything too. 

 

I don't want to hold you up from helping others. Thank you for your help again Pkshadow =)  

Edited by TheRealJustan, 23 March 2023 - 07:21 AM.

Yes, need to Update to Win10 before doing a clean install.

 

Then can swap out for a SSD and do a clean Install.  Yes SSD is really good for slow systems.  You will loose the Dell Recovery Partition.  As to dealing with that and what can do that is a separate question to deal with

As well Windows 10 questions would be a another Topic as well.  Yes can do a update though maybe issues and should start a new topic as others more informed if a issue that that update page does not work for you.

Others have said can do a clean install, may know more info on a new question as well can discuss the Dell at that time.

 

All laptops no longer have anything but SSD's, (mostly)  See here for what this company builds (US) : https://xoticpc.com/  (bought my Tuf 17 from them and shipped up here) (use for reference)

Most Desktops Motherboards have multiple slots for M.2 SSD's and do not even need mechanical drives if can afford it.  

 

Should just deal with your topic question here.

Alrighty then. Thanks for the info. Consider this solved!