Slow File Preview Performance

[Michael_88]

Hello,

I've been experiencing slow file preview times in Everything, with some files taking over 10 seconds to load. I frequently use the software to search through hundreds of Word documents each day, and these delays can significantly impact my workflow. I've noticed similar preview delays when using the file preview feature in Windows Explorer as well.

Is there a way to speed up file previews, or is this primarily a limitation of my machine's hardware? Any suggestions or settings I could tweak would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[therube]

You mentioned Word, so it is Word ".doc" files where you see the issue?
Any other file types that are slow?

What "handler" do you use that allows for Word .doc Preview?

Since W/E shows the same slowness, I'd think that would point to not being an Everything issue.
If you right-click on a .doc file, is that also slow?


ShellExView - Shell Extensions Manager might help point out something?

[Michael_88]

I primarily work with .txt, .doc, .docx, .xls, and .xlsx files. The delay in previewing occurs with all of these file types, but not with .txt files, which load instantly.

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "handler." I haven't installed anything specific for file previews, so I assume it's the same one used by Windows Explorer.

When I right-click on a .doc file (or any of the other mentioned file types), there is no difference in the delay.

I'm not quite sure how ShellExView would be useful in this situation. Could you clarify?

[therube]

The "handler" might be Microsoft Office, & if so, maybe what version, maybe is it a "local" version or some "cloud" version, & might that play into the slowness?

Or might you have Office & some other related program in use, & that other program injects its own "handler", & the two are interfering in some manner?


(On my end, I don't have Office, so in general don't deal with .doc .docx .xls .xlsx..., & likewise I cannot "Preview" any of those file types - as I have no "handler" for them.)

[void]

You should see the same performance between the Everything preview and the Windows Explorer preview (as you mention)

Everything cannot show the preview any faster.

Everything and Windows Explorer use a preview handler to render previews.
ShellExView is useful for viewing and disabling your preview handlers.

It's possible there is a faster doc/docx preview handlers out there.
I recommend using the Microsoft Office doc/docx preview handler and storing your doc/docx files on an NVMe SSD.

[Michael_88]

The performance is indeed the same between Everything and Windows Explorer previews.

I’m not sure what you mean by "It's possible there is a faster doc/docx preview handler out there." Since I have Microsoft Office installed on my machine, can I assume that I’m already using the Microsoft Office doc/docx preview handler?

It's also possible that the slow preview performance is due to the fact that the .doc and .docx files I access are not on my local disk but on a server (shared folders in my work environment). Could this be the cause?

[void]

I’m not sure what you mean by "It's possible there is a faster doc/docx preview handler out there." Since I have Microsoft Office installed on my machine, can I assume that I’m already using the Microsoft Office doc/docx preview handler?

I am only aware of the Microsoft Office preview handler for doc/docx files.
You are most likely using the Microsoft Office doc/docx preview handler if you have Microsoft office installed.

It's also possible that the slow preview performance is due to the fact that the .doc and .docx files I access are not on my local disk but on a server (shared folders in my work environment). Could this be the cause?

Yes, this is most likely the cause for the slow previewing.

What version of Everything are you using? (Help -> About)
Everything 1.4 will create a memory stream for the whole file. The whole file is read into memory.
Everything 1.5 will create a file stream which might be faster as it may reduce the amount of data transferred over the network.

[Michael_88]

I'm not entirely sure that the problem is related to the files being on the server, as I experience the same slow preview performance with files stored on my local disk.

The most noticeable delay occurs when I try to preview the first file after opening Everything. When I click on subsequent files with the same extension, the previews load almost instantly. However, if I close and reopen Everything (without completely exiting the software), the issue reappears. I hope I explained that clearly.

For your reference, I’m using Everything 1.5.0.1383a (x64)