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Craig Dugas - The man from Maine with a French last name
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Performance Windows

Windows Download Folder is SLOW – Fixed!

As technology advances, patience diminishes.

I finally started to search for the underlying reason why Windows would churn for 10+ seconds whenever I clicked the Downloads folder. Yeah, there’s a bunch of unused stuff in there I clean out maybe every leap year, but why on Earth would it take SO LONG to display references to files in one particular folder?

The reason is because Windows is trying to do what it thinks is best. My Downloads folder had taken on the identity of a “Pictures” folder, so the optimization settings were set to “Pictures”. Sure, there are a few photos in there, but the majority of files are random setup executables, MSIs, zip archives, PDFs, and extracted folders. My best guess is that the first handful of things that were downloaded were image/photo files of some sort, which determined the folder’s fate as a “Pictures” folder.

Whatever Windows tries to do when a folder is set as optimized for “Pictures” causes it to hang while loading for what seems an eternity. Fortunately, there’s a really simple fix.

I found the fix on a very appropriately named article, How to Fix a Slow-Opening Windows Downloads Folder. You just open up the folder properties and change optimization from Pictures to General items. Ideally Microsoft will either fix the poorly performing algorithm, or have it adjust to folder contents and/or performance. If this has plagued you in the past, at least the fix exists, is quick, and memorable.

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Linux Tech Windows

Run Linux Terminal on Windows 10

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is an included feature on Windows 10 that allows you to run a Linux bash terminal. It’s geared towards developers and Microsoft explicitly states it’s not intended to run production workloads, but it’s super easy to install and is accessible and usable by anyone.

Installing the Windows Subsystem for Linux

  • Click the Start button and type (then select) Turn Windows Features on or off.
  • After the Windows Features window loads, scroll to the bottom and check the box next to Windows Subsystem for Linux.
  • Click OK.

The feature will be installed and will require a reboot. After installing the subsystem, you can then install a Linux distribution.

Installing a Linux Distribution

  • Click the Start button and type (then select) Microsoft Store.
  • Once loaded, search for Linux.
  • The results currently have a handy call-out, click Get the apps to select from supported Linux distributions.

Select a distribution and click Get. After installation, you’ll be able to launch it from the store or from the Start menu (e.g. you could just click Start and type Ubuntu to see the launchable app.

Final Thoughts

All in all, this is a quick way to set up a Linux terminal on a computer running Windows 10. It’s sort of like Cygwin, but it feels way more native. One of the most interesting things to me is how little system resources seem to be taken up running the Linux subsystem. That, and loading up an Ubuntu bash terminal on Windows is just as fast as loading up a bash terminal on a Mac.

A couple notes:

  1. Local system files are located at /mnt/c (type cd /mnt/c in the bash terminal).
  2. Linux IDEs (KDE/Gnome/etc.) are not supported.

Read more about Windows Subsystem for Linux at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/faq

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About Me

Hello, my name is Craig. I am a tech enthusiast living in Bozeman, Montana. This is my blog, where I post articles in the tech/life/food world.

If you happen to buy something through links on this site, I may get a small share of the sale. As an Amazon Asso​ciate I earn from qualifying pur​chases.

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