CoNetrix

Blog: Surface Pro

I was working with a Windows Surface where the user would open File Explorer from the taskbar and it would freeze.  The window showed the message "Getting Things Ready" and would never open.  
 
The first time I looked at this, I ended up deleting all of the user's quick access history thinking there was corruption somewhere.  This resolved the issue for about 3 weeks until it returned.
 
I was able to right click on the Windows logo, click run, and open C:\ with no issues loading the file explorer window.  Clicking on quick access had no issues, as long as I didn't open file explorer from the taskbar.
 
The fix for this is to open file explorer as previously mentioned to the C:\ through run command, go to view, and click options.  In the general tab is a drop down that says "Open File Explorer to: "Quick access" or "This PC".  
 
Changing the setting from "Quick access" to "This PC" resolved file explorer freezing when opened from the taskbar.
 
Windows 10, Surface Pro,
 

Every time I would lock my Surface Pro running Windows 10 it would disconnect from the network after about a minute or two.  This would cause certain applications to disconnect and quit working.  After some research I found the culprit was an Advanced Power Setting called "Console lock display off timeout" which by default is disabled from view and set to 60 seconds.  To enable this setting, simply:
 
  1. To enable the "Console lock display off timeout" setting follow these steps:
    1. Open the Registry Editor (Press Windows key + R on your keyboard to open the Run command and type regedit and click ok)
    2. Browse to KEYLOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\7516b95f-f776-4464-8c53-06167f40cc99\8EC4B3A5-6868-48c2-BE75-4F3044BE88A7
    3. Double click on Attributes to open Edit DWORD Value and set the Value data to 2 and click ok
  1. Now that the "Console lock display off timeout" setting is enabled, you can set the value by following these steps:
    1. Open the Control Panel
    2. Click on Power Options
    3. Select Change plan settings
    4. Select Change advanced power settings
    5. Navigate to Display > Console lock display off timeout and set the timeout to whatever you want (in minutes)
    6. Note, you can also use the PowerCfg.exe utility to set the display timeout using the following commands:
      1. powercfg.exe /setacvalueindex SCHEME_CURRENT SUB_VIDEO VIDEOIDLE <time in seconds>
      2. powercfg.exe /setacvalueindex SCHEME_CURRENT SUB_VIDEO VIDEOCONLOCK <time in seconds>
      3. powercfg.exe /setactive SCHEME_CURRENT
  1. After going through this process, I also understand it may be possible to bypass the default screen timeout of 60 seconds following a locked system by setting the basic "Turn off the display" power setting to "Never"; however, this may not be ideal in many situations.
 It appears my surface docking station considered my surface asleep when the display was disabled after 60 seconds from when I would lock my system; therefore, the docking station disconnected causing my network connection to be lost.
Surface Pro,