IIRC, FastFind was part of M$ Office ... in some configurations, people claimed that it used up to 20% of PC resources just so that Office documents opened just a little faster. Typical M$ design ... fix the appearance, not the real problem. Deactivating the XP cache would be a Bad Thing (TM). When you open one of these folders, do you see a file called thumbs.db? That holds the thumbnail images for the folder -- if not there, it has to be rebuilt each time you open the folder. Since it is a hidden file, you need to use this incantation to compel hidden files to become visible ... Open a folder with images, click "Tools" -> "Folder Options" -> "View" ... there, under "Advanced Settings", then "Files and Folders", then "Hidden files and folders" ... click on "Show hidden files and folders" Note: Even though you could "Apply to All Folders" or "Reset All Folders" ... I wouldn't do that kind of global change just yet. ... Instead, simply click "OK" for the current folder.