ArcGIS Desktop 10.6.1 Freezing

[DavidEverard]

I am using ArcGIS Desktop 10.6.1 on a Windows 10 PC I built myself and I am getting a problem where every minute or so, the Table of Contents will flicker and then go solid grey for 5-10 seconds and meanwhile I cannot do anything within ArcMap.

This freezing is only happening within ArcMap, while it is happening I can use other programs like Word with no problems. 

The freezing also doesn't seem to be related to particularly strenuous tasks within ArcMap, it happens when the program is idle just as often as when I am in the middle of doing something.

I have tried reinstalling my graphics card drivers, as well as reinstalling ArcGIS but this behaviour is still occurring.

Does anyone have any idea what the problem might be? I am totally out of ideas at this point. 

[JaredPoe1]

Hi David, 

Sorry to hear you're running into these issues. I researched this a bit and it looks like this is a known issue in some Windows 10 environments at different versions of ArcGIS Desktop. 

I saw that some users had some success with the information listed in the link below, related to Group Policy Updates. Does this seem to coincide with what you are experiencing?

Link: https://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/287853/arcmap-table-of-contents-flashes-and-system-becomes-u...

Best,

Jared

[DavidEverard]

Hi Jared,

Cheers for the quick response.

I did see that thread but I didn't think that could be my problem as I don't think my PC is part of any network or group to be getting Group Policy Updates from. I previously tried running GPUpdate.exe as the user recommended and it didn't trigger the problem on my PC so I don't think it is likely to be the same problem as they were dealing with.

I am usually working out of a shared Dropbox folder so that would make sense, however I have experienced the same problem while working on files saved on my hard drive so I'm not sure.

I might try and turn off background refresh of group policy anyway, just in case.

Any idea of what else it might be? I'm fairly new to ArcGIS and this sort of thing so I'm a bit out of my depth if I'm honest.

Cheers,

David

[JaredPoe1 · Accepted solution]

Hi David, 

Is there any chance you might have a desktop slideshow background? I know this is a weird thing but I have seen a case where this has caused the issue. If so, try changing it to a default single image background and restart the application. 

Also, have you attempted updating your graphics drivers recently? This may also help with this situation. A link is below:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4028443/windows-10-update-drivers

[DavidEverard]

It was the slideshow background that was the problem. No freezing at all now that I've turned that off.

Thank you so much for the speedy help, that has been bugging me for nearly 2 months. I wish I'd posted here sooner.

Cheers,

David

[JaredPoe1]

No problem at all! I'm glad to hear this resolved the issue!

Best Regards,

Jared