Recently, I had one of those “what-on-earth” Windows 11 moments that left me thoroughly frustrated but ultimately taught me a few valuable lessons. My PC was acting up in a very specific way: whenever I woke it from sleep mode, my system would lag for what felt like an eternity and, worse, some of my USB peripherals wouldn’t be recognized until I restarted the computer. I also noticed that the Task Manager sporadically showed a “Not Responding” message for the explorer.exe process, usually right after wake-up.
At first, I tried all the common troubleshooting steps I’d read online. I disabled Fast Startup in the Power Options, thinking that might reduce the waking lag. I also ran the built‐in Windows Troubleshooter for power and hardware, and even executed an SFC /scannow followed by a DISM scan—no dice. I even updated all my drivers via Windows Update and the manufacturers’ sites, but the USB recognition issues and explorer.exe hiccups persisted.
After more hours searching forum threads and tech blogs, I stumbled across a discussion suggesting that a specific Windows update might be conflicting with certain hardware drivers. I wasn’t sure which one was the culprit, but one forum user mentioned that on a similar system, the Windows update KB5015807 had unexpectedly caused delays in device initialization after sleep. So, I went into the Windows Update history and found that update was indeed installed just days before I noticed the issues.
Taking a leap, I uninstalled KB5015807 from the “View Update History” section under Settings. I then rebooted my computer and put it back to sleep for a test. To my amazement, upon waking, everything worked as it should—the system reacted instantly, my USB drives were recognized correctly, and explorer.exe stayed stable. I later reinstalled the graphics drivers in the process, just to be on the safe side, and that also seemed to help ensure system stability.
For anyone experiencing similar lag or device recognition issues after waking from sleep on Windows 10 or 11, here’s my advice:
- Check your update history. If the problem started recently, it might be tied to a Windows update conflict.
- Consider uninstalling a recent update to see if that resolves the issue (be sure to create a restore point or backup before doing so).
- Even if suggestions like DISM and SFC scans are well-known, sometimes the solution is something more mundane like a conflicting update—don’t overlook the basics!
- Lastly, double-check that your drivers (especially for critical components like USB controllers and graphics cards) are up to date.
It was a frustrating ordeal, but it reminded me how layered Windows troubleshooting can be and how sometimes the simplest solution—rolling back an update—can be the answer. Happy troubleshooting!
