Audit Mode, Randomly Slow, Unrefreshing or Unresponsive Explorer & Search

Windows 7 Professional in Audit Mode, Windows Search enabled (autostart-delayed).

After logging on into Audit Mode, at random times while navigating at any level, any local or mapped network drive, Control Panel, navigating virtually anywhere using the Windows Explorer interface, Windows will without warning refuse to update the window displayed. A fuel gauge builds in the address bar and circling magnifying glasses will appear over any manually opened, nested folders displayed in the left pane.

When this happens, it can be anywhere from 30 seconds to never before any existing or new windows will ever refresh and return to normal function.

Launching a fresh Windows Explorer when this bug starts brings up a window with nothing in it.

If I enter the path to folders, files or control panel applets manually, they will appear in the right pane, and only then will that particularly drive associated will appear in the left pane. If I then restrict my movement in the right pane only, the left pane will not refresh with the updated path (even though Explorer is configured to do so and does so normally). Anything I am able to force to appear in either pane has just empty placeholders (along with the circling magnifying glass on items in the left pane).

Typically I must restart the computer, continue in Audit mode for whatever task I'm working on, and start a pool on when this will occur again.

If I disable Windows Search, this failure to refresh will never happen.

Indexing, by default, is not installed, as I understand this is strictly for Legacy; that Windows Search supersedes. The Indexing Control Panel applet hangs at launch also.

I've removed & reinstalled the Windows Search feature, and even run Microsoft's Fixit to reset Windows Search (while still in Audit mode).

I've reproduced this on our own in-house images and OEM images in Audit mode on many different hardware. There is nothing of consequence in the Event Logs.

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