Documents folder won't load

[motoperpetuo]

I'm running Ubuntu 16.04 LTR on a ZaReason Mediabox 5440 desktop. I have a strange problem where eventually after a few minutes or hours of use (it varies) I won't be able to load the Documents folder in Nautilus or in Bash. I can't pin down any rhyme or reason as to why or when this happens, but in Nautilus, I just get this screen, which hangs no matter how long I wait:

270788

In Bash, if I try to cd to ~/Documents, it just hangs forever.

The only way I've been able to resolve this when it happens is to reboot, which I have to do at least once daily on this computer. All other folders (e.g. Desktop, Downloads, Pictures, whatever) load normally.

I suspect this might ultimately be a hardware problem with this computer, because a fresh reinstall of the OS didn't help and I can't find this problem referenced anywhere online. Nevertheless, if anyone has any advice I would greatly appreciate it.

Edit: This isn't an Lubuntu issue. I'm using Ubuntu, the standard version. I chose the wrong tag somehow.

[halogen2]

That's a strange one... no ideas offhand but here's a few suggestions that might help investigate.

Does the problem occur if you install to a different disk on the same computer (e.g. an external USB hard drive, if you can)?
What if you boot off a live CD/DVD/USB and try to access Documents folder of a problematic system from there?
Does the problem occur if you plug an affected system in another computer and boot it?

[mc4man]

What, if anything, is in the Documents folder?

[motoperpetuo]

That's a strange one... no ideas offhand but here's a few suggestions that might help investigate.

Does the problem occur if you install to a different disk on the same computer (e.g. an external USB hard drive, if you can)?
What if you boot off a live CD/DVD/USB and try to access Documents folder of a problematic system from there?
Does the problem occur if you plug an affected system in another computer and boot it?

Thanks for your reply, and sorry for taking forever to reply myself. I haven't tried any of your troubleshooting suggestions yet, but I will as soon as possible.

[motoperpetuo]

What, if anything, is in the Documents folder?

Just documents in the usual formats, .docx. .xlsx, .pdf, plain text files, that kind of thing. A few .jpg files and few video clips too. Nothing out of the ordinary.

I rather suspect this is a problem with this computer, some unique deep, hardware-related thing, because reinstalling the OS did nothing to help. I was mostly wondering if it were a known problem anyone else had encountered, but it seems that it isn't.

Incidentally, for the first time I remember, I had the Documents folder finally load after about five minutes of what's in the screenshot in my initial post.

Regardless, thanks for your reply!