Frequent long disk access freezes computer

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maxwelltf

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Sep 26, 2013
2
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10,510
My windows XP SP3 Dell laptop has a problem that has been getting worse over time. When doing normal things like switching programs, or opening windows, or opening or dragging files, or right clicking on an item in a program - all normal things - it will get stuck for 15-30 seconds and the hard drive will be 100% busy. I have more than enough RAM (4GB) and am letting windows set the Virtual RAM. A year ago this problem did not exist - I have not changed any hardware since then, and this problem has slowly become more common until now - it will do it's 15-30sec freeze thing about once every 2-3 minutes. It's maddening. I am ready to pull my hair out. Any ideas would be fantastic.
 
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maxwelltf

Honorable
Sep 26, 2013
2
0
10,510
I downloaded HD Tune. While running the scan, it froze the computer and upon reboot, the System registry hive was no longer accessible. So I had to reload the emergency registry hives from the windows repair folder just to get my laptop to boot again. It is running again but the long disk access pauses continue. I have all my data backed up, and I've bought a replacement WD drive and will tonight image my current seagate drive over the new drive to see if that fixes the issue (suspecting the current drive has hardware problems - although the SMART tests on it and other fitness tests all indicate it's OK). Will advise on the outcome of that, but if anyone has any comments - I'm all ears.
 
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kenaniah7037

kenaniah7037

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Sep 17, 2013
54
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10,660
Sounds like you're on the right track......the only other thing I would ask is, how's your heat? My experience with Dell machines has been that they're often not too well designed for cooling.....overheating (the chip or the hard drive) can cause issues like yours.
 
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