Hard drive runs constantly

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Scenario:
I had a computer that dual boots 98 and XP. Everything was working well
except I had a problem with the hard drive light coming on all the time
when running XP.
I decided to upgrade so I built me another faster computer and moved all
the hard drives to the new one. I did a repair install of both operating
systems to get the drivers right. And it's working fine and faster. BUT,
I am having the same problem with the hard drive light in XP. When I
first boot up and everything settles down, the light goes out. After
about 15 minutes, it starts flickering a little. By the end of a half
hour it is on constantly. Indexing is turned off on all drives. Task
manager shows nothing running that I don't recognize. Idle process is 98-
99%. I've gone into services and stopped every service that's stoppable,
one at a time. None of them made it stop. If I reboot into Windows 98 and
let it sit, the light stays out. I'd like to think it's a hardware
problem and that the drive really isn't running but the light is on. But
now that it's doing the same thing on a second computer and it doesn't do
it in Windows 98, I know that *something* is accessing one of the drives.
I have unplugged my ethernet cable. It isn't that. I have done a
diagnostic startup with nothing but essential files loading but it still
does it. If I boot into XP's Safe Mode, the light will stay out. So it is
just happening in XP in normal mode, no matter what I have running or
don't.
Any suggestions what to look for now? Is there any app available that
would show what is accessing hard drives?

--
--- A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother. ---

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Try getting more RAM I would think. How much do you have now? because Windows
XP requirments are (technically... Ive seen it run on less) 256MB and I would
recommend at least 512MB or more.

"Menno Hershberger" wrote:

> Scenario:
> I had a computer that dual boots 98 and XP. Everything was working well
> except I had a problem with the hard drive light coming on all the time
> when running XP.
> I decided to upgrade so I built me another faster computer and moved all
> the hard drives to the new one. I did a repair install of both operating
> systems to get the drivers right. And it's working fine and faster. BUT,
> I am having the same problem with the hard drive light in XP. When I
> first boot up and everything settles down, the light goes out. After
> about 15 minutes, it starts flickering a little. By the end of a half
> hour it is on constantly. Indexing is turned off on all drives. Task
> manager shows nothing running that I don't recognize. Idle process is 98-
> 99%. I've gone into services and stopped every service that's stoppable,
> one at a time. None of them made it stop. If I reboot into Windows 98 and
> let it sit, the light stays out. I'd like to think it's a hardware
> problem and that the drive really isn't running but the light is on. But
> now that it's doing the same thing on a second computer and it doesn't do
> it in Windows 98, I know that *something* is accessing one of the drives.
> I have unplugged my ethernet cable. It isn't that. I have done a
> diagnostic startup with nothing but essential files loading but it still
> does it. If I boot into XP's Safe Mode, the light will stay out. So it is
> just happening in XP in normal mode, no matter what I have running or
> don't.
> Any suggestions what to look for now? Is there any app available that
> would show what is accessing hard drives?
>
> --
> --- A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother. ---
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

"Jaren" <Jaren@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
news:6C668785-C0EA-44CD-8AB9-2B1077FE95B1@microsoft.com:

> Try getting more RAM I would think. How much do you have now?

2-512s and a 256. I've tried it with 512 on up.

--
--- A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother. ---

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Building a new system, then putting in the same hard drive, and doing a Repair Install
would not be of any help if it is spyware/adware/malware/trojan/worm causing the problem.
If you have
that much RAM, and you have NOT changed the setting for the Page file (let Windows XP
manage virtual memory), then I would scan the drive with AD-Aware SE, Xoftspy, HiJackThis,
and/or many of the other spyware/adware/malware/trojan/worm scanning utilities. Are you
using a
firewall other than the one included with Windows XP, which only works with anything
incoming, but does not monitor anything outgoing? Your hard drive could be spinning
because your system is infected with something that is sending data from your hard drive,
without your being aware of it. Also, have you downloaded and installed the Microsoft
update for the Zotob worm/Plug and Play Service problem, which exploits Windows XP
vulnerabilities and can have your hard drive spinning, sending your data out to cyberspace
destinations?

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=9A3BFBDD-62EA-4DB2-88D2-415E095E2
07F&displaylang=en

--

T.C.
t__cruise@[NoSpam]hotmail.com
Remove [NoSpam] to reply



"Menno Hershberger" <mhersh22@nosuchplace.net> wrote in message
news:Xns96BEE6DBC6FEFbutter@daisymae.com...
> "Jaren" <Jaren@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
> news:6C668785-C0EA-44CD-8AB9-2B1077FE95B1@microsoft.com:
>
> > Try getting more RAM I would think. How much do you have now?
>
> 2-512s and a 256. I've tried it with 512 on up.
>
> --
> --- A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother. ---

 

[tRaX]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Menno Hershberger <mhersh22@nosuchplace.net> wrote:

|>Scenario:
|>I had a computer that dual boots 98 and XP. Everything was working well
|>except I had a problem with the hard drive light coming on all the time
|>when running XP.
|>I decided to upgrade so I built me another faster computer and moved all
|>the hard drives to the new one. I did a repair install of both operating
|>systems to get the drivers right. And it's working fine and faster. BUT,
|>I am having the same problem with the hard drive light in XP. When I
|>first boot up and everything settles down, the light goes out. After
|>about 15 minutes, it starts flickering a little. By the end of a half
|>hour it is on constantly. Indexing is turned off on all drives. Task
|>manager shows nothing running that I don't recognize. Idle process is 98-
|>99%. I've gone into services and stopped every service that's stoppable,
|>one at a time. None of them made it stop. If I reboot into Windows 98 and
|>let it sit, the light stays out. I'd like to think it's a hardware
|>problem and that the drive really isn't running but the light is on. But
|>now that it's doing the same thing on a second computer and it doesn't do
|>it in Windows 98, I know that *something* is accessing one of the drives.
|>I have unplugged my ethernet cable. It isn't that. I have done a
|>diagnostic startup with nothing but essential files loading but it still
|>does it. If I boot into XP's Safe Mode, the light will stay out. So it is
|>just happening in XP in normal mode, no matter what I have running or
|>don't.
|>Any suggestions what to look for now? Is there any app available that
|>would show what is accessing hard drives?

Mine (HD light) blinks all the time, I traced it to ZoneAlarm :}
with FileMon http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Filemon.html


--

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster

 

[BigJim]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

you need more ram
"Menno Hershberger" <mhersh22@nosuchplace.net> wrote in message
news:Xns96BEE244B61FBbutter@daisymae.com...
> Scenario:
> I had a computer that dual boots 98 and XP. Everything was working well
> except I had a problem with the hard drive light coming on all the time
> when running XP.
> I decided to upgrade so I built me another faster computer and moved all
> the hard drives to the new one. I did a repair install of both operating
> systems to get the drivers right. And it's working fine and faster. BUT,
> I am having the same problem with the hard drive light in XP. When I
> first boot up and everything settles down, the light goes out. After
> about 15 minutes, it starts flickering a little. By the end of a half
> hour it is on constantly. Indexing is turned off on all drives. Task
> manager shows nothing running that I don't recognize. Idle process is 98-
> 99%. I've gone into services and stopped every service that's stoppable,
> one at a time. None of them made it stop. If I reboot into Windows 98 and
> let it sit, the light stays out. I'd like to think it's a hardware
> problem and that the drive really isn't running but the light is on. But
> now that it's doing the same thing on a second computer and it doesn't do
> it in Windows 98, I know that *something* is accessing one of the drives.
> I have unplugged my ethernet cable. It isn't that. I have done a
> diagnostic startup with nothing but essential files loading but it still
> does it. If I boot into XP's Safe Mode, the light will stay out. So it is
> just happening in XP in normal mode, no matter what I have running or
> don't.
> Any suggestions what to look for now? Is there any app available that
> would show what is accessing hard drives?
>
> --
> --- A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother. ---

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

I have 1,280Mb.

"BigJIm" <woody10277@hotmail.com> wrote in
news:Qbednbt7CbFlRpLeRVn-2g@comcast.com:

> you need more ram
> "Menno Hershberger" <mhersh22@nosuchplace.net> wrote in message
> news:Xns96BEE244B61FBbutter@daisymae.com...
>> Scenario:
>> I had a computer that dual boots 98 and XP. Everything was working
>> well except I had a problem with the hard drive light coming on all
>> the time when running XP.
>> I decided to upgrade so I built me another faster computer and moved
>> all the hard drives to the new one. I did a repair install of both
>> operating systems to get the drivers right. And it's working fine and
>> faster. BUT, I am having the same problem with the hard drive light
>> in XP. When I first boot up and everything settles down, the light
>> goes out. After about 15 minutes, it starts flickering a little. By
>> the end of a half hour it is on constantly. Indexing is turned off on
>> all drives. Task manager shows nothing running that I don't
>> recognize. Idle process is 98- 99%. I've gone into services and
>> stopped every service that's stoppable, one at a time. None of them
>> made it stop. If I reboot into Windows 98 and let it sit, the light
>> stays out. I'd like to think it's a hardware problem and that the
>> drive really isn't running but the light is on. But now that it's
>> doing the same thing on a second computer and it doesn't do it in
>> Windows 98, I know that *something* is accessing one of the drives.
>> I have unplugged my ethernet cable. It isn't that. I have done a
>> diagnostic startup with nothing but essential files loading but it
>> still does it. If I boot into XP's Safe Mode, the light will stay
>> out. So it is just happening in XP in normal mode, no matter what I
>> have running or don't.
>> Any suggestions what to look for now? Is there any app available that
>> would show what is accessing hard drives?
>>
>> --
>> --- A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother.
>> ---
>
>
>



--
--- A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother. ---

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

I just downloaded that and installed it. Was it not a part of the regular
windows updates? I have a pretty good arsenal of anti-spyware tools since
3/4 of my business is cleaning customer's computers. I run behind a
router, run Zone Alarm and the Windows firewall is also on. I run
Microsoft's Beta Antispyware (which is quite good, by the way) besides
doing an occassional check with AdAware and Spybot S&D. I've got more
intense stuff like Ewido and TrendMicro's new spyware scanner, but I've
never run them on this machine. AdAware finds a couple of cookies once in
a while... the rest of them never come up with anything. Norton Antivirus
scans the whole thing once a week and never comes up with anything.
Hijack This never comes up with anything I don't recognize. My problem
DOES have the characteristics of some kind of malware. I have quite a bit
of stuff in startup, but like I said, I can do a diagnostic startup
(which runs a bare minimum of things) and still have the problem. I'll
run Ewido and TrendMicro on here just to make sure, but I'm betting they
won't come up with anything. Whatever it is, it doesn't do it in Safe
Mode. That should be a clue to something... but what?

"t.cruise" <t__cruise@[NoSpam]hotmail.com> wrote in
news:#sZsLVsqFHA.464@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl:

> Building a new system, then putting in the same hard drive, and doing
> a Repair Install would not be of any help if it is
> spyware/adware/malware/trojan/worm causing the problem. If you have
> that much RAM, and you have NOT changed the setting for the Page file
> (let Windows XP manage virtual memory), then I would scan the drive
> with AD-Aware SE, Xoftspy, HiJackThis, and/or many of the other
> spyware/adware/malware/trojan/worm scanning utilities. Are you using
> a firewall other than the one included with Windows XP, which only
> works with anything incoming, but does not monitor anything outgoing?
> Your hard drive could be spinning because your system is infected with
> something that is sending data from your hard drive, without your
> being aware of it. Also, have you downloaded and installed the
> Microsoft update for the Zotob worm/Plug and Play Service problem,
> which exploits Windows XP vulnerabilities and can have your hard drive
> spinning, sending your data out to cyberspace destinations?
>
> http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=9A3BFBDD-62EA-
> 4DB2-88D2-415E095E2 07F&displaylang=en
>
> --
>
> T.C.
> t__cruise@[NoSpam]hotmail.com
> Remove [NoSpam] to reply
>
>
>
> "Menno Hershberger" <mhersh22@nosuchplace.net> wrote in message
> news:Xns96BEE6DBC6FEFbutter@daisymae.com...
>> "Jaren" <Jaren@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
>> news:6C668785-C0EA-44CD-8AB9-2B1077FE95B1@microsoft.com:
>>
>> > Try getting more RAM I would think. How much do you have now?
>>
>> 2-512s and a 256. I've tried it with 512 on up.
>>
>> --
>> --- A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother.
>> ---
>
>
>
>



--
--- A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother. ---

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Trax <Pennywise@DerryMaine.Gov> wrote in
news:g1svg1ldp15e0lh59a8t4r30t9md122rlr@4ax.com:

> Menno Hershberger <mhersh22@nosuchplace.net> wrote:
>
>|>Scenario:
>|>I had a computer that dual boots 98 and XP. Everything was working
>|>well except I had a problem with the hard drive light coming on all
>|>the time when running XP.
>|>I decided to upgrade so I built me another faster computer and moved
>|>all the hard drives to the new one. I did a repair install of both
>|>operating systems to get the drivers right. And it's working fine and
>|>faster. BUT, I am having the same problem with the hard drive light
>|>in XP. When I first boot up and everything settles down, the light
>|>goes out. After about 15 minutes, it starts flickering a little. By
>|>the end of a half hour it is on constantly. Indexing is turned off on
>|>all drives. Task manager shows nothing running that I don't
>|>recognize. Idle process is 98- 99%. I've gone into services and
>|>stopped every service that's stoppable, one at a time. None of them
>|>made it stop. If I reboot into Windows 98 and let it sit, the light
>|>stays out. I'd like to think it's a hardware problem and that the
>|>drive really isn't running but the light is on. But now that it's
>|>doing the same thing on a second computer and it doesn't do it in
>|>Windows 98, I know that *something* is accessing one of the drives.
>|>I have unplugged my ethernet cable. It isn't that. I have done a
>|>diagnostic startup with nothing but essential files loading but it
>|>still does it. If I boot into XP's Safe Mode, the light will stay
>|>out. So it is just happening in XP in normal mode, no matter what I
>|>have running or don't.
>|>Any suggestions what to look for now? Is there any app available that
>|>would show what is accessing hard drives?
>
> Mine (HD light) blinks all the time, I traced it to ZoneAlarm :}
> with FileMon http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Filemon.html

Thanks for that link. I had forgotten about that one. I have Zone Alarm
and see that VSMON.exe is running every 10 seconds. However, that still
isn't it. Like right now, I just rebooted and am running taskmon. It's
showing a lot of stuff including VSMON, but the light is out except for
an occassional blink. But 20 minutes from now it'll be on solid again and
taskmon won't be showing any more then than it is now ( had it running
earlier). I have three drives in here and none of them is a year old
even. But I'm beginning to wonder if it is something with one of them.
All Western Digital... 2-120's and a 200.

--
--- A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother. ---

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

OK, I ran Ewido and TrendMicro last night. Ewido decided to wipe out a
bunch of utility scripts that I had purchased from Kelly, and TrendMicro
found a few cookies it didn't like. One of them got a couple of "joke"
exe files. And my LOPcom uninstaller. But I have two computers that I
keep synchronized, so they'll be back in the morning. That's interesting
too. I don't have the hard drive light problem with the other one and it
has basically all the same stuff on it.
My next step will be to unplug two of the drives which are just for
extra storage. If the problem continues, then I'll clone the main one to
a new drive and see if it THAT does it.

Menno Hershberger <mhersh22@nosuchplace.net> wrote in
news:Xns96BF126791295butter@daisymae.com:

> I just downloaded that and installed it. Was it not a part of the
> regular windows updates? I have a pretty good arsenal of anti-spyware
> tools since 3/4 of my business is cleaning customer's computers. I run
> behind a router, run Zone Alarm and the Windows firewall is also on. I
> run Microsoft's Beta Antispyware (which is quite good, by the way)
> besides doing an occassional check with AdAware and Spybot S&D. I've
> got more intense stuff like Ewido and TrendMicro's new spyware
> scanner, but I've never run them on this machine. AdAware finds a
> couple of cookies once in a while... the rest of them never come up
> with anything. Norton Antivirus scans the whole thing once a week and
> never comes up with anything. Hijack This never comes up with anything
> I don't recognize. My problem DOES have the characteristics of some
> kind of malware. I have quite a bit of stuff in startup, but like I
> said, I can do a diagnostic startup (which runs a bare minimum of
> things) and still have the problem. I'll run Ewido and TrendMicro on
> here just to make sure, but I'm betting they won't come up with
> anything. Whatever it is, it doesn't do it in Safe Mode. That should
> be a clue to something... but what?
>
> "t.cruise" <t__cruise@[NoSpam]hotmail.com> wrote in
> news:#sZsLVsqFHA.464@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl:
>
>> Building a new system, then putting in the same hard drive, and doing
>> a Repair Install would not be of any help if it is
>> spyware/adware/malware/trojan/worm causing the problem. If you have
>> that much RAM, and you have NOT changed the setting for the Page file
>> (let Windows XP manage virtual memory), then I would scan the drive
>> with AD-Aware SE, Xoftspy, HiJackThis, and/or many of the other
>> spyware/adware/malware/trojan/worm scanning utilities. Are you using
>> a firewall other than the one included with Windows XP, which only
>> works with anything incoming, but does not monitor anything outgoing?
>> Your hard drive could be spinning because your system is infected
>> with something that is sending data from your hard drive, without
>> your being aware of it. Also, have you downloaded and installed the
>> Microsoft update for the Zotob worm/Plug and Play Service problem,
>> which exploits Windows XP vulnerabilities and can have your hard
>> drive spinning, sending your data out to cyberspace destinations?
>>
>> http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=9A3BFBDD-62EA
>> - 4DB2-88D2-415E095E2 07F&displaylang=en
>>
>> --
>>
>> T.C.
>> t__cruise@[NoSpam]hotmail.com
>> Remove [NoSpam] to reply
>>
>>
>>
>> "Menno Hershberger" <mhersh22@nosuchplace.net> wrote in message
>> news:Xns96BEE6DBC6FEFbutter@daisymae.com...
>>> "Jaren" <Jaren@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
>>> news:6C668785-C0EA-44CD-8AB9-2B1077FE95B1@microsoft.com:
>>>
>>> > Try getting more RAM I would think. How much do you have now?
>>>
>>> 2-512s and a 256. I've tried it with 512 on up.
>>>
>>> --
>>> --- A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother.
>>> ---
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>



--
--- A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother. ---

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

On Fri, 26 Aug 2005 20:14:33 -0700, Menno Hershberger
<mhersh22@nosuchplace.net> wrote:

>Scenario:
>I had a computer that dual boots 98 and XP. Everything was working well
>except I had a problem with the hard drive light coming on all the time
>when running XP.
>I decided to upgrade so I built me another faster computer and moved all
>the hard drives to the new one. I did a repair install of both operating
>systems to get the drivers right. And it's working fine and faster. BUT,
>I am having the same problem with the hard drive light in XP. When I
>first boot up and everything settles down, the light goes out. After
>about 15 minutes, it starts flickering a little. By the end of a half
>hour it is on constantly. Indexing is turned off on all drives. Task
>manager shows nothing running that I don't recognize. Idle process is 98-
>99%. I've gone into services and stopped every service that's stoppable,
>one at a time. None of them made it stop. If I reboot into Windows 98 and
>let it sit, the light stays out. I'd like to think it's a hardware
>problem and that the drive really isn't running but the light is on. But
>now that it's doing the same thing on a second computer and it doesn't do
>it in Windows 98, I know that *something* is accessing one of the drives.
>I have unplugged my ethernet cable. It isn't that. I have done a
>diagnostic startup with nothing but essential files loading but it still
>does it. If I boot into XP's Safe Mode, the light will stay out. So it is
>just happening in XP in normal mode, no matter what I have running or
>don't.
>Any suggestions what to look for now? Is there any app available that
>would show what is accessing hard drives?

As I recall, windows compresses unused files on the fly. There could
be other things going on too...email check? I wouldn't worry about
it.
--
Top 10 Conservative Idiots:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/top10/

 

[tRaX]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Menno Hershberger <mhersh22@nosuchplace.net> wrote:

|>>|>Any suggestions what to look for now? Is there any app available that
|>>|>would show what is accessing hard drives?
|>>
|>> Mine (HD light) blinks all the time, I traced it to ZoneAlarm :}
|>> with FileMon http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Filemon.html

|>Thanks for that link. I had forgotten about that one. I have Zone Alarm
|>and see that VSMON.exe is running every 10 seconds. However, that still
|>isn't it. Like right now, I just rebooted and am running taskmon. It's
|>showing a lot of stuff including VSMON, but the light is out except for
|>an occassional blink. But 20 minutes from now it'll be on solid again and
|>taskmon won't be showing any more then than it is now

Then run FileMon and when your hard drive light goes solid start a
capture, grab what you need and stop it - use the filters to see what
using the drive...
--

http://www.longislandpress.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=2037&

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Menno Hershberger wrote:
> Scenario:
> I had a computer that dual boots 98 and XP. Everything was
> working well except I had a problem with the hard drive
> light coming on all the time when running XP.
> I decided to upgrade so I built me another faster computer
> and moved all the hard drives to the new one. I did a repair
> install of both operating systems to get the drivers right.
> And it's working fine and faster. BUT, I am having the same
> problem with the hard drive light in XP. When I first boot
> up and everything settles down, the light goes out. After
> about 15 minutes, it starts flickering a little. By the end
> of a half hour it is on constantly. Indexing is turned off
> on all drives. Task manager shows nothing running that I
> don't recognize. Idle process is 98- 99%. I've gone into
> services and stopped every service that's stoppable, one at
> a time. None of them made it stop. If I reboot into Windows
> 98 and let it sit, the light stays out. I'd like to think
> it's a hardware problem and that the drive really isn't
> running but the light is on. But now that it's doing the
> same thing on a second computer and it doesn't do it in
> Windows 98, I know that *something* is accessing one of the
> drives. I have unplugged my ethernet cable. It isn't that. I
> have done a diagnostic startup with nothing but essential
> files loading but it still does it. If I boot into XP's Safe
> Mode, the light will stay out. So it is just happening in XP
> in normal mode, no matter what I have running or don't.
> Any suggestions what to look for now? Is there any app
> available that would show what is accessing hard drives?
>
> --
> --- A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your
> mother. ---

XP runs a number of housekeeping chores when the system is
idle. It creates System Restore points, defrags the hard drive,
populates the Prefetch folder all while your system is idle.

Take a look at this article:

Idle Task Scheduling: The ProcessIdleTask API
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/sysperf/benchmark.mspx#EDAA

Open Task Manager and note the processes that are running.
Next, go to Start -> Run and enter this in the Open box:

Rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks

Click OK.
Go back to Task Manager and notice the additional processes
that are running. Those are some of the processes that start
when your computer has been idle for 15 minutes.

Do yourself a favor, defragment your hard drive and wait a few
days for your Preftech folder to be organized. Then, if you
still see prolonged periods of hard drive activity while your
PC is idle, you can get paranoid.

Nepatsfan

 

[gouletc]

Had the same problem with Windows XP. Opened the task manger, Processes tab and discovered that RealPlayer was constantly using CPU resources eand fluctuated with the activity of the hard drive. Stop the process for this software and everything went right. I suppressed RealPlayer and the problem is now solved. Why ? I don't know.