hard disk spins constantly

[Jamshed]

I am having performance problems; I notice that he hard
disk spins constantly - even when there is no application
running and the Task manager says that 99% of CPU is
consumed by the idle process. Have used Nortan Utilities
to run WinDoctor and disk check - but no help.

Any idea what might be causing this - and how I can fix
it? Thanks

 

[Phe@rsome]

Think, for a moment, what idle means! Does it mean to you, doing nothing -
being lazy? That's exactly what it means in Windows XP also. It is the
percentage of processor time that is available to perform work, when asked
to!

As for the hard drives spinning constantly (I don't really think you meant
constant - did you? They just are accessed quite a bit, right?), that is
just the operating system performing background maintenance. Whenever you
start doing anything, it will cease, till the next time the computer has
been idle for a few minutes.

 

[Bob Day]

I am having performance problems; I notice that he hard
disk spins constantly - even when there is no application
running and the Task manager says that 99% of CPU is
consumed by the idle process. Have used Nortan Utilities
to run WinDoctor and disk check - but no help.

Any idea what might be causing this - and how I can fix
it?

Maybe, but before I go off on a tangent, a couple
of questions:

1. Is the hard drive light on all the time? Does it
ever blink?

2. Can you hear constant head activity on the hard
drive, or is it pretty silent aside from its normal
idle background noise?

-- Bob Day

 

[Jamshed]

Yes to both the questions. The disk light blinks - it is
not just permanently (steady) on. And I can hear the disk
activity.

 

[Jamshed]

The disk activity light oin no on steady - just constantly
blinking and I can hear the disk activity.

If I start an application, that activity continues - even
though I know the application couldn't be causing it. And
it doies affect performance; the responses are slower.

 

[Bill]

in your task manager, can you see what processes are
running. Check to see you have all your new drives and no
viruses

 

[Bob Day]

Yes to both the questions. The disk light blinks - it is
not just permanently (steady) on. And I can hear the disk
activity.

OK. What I was thinking it might be was wrong
then. You may not have a problem at all. If you're
not running an application, it's normal for the CPU
to be spending 99% of its time in the idle process.
The disk activity might be just windows XP updating
things in the background while it has nothing better to
do. Just a thought: how much memory does your
computer have? -- The less memory, the greater the
disk activity. 512MB is ideal for most purposes.
If you have just 128MB, consider upgrading to at
least 256MB. Other thoughts: 1. How is your
computer actually showing "performance
problems"? Do applications run slow? When did
the performance problems start happening? 2. Could
your computer be downloading or uploading from
the Internet? If so, that would account for some
constant disk activity. Scan for viruses and spyware?
Sorry for the disorganized ramble -- it's getting
late.

-- Bob Day

 

[Dave]

Having same problem it started when I downloaded updates
from Microsoft the other day

 

[Bob Day]

Having same problem it started when I downloaded updates
from Microsoft the other day

That's a clue. Maybe try defragmenting your hard drive.
start->All Programs->Accessories->System Tools->Disk Defragmenter

-- Bob Day

 

[NoNoBadDog!]

Disk Indexing is probably the activity you see. What does task manager say
for the other services active?

Bobby

 

[Jamshed]

task manager shows almost zero activity for everything
else - although there are about 20-odd processes active;
idel is at 98-99% most of the time.

 

[Frank]

| I am having performance problems; I notice that he hard
| disk spins constantly - even when there is no application
| running and the Task manager says that 99% of CPU is
| consumed by the idle process. Have used Nortan Utilities
| to run WinDoctor and disk check - but no help.
|
| Any idea what might be causing this - and how I can fix
| it? Thanks

What is the quality of your CDROM and/or CDRW.???
This could be a polling process....

Frank