Hard drive light blinks once per second?

  • Thread starter Thread starter John Doe
  • Start date Start date
J

John Doe

(feel free to remove the other group)

Windows XP SP3
GA-EP45-UD3L (motherboard)
Q9550 (CPU)

4 SATA drives, on master 0-3
32 GB OCZ Vertex SDD
150 GB Raptor
750 GB WD
ASUS CD/DVD

During normal operation, the hard drive light is not supposed to
blink once per second here, but currently it does. The hard drive
light does appear to be connected properly, it reflects normal
hard drive activity except for the blinking. I have tried all
sorts of stuff, including a clean install of Windows 7, but the
hard drive light still blinks once per second. So apparently it is
some BIOS setting or something wrong with the hardware?

Thanks.
 
Blinks exactly once per second.

Does not blink in the BIOS. Does not blink when using boot CDs
like Disk Director or Macrium Reflect. Disc Director shows only
the first two hard drives, the SDD and the Raptor. Macrium Reflect
shows all four, including the large HDD and the CD/DVD drive.

Tried flashing the BIOS.

Versions of Windows, including 7, have a problem with my setup?
 
And the answer is...
(If any replies were on the way, thanks anyway.)
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Changed to zero.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\Cdrom]
"AutoRun"=dword:00000000
 
John said:
Blinks exactly once per second.
Click to expand...
Does not blink in the BIOS. Does not blink when
using boot CDs like Disk Director or Macrium Reflect.
Click to expand...

Because none of those are Win.
Disc Director shows only the first two hard drives, the SDD and the Raptor.
Click to expand...

Some quirk of the linux it uses.
Macrium Reflect shows all four, including the large HDD and the CD/DVD drive.
Click to expand...
Tried flashing the BIOS.
Click to expand...
Versions of Windows, including 7, have a problem with my setup?
Click to expand...

Nope, its normal for Win.

It isnt necessarily always visible with all HDs, the very brief drive
access doesnt always produce a very visible flash with some HDs.
 
John said:
Windows XP SP3
GA-EP45-UD3L (motherboard)
Q9550 (CPU)
Click to expand...
4 SATA drives, on master 0-3
32 GB OCZ Vertex SDD
150 GB Raptor
750 GB WD
ASUS CD/DVD
Click to expand...
During normal operation, the hard drive light is not supposed
to blink once per second here, but currently it does.
Click to expand...

Thats normal with XP. Its just XP.
The hard drive light does appear to be connected properly,
it reflects normal hard drive activity except for the blinking.
I have tried all sorts of stuff, including a clean install of Windows 7,
but the hard drive light still blinks once per second. So apparently
it is some BIOS setting or something wrong with the hardware?
Click to expand...

Nope, its just the OS. It does that when its got nothing better to do, to keep
track of whats happening on the drive, to make some stuff faster like searches.
 
And the answer is...
(If any replies were on the way, thanks anyway.)
. [...]

.
Changed to zero.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\Cdrom]
"AutoRun"=dword:00000000
Click to expand...

Huh. I've noticed that the system I use as a media center connected to the
TV, does the exact same thing. It's an MSI 965GME mini-itx MB. The only
way I could get it to stop was to disable the wireless NIC. I'll have to
give your solution a try. It doesn't have a CD-ROM though, so it may not
matter.
 
JW said:
And the answer is...
(If any replies were on the way, thanks anyway.)
Changed to zero.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\Cdrom]
"AutoRun"=dword:00000000
Click to expand...

Huh.
Click to expand...

A solution is not guaranteed to work on all systems, even if the
symptom(s) is the same.
 
(feel free to remove the other group)
Click to expand...

Is Timmy the other group, or am I?
Windows XP SP3
GA-EP45-UD3L (motherboard)
Q9550 (CPU)

4 SATA drives, on master 0-3
32 GB OCZ Vertex SDD
150 GB Raptor
750 GB WD
ASUS CD/DVD

During normal operation, the hard drive light is not supposed to
blink once per second here, but currently it does. The hard drive
light does appear to be connected properly,
Click to expand...

How many ways can it be connected? It has two wires. It's an
LEDiode. If it were connected backwards, it wouldn't light up at all.
it reflects normal
hard drive activity except for the blinking. I have tried all
sorts of stuff, including a clean install of Windows 7, but the
hard drive light still blinks once per second. So apparently it is
some BIOS setting or something wrong with the hardware?
Click to expand...

If it's indexing, as Rod seems to say, you can turn off indexing for
the whole harddrive. You have 3 drives. I'd do one at a time, and do
the one which gets the fewest file changes last. But turning off
indexing makes searches slower. (Leaving it on can make the computer
slower, but maybe not with your hardware, I don't know.)
 
mm said:
Is Timmy the other group, or am I?
Click to expand...

Is obscurity your forte?
How many ways can it be connected? It has two wires. It's an
LEDiode. If it were connected backwards, it wouldn't light up at
all.
Click to expand...

That is only assuming it is connected to the correct two posts.
--
 
Is obscurity your forte?
Click to expand...

You just don't get it. Is Timmy the opposite sex or am I?
That is only assuming it is connected to the correct two posts.
Click to expand...

Does the light go on when you know you are using your harddrive? If
that were not the case, I think you would have mentioned that with
your other stuff.
 
mm said:
Is Timmy the other group, or am I?

How many ways can it be connected? It has two wires. It's an
LEDiode. If it were connected backwards, it wouldn't light up at all.


If it's indexing, as Rod seems to say, you can turn off indexing for
the whole harddrive. You have 3 drives. I'd do one at a time, and do
the one which gets the fewest file changes last. But turning off
indexing makes searches slower. (Leaving it on can make the computer
slower, but maybe not with your hardware, I don't know.)
Click to expand...
 
RayLopez99 wrote
Medicated?
Click to expand...

No differently than usual.
Why no insults, Rod Speed?
Click to expand...

You're so stupid you cant even work out who gets insulted.
On parole from your ISP?
Click to expand...

Nope, and never ever have been, either.

No ISP gets any say what so ever on what is posted in a newsgroup.

In spades when their news server isnt even being used.
 
During normal operation, the hard drive light is not supposed to
blink once per second here, but currently it does. The hard drive
light does appear to be connected properly, it reflects normal
hard drive activity except for the blinking. I have tried all
sorts of stuff, including a clean install of Windows 7, but the
hard drive light still blinks once per second. So apparently it is
some BIOS setting or something wrong with the hardware?
Click to expand...

Disconnect all the CD/DVD drives and try.

It is Win checking the CD/DVD drive that causes the blinking and not
the HD.
 
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