Disk activity when computer is idle!?!

[Tom70]

I have a winxp pro installation on my laptop, hibernation is disabled(too much disk space for the service to be worth it to me(511MB since I have a 1/2 a gig of RAM) 40 gig hard drive but I don't like using more of it than I have to for performance reasons). I also haven't got a page file since it works fine without one and recommends I have 768MB reserved(one and a half times the system's RAM(I don't have it for the same reason, performance)). Anyway, my question is when the computer is idle(say, with the lid closed and just the desktop showing and nothing in the tray) after a period of time the disk light starts going indicating activity. I left task manager running to accumulate data about which process was responsible and I can't remember now but I think it was either one of the SVCHOST.EXEs or it was ISASS.EXE that was to blame for the several hundred megabytes of reads taking place(not sure now if writes were also occurring or not). I Had nothing installed but the operating system so it had not even been connected to another devie since the install. One person said it was disk defrag but I don't believe that. you can't schedule it without buying the full version so I don't think it would run when the computer is idle or you wouldn't need to do it manually. I don't believe it was a virus either, but I am open to any possibilities and/or suggestions that anyone may have as to what it was/is. I don't foresee anyone being able to answer and support it with evidence. Thank you.

 

[Tom70]

I forgot to mention that I had not connected to the internet or any other computer either. and any disk that came in contact with the computer had already been scanned by NAV2003.

 

[gigahertz]

It may be read-ahead (or write-behind) caching for the hard drive. Write-behind caching can be disabled with device manager, but I'm not sure about read-ahead caching...

 

[Hemo]

You have any Office applications installed? During system idle time there is an application that will go off and attempt to index your filesystem so office applications can start 'faster'.

 

[linney]

http://www.blkviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

Try disabling any unrequired services that are running in the background, especially the Indexing Service.

 

[Tom70]

I do have write-caching enabled. Next time I reformat the drive and reload the operating system(I do that about every 2 to 3 mos.) I will disable it to verify the process. Right now I have too many things installed(any is too many). No, I didn't have office installed and I disabled indexing in both the properties page for my computer and in the services snap-in. so I don't think it would be indexing(although I believe anything is possible with MS). Lastly, I do disable all unnecessary services(sometimes in the learning process I disable too many). Thank you for your posts.

 

[Tom70]

I found it in device manager under the disk drives, hard drive properties, policies tab on my computer. the power setting only has tabs for power schemes, alarms, power meter, advanced(for alarm actions and tray options), and hibernate. I am assuming it could be different on other computers so I thought it worth mentioning.

Thanks again to all.

 

[bcastner]

Tom70,

I find it hard to believe a write cache is going to cause megabytes of disk activity over a sustained idle time. Over a couple hundred ms maybe.

If I was forced to make a wild guess, I would look at Norton Anti-virus.

 

[Tom70]

I agree that write-caching seems unlikely. But since I only install and use NAV when I plan to do downloading(not for just surfing(I know surfing technically is downloading)). I didn't have it installed at that time or now(Reasons: Performance). I scan files then burn to cd. Later, I use cd again after fresh install. I suspect either a microsoft program or I must concede I may have had AOL installed(but certainly nothing more). I am going to have to step by step verify which program is responsible and then re-post my findings, Probably with new or similar questions.

 

[mccarn]

You can try scanning for spyware with ad-aware. You can download a trial version from

http://www.cnet.com.

 

[Ferrit]

In my experience, the indexing service is responsible for this on my machine. Try turning it off and see if things improve.

Good luck,

Chris

Bigamy is having one wife too many.
Marraige is the same.
-Oscar Wilde

 

[Tom70]

I would like to thank everyone for their posts. I plan to go through and repartition my hard drive, then reformat, then reload Win XP(I do so about 3-5 times a year). once I have done so, I plan to reload the programs I use one at a time and try to determine the source of the problem by reverse elimination. I will post the results some time next week.

I am starting a new post about "File data in the MBR."

Did you know Microsoft Win 2000 and up keeps an attribute record of every file that has ever been on your computer in the MBR? If the file is less than 1500 Bytes, then the entire file is stored there. I am not making a false claim. Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional book from the college I attend states that this is for security purposes.

Please check out this post and tell me if you know how to empty the MBR.

Thanks again.