More HD access issues! 1

[T3chGuy]

Ok so here is the scoop. I got given this laptop to have a look at. From a cold boot everything if fine....for about 10 minutes. Then the hard drive starts working overtime like it's accessing something but nothing is running that should require the hard drive to be accessed. So then the PC continully accesses the harddrive forever! The HDD light is flashing like it should when data is being accessed and the drive is working fine other than being continually accessed! It's almost like when it does a defrag...but I'm not doing a defrag in fact I can be doing nothing and it will start doing this! My first though was ok virus of some kind? But after a virus update and a system scan everything turned up clean. I asked the user if he had added anything recently to his machine and he said no it just started to do that one day! Likely story!
So if anyone may know why the Hard disk is in a state of continually looking or perhaps a way to find out what is accessing the data then it would be greatly appreciated. There is no network connections or anything that would enable the hard drive to be accessed by another PC or anything like that so I can't figure out what could be accessing the hard drive.

 

[firewolfrl]

if you are running XP or 2k in NTFS
turn off Index service for the partition

 

[Accessdabbler]

Shouldn't the Index Service eventually sort itself out though?

 

[firewolfrl]

it uses resources and it can explain his drive thrashing
as a service it isn't really needed.
it doesn't improve performance

 

[apex1x]

What OS is it? Check the task manager "ctrl+alt+del", and see what processes are going on.
Chances are, some spyware or other program is trying to update itself or do a scan.
Check out what processes are starting up with windows as well.
Will need to more details before further troubleshooting can be made. ~Apex1x
Miller's Law:
You can't tell how deep a puddle is until you step into it.

 

[T3chGuy]

The OS is the ever fun and rarely seen windows ME. I have done a virus scan and it turned up clean. I also went through the programs that were running in the Task Manager and ended them one by one until all that was left running was explorer and still the problem persisted. However this gave me the idea to try booting in safe mode and see if the problem persisted. Guess what? No problems in safe mode! So now the question is what could possibly be getting loaded at regular startup that is causing this? I don't think that it is a startup program. Could it be a conflict not identified in the device driver set up? Still haven't found the problem but I think I am getting closer. Thanks for the help thus far.

 

[apex1x]

Run Msconfig from the run menu, and see what is starting up. Disable anything that is unnecessary.
Also, run a spyware scan by a program such as Adaware, get this at

http://www.lavasoftusa.com

~Apex1x
Miller's Law:
You can't tell how deep a puddle is until you step into it.

 

[T3chGuy]

Ok after countless reboots I have determined that the offending program is in fact the default system restore tool for windows ME. The continual HD search happens only when statemgr.exe is being used at startup. It seems that this is a rather crucial piece of windows ME in the event that a system restore should ever have to be done. Any suggestions on a repair for this or possibly an alternative for a system restore so that I don't have to keep it in the startup? Thanks for you help ladies and gents.

 

[apex1x]

Question: Does system restore slow down your computer with its activity?

If yes, then simply disable it:

Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
On the Performance tab, click File System, or press ALT+F.
On the Troubleshooting tab, click to select the Disable System Restore check box.
Click OK twice, and then click Yes when you are prompted to restart the computer.

~Apex1x
Miller's Law:
You can't tell how deep a puddle is until you step into it.