System goes to A drive for about 30 seconds even when not requested 5

[cangowrong]

When I am using windows 98. I might be out on the web or doing some work in another program when for no reason the A drive starts making noise without a disk in it as if it is trying to read it.... Sometimes the only way it seems to shut it up is to put a disk in, and then it's happy... This doesn't have a pattern that I know if except driving me crazy.... Does anyone have any ideas... Thanks

 

[Alt255]

Which virus scanner are you using? Some just love to snoop around any time they please.<br>
The same thing applies to viruses. If you don't have a modern scanner and up-to-date virus definitions you should consider them a priority, especially if you spend much time browsing and downloading.

 

[wahooguy]

Also, MS office has a Find Fast program that installs by default. If you have that installed, try removing it from your startup folder. The utility tries to index all office documents every 2 hours, including files on a floppy drive (even with no disk in the drive). Removing it won't cause any problems with the functionality of Office.

 

[Alt255]

Eh? Fast Find <b>is</b> a virus. Eliminating it is one of the fastest ways to speed up a system by 10-20%.<br>

 

[acecce]

I would have to agree 100% with wahooguy and Alt255. Find Fast has been the root of my of our problems. I would like to add one more tidbit to this, however:<br>
<br>
After you remove Find Fast from your startup folder you need to remove it from memory. One way is by rebooting your PC.<br>
<br>
Another way is CTRL-ALT-DEL, select Find Fast, click END TASK. If you choose this method, you may even find Find Fast listed here twice. You may also end up with the &quot;not responding&quot; dialog box when trying to end task.

 

[Karl Blessing]

Also try deleting all PIF files you dont need, for some stupid reason win9x will attempt to scan these PIF appz, and sometimes they're linked to your floppy.(this prob seems more relavent back in win95 days) <p>Karl<br><a href=mailto:kb244@bellsouth.net>kb244@bellsouth.net</a><br><a href=

http://kb244.8m.com>

</a><br>

 

[gads12]

You can uninstall fast find by rerunning the Office setup and choosing the add remove components, and then take the check mark out of the box for Fast Find it should be under accesories section. I never install it when installing office I always do a custom install so I dont have to load any TSR's that eat up memory, that goes for all programs that want to put anything in startup or put an icon on the task bar

 

[Alt255]

Gads12, you just made the comment of the decade. Any thoughts about removing the residuals of Fast Find from memory? It seems to hog some areas on this Win98 machine even after it (Fast Find) terminates.<br> <p> <br><a href=mailto: > </a><br><a href=

http://www.vorpalcom.com>A

plain black box</a><br>

 

[BenCool]

Yep, exactly..!! <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The /&*)$?)*&quot;$&* FIND FAST function.. I totally approve..!!! Me too.!<br><br>And check also for you anti-virus..! It can do that too..<br> <p>Ben_Cool <br><a href=mailto:ben_cool@hotmail.com>ben_cool@hotmail.com</a><br><a href= > </a><br>

 

[Alt255]

Ben, I think our opinions of the &quot;/&*)$?)*&quot;$&* FIND FAST&quot; feature are in perfect unison. Maybe somebody should write a FAQ to point out the best ways to kill this obnoxious critter and send its rotting corpse back to the evil programmers who gave birth to it. <p> <br><a href=mailto: > </a><br><a href=

http://www.vorpalcom.com>A

plain black box</a><br>

 

[TheBigViking]

I have found that sometimes a DLL can be registered on the A drive - believe it or not. Windows then tries to find this DLL on this drive. To check for this do a search through the registry for a:\. See what you find. Be carefull though. The Big Viking