HARD DRIVE Continually Runs ?

[Bubey]

I am using Vista Home Ed. My Hard Drive is constantly reading & writing ???
Didn't have this problem
with XP. Also have a Memory problem in that I assume something is sucking
up all my memory of which
I have 2 GB on this machine. Is their a site that will tell me what I can
remove to make it run more efficiently?
Thanks !

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi,

New machine? Recently reinstalled? That would be normal as indexing occurs
and prefetch sets itself up for the user, both will eventually die down on
their own. If this is an older installation that just recently started
acting up, then look to what you've recently installed or updated as the
possible cause. A tool like process monitor may help identify the more
active threads (heavy system file activity is often an indication of an
issue with an anitvirus program update).

Process Monitor:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
Vote for my shoe: http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

 

[Bubey]

It may be the anti-virus running a "full" check. I use AVG but have it set
to do this at
night while we're sleeping. I'll check it out.

Not really a NEW machine in the household. I'm just starting to use it as
my primary PC.
Before the person who used it just wanted to push button and it would work
so I didn't do
much with it but keep it updated for him. I liked my XP and heard all the
horror stories
about Vista so I didn't really try to get into it. Hopefully Win 7 will be
the answer to all
the problems and they won't create a set of it's own.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Bubey]

OK, it still running and running. I've been using it for 2 months now and
it hasn't quit.
When I look at Applications, nothing is showing. Processes, nothing in the
numbers column at times, at other
times they are changing like crazy. The only way I can stop it is to do a
shut down. I am concerned about
Spyware or ?? And of course in the process it's eating up my memory so I
can't do anything. I keep getting
the response, "not enough memory".

Is it possible to use an OEM version of XP from one brand to another. i.e.,
I also have a Dell laptop which
runs Win XP. Then the Toshiba laptop which runs Vista. Could I do reformat
of the hard drive on the Toshiba
and then re-install Win XP from the Dell disk I got with the laptop ?

I know Win 7 is coming and is suppose to solve a lot of problems but at a
price of $200 per laptop is a little too
much. Wish Microsoft would do as Apple does, $30 for a single install of
their new OS (Snow Leopard) and
$50 for a 5 user install..........Thanks !

 

[Dave-UK]

OK, it still running and running. I've been using it for 2 months now and
it hasn't quit.
When I look at Applications, nothing is showing. Processes, nothing in the
numbers column at times, at other
times they are changing like crazy. The only way I can stop it is to do a
shut down. I am concerned about
Spyware or ?? And of course in the process it's eating up my memory so I
can't do anything. I keep getting
the response, "not enough memory".

Try running MalwareBytes:
http://www.malwarebytes.org/
Download the free version , install it, update it, then boot
into safe mode and run a full scan.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

You could look at which processes use the disk the most.

Go to the Task Manager, click the Performance tab, and click the
Resource Monitor button.

Click the Disk bar and look at the display. Click on any column heading
to sort by that value. Click again to reverse the sort order.

It might help.

I don't find it necessarily easy, but on occasion it has helped me a
little.

OK, it still running and running. I've been using it for 2 months now and it
hasn't quit.
When I look at Applications, nothing is showing. Processes, nothing in the
numbers column at times, at other
times they are changing like crazy. The only way I can stop it is to do a
shut down. I am concerned about
Spyware or ?? And of course in the process it's eating up my memory so I
can't do anything. I keep getting
the response, "not enough memory".

Is it possible to use an OEM version of XP from one brand to another. i.e.,
I also have a Dell laptop which
runs Win XP. Then the Toshiba laptop which runs Vista. Could I do reformat
of the hard drive on the Toshiba
and then re-install Win XP from the Dell disk I got with the laptop ?

 

[Bubey]

Ok Rick. I downloaded and installed the Process Monitor. Now what do I do
with it?
Is there another link that's tells me what to do with it and how it will
help keep my hard drive from
running continuously ? Is this a Vista problem ? I didn't have this
problem on XP ?
Thanks in advance for the help.