Constant disk access after reboot

[Gregg Cattanach]

A few times recently after I've rebooted my laptop (Dell 5100) the disk
seems to be constantly accessing and I can barely get it to start any new
program. This goes on for upwards of 5 minutes, but usually it eventually
ends. CPU access is minimal during this time, but it's hitting the disk
big-time (the monitor light for the disk is on solid). I've also had this
problem when shutting the computer down. It won't finish the shut down and
I have to use the power switch to turn if off.

I've scanned for viruses and spyware, etc. Any ideas what else I could
check? Would this be a software issue or could the disk be going bad?

WinXP, SP2.

 

[Guest]

What kinda system specs do you have there? Windows XP is a pretty hefty load
of OS...there are lots of programs/processes that load on startup - my
computer's hard disk light is usually full on for the first few minutes after
I've logged in, and I'm on a 1.1GHz desktop Celeron. Often this "wait time"
for older machines gets longer the more programs you have installed, I find.
But upwards of 5 minutes seems a little bit suspect. I get the idea that it
doesn't happen every time...System Restore makes occasional snapshots of your
hard drive periodically...try turning it off temporarily and see what
happens. Of course there could be several reasons.

 

[Gregg Cattanach]

What kinda system specs do you have there? Windows XP is a pretty
hefty load of OS...there are lots of programs/processes that load on
startup - my computer's hard disk light is usually full on for the
first few minutes after I've logged in, and I'm on a 1.1GHz desktop
Celeron. Often this "wait time" for older machines gets longer the
more programs you have installed, I find. But upwards of 5 minutes
seems a little bit suspect. I get the idea that it doesn't happen
every time...System Restore makes occasional snapshots of your hard
drive periodically...try turning it off temporarily and see what
happens. Of course there could be several reasons.

It's a 'new' feature of the computer, it only started doing this some time
during the last week. It's a Pentium 4, 2.8GHZ, 256MB Ram, 30GB hard drive,
(65% free space on drive).

Does System restore created a boot point after every reboot?

 

[Guest]

OK, if it's only started doing this in the last week, then you may be able to
fix the problem if it's internal by doing a system restore back to when you
know it was working Start->Programs->Accessories->System Tools->System
Restore. Note that this will not remove any of your saved files or programs.
If that doesn't fix it, try uninstalling any new programs you've installed
around the time of the problem. Your laptop shouldn't be having any trouble
resources wise, being what it is. Failing that I would contact Dell about
the HDD. And regarding your question, System Restore should only create
restore points when your computer is idle, but it doesn't always.