Excessive Hard Drive Use Slows System

[Guest]

Not only is the C:\ drive acces light on mostly all of the time, the system
performance tool verifys that the disk is being accessed nearly 100% of the
time even when the Task Manager is telling me that the system is in Idle
about 97% of the time.

I have scanned for viruses, malware and tracking cookies without success.
The system is so slow that it is almost unusable. Any suggestions would be
greatly appreciated. Thanks.

MH

 

[BillW50]

Not only is the C:\ drive acces light on mostly all of the time, the
system performance tool verifys that the disk is being accessed
nearly 100% of the time even when the Task Manager is telling me that
the system is in Idle about 97% of the time.

I have scanned for viruses, malware and tracking cookies without
success. The system is so slow that it is almost unusable. Any
suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

MH

I don' know how much RAM you have installed. But if it is too small
(under 256MB usually), it will be using the swapfile a lot. If you have
more RAM and it still does it. Well you will probably benefit with more.
Most people do well with 512MB under Windows XP. And yes, there could be
something accessing your HD too. So this still has to be looked into.

 

[Nobody]

Hi,

It is good to do all these on a regular basis.
General Maintenance.

1. Disk Cleanup
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312
2. Disk Defragmenter
http://www.theeldergeek.com/disk_defragmenter_utility.htm
3. Spybot
http://www.safer-networking.org/
4. Adaware
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
5. Your Antivirus tool or an online tool
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
6. User Profile Hive Cleanup service
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...6D-8912-4E18-B570-42470E2F3582&displaylang=en
6. Your registry cleaner
XXXXXXXXXXXX
7. System File Checker
http://ask-leo.com/what_is_the_system_file_checker_and_how_do_i_run_it.html
8. Virtual Memory. Allow Windows to control it.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/153790
9. Hard Drive Diagnostic Tools. Chkdsk is ok, but when hd is acting really weird, use manufacturers diagnostic utility.
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/diagnosticsoftware/tp/tophddiag.htm
10. View Event Log for Errors
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427

That should keep it optimized and eliminate most problems.

HTH,

 

[Nobody]

It is good to do all these on a regular basis.
General Maintenance.

1. Do a Custom Update every once in a while to update items that are not "Critical"
http://www2.skidmore.edu/it/students/cupdates.html
2. Run Disk Cleanup
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312
3. Remove Windows Update Unintall to free up hard disk space
http://www.askdavetaylor.com/can_i_delete_the_contents_of_windows_ntuninstall.html
4. Clean Internet Explorer History, Cookies, etc.
http://www.ie-vista.com/history.html
5. Disk Defragmenter
http://www.theeldergeek.com/disk_defragmenter_utility.htm
6. Spybot
http://www.safer-networking.org/
7. Adaware
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
8. Your Antivirus tool or an online tool
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
9. User Profile Hive Cleanup service
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...6D-8912-4E18-B570-42470E2F3582&displaylang=en
10. Your registry cleaner
XXXXXXXXXXXX
11. System File Checker
http://ask-leo.com/what_is_the_system_file_checker_and_how_do_i_run_it.html
12. Virtual Memory. Allow Windows to control it.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/153790
13. Hard Drive Diagnostic Tools. Chkdsk is ok, but when hd is acting really weird, use manufacturers diagnostic utility.
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/diagnosticsoftware/tp/tophddiag.htm
14. View Event Log for Errors
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427

That should keep it optimized and eliminate most problems.

 

[Curt Christianson]

In addition to the other suggestions, check to see if the "Indexing Service"
is running. If so, turn it off. That can really "do a number" on things.

--
HTH,
Curt

Windows Support Center
www.aumha.org
Practically Nerded,...
http://dundats.mvps.org/Index.htm

 

[Guest]

OK! I leave this message for others who may have encountered this problem
with there own systems. By the process of elimination I determined that the
service 'mcmscsvc.exe' was the problem. By googling this process name I was
directed to a McAfee forum. Apparently, when one uninstalls an older version
of McAfee for the newer version, the uninstaller fails to remove all of the
older versions files, mcmscsvc.exe is one of these problematic files. It is
no longer needed and can cause excessive and unnecessary hard drive access.

The fix is as follows:

Start --> Run --> type in 'services.msc' --> click OK
A list of system services will appear. Locate 'McAfee Services' and
right-click on the line. Left-click on 'Properties'. Make sure that the file
path leads to mcmscsvc.exe. If so, left-click on 'Stop' and then change the
'Automatic' selection to 'Disabled'.

I hope that this information may be of some help to others having problems
with McAfee.

Thanks for all your suggestions!
MH