Screensaver HD Activity

[Nobody Special]

I have constant hard drive activity the moment that any screensaver is started
and ends the moment the screensaver is stopped. I've run virus and spyware
scans but no help. msconfig, hijack this, and autoruns show nothing out of the
ordinary. Anybody heard of this? I'd sure appreciate getting rid of whatever's
causing this.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have constant hard drive activity the moment that any screensaver
is started and ends the moment the screensaver is stopped. I've run
virus and spyware scans but no help. msconfig, hijack this, and
autoruns show nothing out of the ordinary. Anybody heard of this? I'd
sure appreciate getting rid of whatever's causing this.

"Any Screensaver"? Including "Blank"?
What are the specs of your machine (processor, RAM, etc..)?

Install TweakUI and see if under "General", "Optimize hard Disk when Idle"
is checked...
Check your hard drive for errors (CHKDSK)...
Defragment your hard disk drive...

 

[Jim]

Does your anti virus have an option to scan when your screen saver is
activated?

 

[Nobody Special]

Yes, but only if the antivirus screensaver is selected. Otherwise, no.

Does your anti virus have an option to scan when your screen saver is
activated?

 

[Nobody Special]

Hi Shenan. Thanks for responding.
Yes, even "Blank".
Specs are:
2GHz Pentium 4, 512MB RAM, 60GB HD
Only thing checked under "General" in TweakUI is "Beep on Errors"
Ran CHKDSK and Defrag. No help.
It acts like a trojan but nothing detects it.
I ran task manager but it unloaded too quickly to catch what it is.

I have constant hard drive activity the moment that any screensaver
is started and ends the moment the screensaver is stopped. I've run
virus and spyware scans but no help. msconfig, hijack this, and
autoruns show nothing out of the ordinary. Anybody heard of this? I'd
sure appreciate getting rid of whatever's causing this.

"Any Screensaver"? Including "Blank"?
What are the specs of your machine (processor, RAM, etc..)?

Install TweakUI and see if under "General", "Optimize hard Disk when Idle"
is checked...
Check your hard drive for errors (CHKDSK)...
Defragment your hard disk drive...

 

[Brian]

I would recommend creating a before and after counter log using the
Performance snap-in of Admin tools. Create a Process log using "Creating
Process ID" for "All instances". Set it up on 3 sec intervals. Save as a
text file and you can view the log file with any spreadsheet program. Run
the first log with the screensaver disabled to get a baseline. Then start a
second log session with the screensaver enabled. Compare the two log files
when done. If its a process thats being triggered by the screensaver, it
should be listed in the second log. However, if its putting an already
active process into overdrive, you wont be able to tell.
GL,

Brian P.
A+, Network+, MCP

 

[Nobody Special]

Brian-
That was a great idea. Glad I thought of it. Heheheh. It didn't turn up
anything. All it shows is the systems variables you'd expect to be varying,
varying. This is really freaking me out. I'm beginning to think I've picked up
a bug or something that the security outfits aren't aware of yet. I don't know
what to do as I can't even identify what it is that's exercising my hard drive
and what it's doing. Thanks for your help. Any more ideas would be graciously
appreciated.
NS

I would recommend creating a before and after counter log using the
Performance snap-in of Admin tools. Create a Process log using "Creating
Process ID" for "All instances". Set it up on 3 sec intervals. Save as a
text file and you can view the log file with any spreadsheet program. Run
the first log with the screensaver disabled to get a baseline. Then start a
second log session with the screensaver enabled. Compare the two log files
when done. If its a process thats being triggered by the screensaver, it
should be listed in the second log. However, if its putting an already
active process into overdrive, you wont be able to tell.
GL,

Brian P.
A+, Network+, MCP

 

[Nobody Special]

Brian-
Just thought maybe you'd like to know what my problem was. I got Filemon from
SysInternals, at it showed that my avast! anti-virus was running during
screensaver run time, even though I had it set NOT to! Who'da thought?
NS

I would recommend creating a before and after counter log using the
Performance snap-in of Admin tools. Create a Process log using "Creating
Process ID" for "All instances". Set it up on 3 sec intervals. Save as a
text file and you can view the log file with any spreadsheet program. Run
the first log with the screensaver disabled to get a baseline. Then start a
second log session with the screensaver enabled. Compare the two log files
when done. If its a process thats being triggered by the screensaver, it
should be listed in the second log. However, if its putting an already
active process into overdrive, you wont be able to tell.
GL,

Brian P.
A+, Network+, MCP