Why unusually busy harddrive activity

[Don McGlynn]

Recently when booting from a cold start my hard drive goes into a busy frenzy
for about 2 solid minutes. This occurs following a normal Windows and desktop
and McAfee Security Center boot. This does not occur after coming to life
following a hibernation period. I cannot associate this with anything I've done
recently.

I'm running XP SP2 Media Ctr Edition on a Dell Dem XPS400 with Outlook Express
7. All updates are current

How can I find out during this 2 minutes what program is causing this while it's
happening?

Thank you,
Don

 

[Nepatsfan]

In

Recently when booting from a cold start my hard drive goes
into a busy frenzy
for about 2 solid minutes. This occurs following a normal
Windows and desktop
and McAfee Security Center boot. This does not occur after
coming to life
following a hibernation period. I cannot associate this with
anything I've done
recently.

I'm running XP SP2 Media Ctr Edition on a Dell Dem XPS400
with Outlook Express
7. All updates are current

How can I find out during this 2 minutes what program is
causing this while it's
happening?

Thank you,
Don

Right click an open spot on your Taskbar at the bottom of the
screen and select Task Manager from the menu.
Note: You can also hit the Ctrl + Alt + Del keys at the same
time to launch Task Manager.
In Task Manager, click on the Processes tab.
On the Processes page, click on the CPU column twice to arrange
the items in descending order. This will allow you to identify
which processes are the most active.

If you're looking for more information than what is provided by
Task Manager try Process Explorer.

Process Explorer v11.04
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/processexplorer.mspx

If you need help in identifying entries listed in either
utility, take a look here,

TASK LIST PROGRAMS
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

Startup Applications List
http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php

WinTasks Process Library
http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary/other/a/

Keep in mind that you can have Task Manager and/or Process
Explorer launch automatically at start up by placing a shortcut
to the program in the Startup folder on your Start menu.

Good luck

Nepatsfan

 

[Don McGlynn]

In

Right click an open spot on your Taskbar at the bottom of the screen and
select Task Manager from the menu.
Note: You can also hit the Ctrl + Alt + Del keys at the same time to launch
Task Manager.
In Task Manager, click on the Processes tab.
On the Processes page, click on the CPU column twice to arrange the items in
descending order. This will allow you to identify which processes are the most
active.

If you're looking for more information than what is provided by Task Manager
try Process Explorer.

Process Explorer v11.04
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/processexplorer.mspx

If you need help in identifying entries listed in either utility, take a look
here,

TASK LIST PROGRAMS
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

Startup Applications List
http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php

WinTasks Process Library
http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary/other/a/

Keep in mind that you can have Task Manager and/or Process Explorer launch
automatically at start up by placing a shortcut to the program in the Startup
folder on your Start menu.

Good luck

Nepatsfan
---------------------------------------------------

Thanks Nepatsfan for your helpful info.

I'll give it all a try and see what happens.
Don

 

[Guest]

Nepatsfan

Keep in mind that you can have Task Manager and/or Process

Explorer launch automatically at start up by placing a shortcut
to the program in the Startup folder on your Start menu.

To clarify the above statement. If I drag a program icon from "Start/all
programs/[program]" to the start key that the programs showing on the Start
button will load upon startup? In other words, is this a second method of
putting something in your startup folder? If so, I have some cleaning up to
do. Thank you very much.

 

[Nepatsfan]

Answered inline.

In

Nepatsfan

Keep in mind that you can have Task Manager and/or Process

Explorer launch automatically at start up by placing a
shortcut
to the program in the Startup folder on your Start menu.

To clarify the above statement. If I drag a program icon
from "Start/all
programs/[program]" to the start key that the programs
showing on the Start
button will load upon startup? In other words, is this a
second method of
putting something in your startup folder? If so, I have some
cleaning up to
do. Thank you very much.

No, the program icon would still have to be dragged to Start ->
All Programs -> Startup. That's the only location on the Start
Menu to place shortcuts to programs you want launched at start
up. The phrase "placing a shortcut to the program in the
Startup folder on your Start menu" in my earlier response
simply means the shortcut has to end up in one of these two
folders and nowhere else.

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
C:\Documents and Settings\YOURACCOUNT\Start
Menu\Programs\Startup

Note: Replace YOURACCOUNT with the name of the appropriate user
account.

Nepatsfan

 

[Guest]

I don't want to split hairs and I am not understanding exactly what you are
saying. To add a short-cut to load on startup I go to control panel/task bar
and edit there. To add a program for easy access (not to start at startup) I
drag the program icon that is listed under All Programs/(X program) to the
Start Button or right click it and Pin it to Start. So, what are the
instructions you gave via Document & Settings doing? Sorry, I apparently I
am dense and the written word is sometimes confusing but generally it is my
written word that is confusing.

Thanks

Answered inline.

In

Nepatsfan

Keep in mind that you can have Task Manager and/or Process

Explorer launch automatically at start up by placing a
shortcut
to the program in the Startup folder on your Start menu.

To clarify the above statement. If I drag a program icon
from "Start/all
programs/[program]" to the start key that the programs
showing on the Start
button will load upon startup? In other words, is this a
second method of
putting something in your startup folder? If so, I have some
cleaning up to
do. Thank you very much.

No, the program icon would still have to be dragged to Start ->
All Programs -> Startup. That's the only location on the Start
Menu to place shortcuts to programs you want launched at start
up. The phrase "placing a shortcut to the program in the
Startup folder on your Start menu" in my earlier response
simply means the shortcut has to end up in one of these two
folders and nowhere else.

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
C:\Documents and Settings\YOURACCOUNT\Start
Menu\Programs\Startup

Note: Replace YOURACCOUNT with the name of the appropriate user
account.

Nepatsfan

 

[Nepatsfan]

I don't know exactly where the confusion occurs or how I can
explain this any differently, but here goes.

Nowhere in my first post in this thread is there any mention of
dropping shortcuts on the Start button or pinning them to the
left hand side of the Start menu. Let's take both of those
issues out of the conversation. They have nothing to do with
what programs are launched at startup. As for using the Taskbar
and Start Menu applet in Control Panel to add shortcuts to the
Startup folder, that is only applicable if you're using the
Classic Start menu.

Keep in mind that your Start menu is a combination of the
contents of these two folders, C:\Documents and Settings\All
Users\Start Menu and C:\Documents and
Settings\YOURACCOUNT\Start Menu where YOURACCOUNT refers to the
name of your user account.

I pointed out to Don McGlynn that he could place a shortcut to
Process Explorer and/or Task Manager in the Startup folder on
his Start menu because I thought it would save him a step in
troubleshooting the issue he was seeing when his computer first
booted up. I thought it might make things easier if the tools
he was using were already running at startup. If he had come
back and asked how that could be accomplished, I would have
replied with the following.

Go to your Start menu and move the mouse pointer up to All
Programs -> Startup. Right click and select "Open All Users"
from the menu that drops down. This folder should open up.

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Now, go back and right click on Startup again except this time
select Open from the menu. This folder should open.

C:\Documents and Settings\YOURACCOUNT\Start
Menu\Programs\Startup

Next, go to C:\WINDOWS\system32 and locate Task Manager. Right
click on it and select Send to -> Desktop (create shortcut)
from the menu. Go to your Desktop and drag this new shortcut
into either the All Users Startup folder if you want the
program to launch when anyone logs on or to your Startup folder
if you want the program to launch only when you log on. Do the
same for Process Explorer if that's the program you want to
launch.

That's the best I can come up with to explain exactly what I
was trying to convey to the OP.

Nepatsfan

I don't want to split hairs and I am not understanding exactly
what you are
saying. To add a short-cut to load on startup I go to
control panel/task bar
and edit there. To add a program for easy access (not to
start at startup) I
drag the program icon that is listed under All Programs/(X
program) to the
Start Button or right click it and Pin it to Start. So, what
are the
instructions you gave via Document & Settings doing? Sorry,
I apparently I
am dense and the written word is sometimes confusing but
generally it is my
written word that is confusing.

Thanks

Answered inline.

In

Nepatsfan

Keep in mind that you can have Task Manager and/or Process
Explorer launch automatically at start up by placing a
shortcut
to the program in the Startup folder on your Start menu.

To clarify the above statement. If I drag a program icon
from "Start/all
programs/[program]" to the start key that the programs
showing on the Start
button will load upon startup? In other words, is this a
second method of
putting something in your startup folder? If so, I have
some
cleaning up to
do. Thank you very much.

No, the program icon would still have to be dragged to
Start ->
All Programs -> Startup. That's the only location on the
Start
Menu to place shortcuts to programs you want launched at
start
up. The phrase "placing a shortcut to the program in the
Startup folder on your Start menu" in my earlier response
simply means the shortcut has to end up in one of these two
folders and nowhere else.

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start
Menu\Programs\Startup
C:\Documents and Settings\YOURACCOUNT\Start
Menu\Programs\Startup

Note: Replace YOURACCOUNT with the name of the appropriate
user
account.

Nepatsfan

:

In Recently when booting from a cold start my hard drive
goes
into a busy frenzy
for about 2 solid minutes. This occurs following a
normal
Windows and desktop
and McAfee Security Center boot. This does not occur
after
coming to life
following a hibernation period. I cannot associate this
with
anything I've done
recently.

I'm running XP SP2 Media Ctr Edition on a Dell Dem
XPS400
with Outlook Express
7. All updates are current

How can I find out during this 2 minutes what program is
causing this while it's
happening?

Thank you,
Don

Right click an open spot on your Taskbar at the bottom of
the
screen and select Task Manager from the menu.
Note: You can also hit the Ctrl + Alt + Del keys at the
same
time to launch Task Manager.
In Task Manager, click on the Processes tab.
On the Processes page, click on the CPU column twice to
arrange
the items in descending order. This will allow you to
identify
which processes are the most active.

If you're looking for more information than what is
provided
by
Task Manager try Process Explorer.

Process Explorer v11.04
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/processexplorer.mspx

If you need help in identifying entries listed in either
utility, take a look here,

TASK LIST PROGRAMS
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

Startup Applications List
http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php

WinTasks Process Library
http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary/other/a/

Keep in mind that you can have Task Manager and/or
Process
Explorer launch automatically at start up by placing a
shortcut
to the program in the Startup folder on your Start menu.

Good luck

Nepatsfan

 

[Guest]

Good explanation. I got it now. I didn't mean to hijack this thread and
thus apologize. Thanks for clearing up my confusion.

I don't know exactly where the confusion occurs or how I can
explain this any differently, but here goes.

Nowhere in my first post in this thread is there any mention of
dropping shortcuts on the Start button or pinning them to the
left hand side of the Start menu. Let's take both of those
issues out of the conversation. They have nothing to do with
what programs are launched at startup. As for using the Taskbar
and Start Menu applet in Control Panel to add shortcuts to the
Startup folder, that is only applicable if you're using the
Classic Start menu.

Keep in mind that your Start menu is a combination of the
contents of these two folders, C:\Documents and Settings\All
Users\Start Menu and C:\Documents and
Settings\YOURACCOUNT\Start Menu where YOURACCOUNT refers to the
name of your user account.

I pointed out to Don McGlynn that he could place a shortcut to
Process Explorer and/or Task Manager in the Startup folder on
his Start menu because I thought it would save him a step in
troubleshooting the issue he was seeing when his computer first
booted up. I thought it might make things easier if the tools
he was using were already running at startup. If he had come
back and asked how that could be accomplished, I would have
replied with the following.

Go to your Start menu and move the mouse pointer up to All
Programs -> Startup. Right click and select "Open All Users"
from the menu that drops down. This folder should open up.

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Now, go back and right click on Startup again except this time
select Open from the menu. This folder should open.

C:\Documents and Settings\YOURACCOUNT\Start
Menu\Programs\Startup

Next, go to C:\WINDOWS\system32 and locate Task Manager. Right
click on it and select Send to -> Desktop (create shortcut)
from the menu. Go to your Desktop and drag this new shortcut
into either the All Users Startup folder if you want the
program to launch when anyone logs on or to your Startup folder
if you want the program to launch only when you log on. Do the
same for Process Explorer if that's the program you want to
launch.

That's the best I can come up with to explain exactly what I
was trying to convey to the OP.

Nepatsfan

I don't want to split hairs and I am not understanding exactly
what you are
saying. To add a short-cut to load on startup I go to
control panel/task bar
and edit there. To add a program for easy access (not to
start at startup) I
drag the program icon that is listed under All Programs/(X
program) to the
Start Button or right click it and Pin it to Start. So, what
are the
instructions you gave via Document & Settings doing? Sorry,
I apparently I
am dense and the written word is sometimes confusing but
generally it is my
written word that is confusing.

Thanks

Answered inline.

In Nepatsfan

Keep in mind that you can have Task Manager and/or Process
Explorer launch automatically at start up by placing a
shortcut
to the program in the Startup folder on your Start menu.

To clarify the above statement. If I drag a program icon
from "Start/all
programs/[program]" to the start key that the programs
showing on the Start
button will load upon startup? In other words, is this a
second method of
putting something in your startup folder? If so, I have
some
cleaning up to
do. Thank you very much.

No, the program icon would still have to be dragged to
Start ->
All Programs -> Startup. That's the only location on the
Start
Menu to place shortcuts to programs you want launched at
start
up. The phrase "placing a shortcut to the program in the
Startup folder on your Start menu" in my earlier response
simply means the shortcut has to end up in one of these two
folders and nowhere else.

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start
Menu\Programs\Startup
C:\Documents and Settings\YOURACCOUNT\Start
Menu\Programs\Startup

Note: Replace YOURACCOUNT with the name of the appropriate
user
account.

Nepatsfan


:

In Recently when booting from a cold start my hard drive
goes
into a busy frenzy
for about 2 solid minutes. This occurs following a
normal
Windows and desktop
and McAfee Security Center boot. This does not occur
after
coming to life
following a hibernation period. I cannot associate this
with
anything I've done
recently.

I'm running XP SP2 Media Ctr Edition on a Dell Dem
XPS400
with Outlook Express
7. All updates are current

How can I find out during this 2 minutes what program is
causing this while it's
happening?

Thank you,
Don

Right click an open spot on your Taskbar at the bottom of
the
screen and select Task Manager from the menu.
Note: You can also hit the Ctrl + Alt + Del keys at the
same
time to launch Task Manager.
In Task Manager, click on the Processes tab.
On the Processes page, click on the CPU column twice to
arrange
the items in descending order. This will allow you to
identify
which processes are the most active.

If you're looking for more information than what is
provided
by
Task Manager try Process Explorer.

Process Explorer v11.04
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/processexplorer.mspx

If you need help in identifying entries listed in either
utility, take a look here,

TASK LIST PROGRAMS
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

Startup Applications List
http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php

WinTasks Process Library
http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary/other/a/

Keep in mind that you can have Task Manager and/or
Process
Explorer launch automatically at start up by placing a
shortcut
to the program in the Startup folder on your Start menu.

Good luck

Nepatsfan

 

[Nepatsfan]

No problem. Since you didn't hijack the thread, there's no need
to apologize. You simply asked for clarification.

Nepatsfan

In

Good explanation. I got it now. I didn't mean to hijack
this thread and
thus apologize. Thanks for clearing up my confusion.

I don't know exactly where the confusion occurs or how I can
explain this any differently, but here goes.

Nowhere in my first post in this thread is there any mention
of
dropping shortcuts on the Start button or pinning them to
the
left hand side of the Start menu. Let's take both of those
issues out of the conversation. They have nothing to do with
what programs are launched at startup. As for using the
Taskbar
and Start Menu applet in Control Panel to add shortcuts to
the
Startup folder, that is only applicable if you're using the
Classic Start menu.

Keep in mind that your Start menu is a combination of the
contents of these two folders, C:\Documents and Settings\All
Users\Start Menu and C:\Documents and
Settings\YOURACCOUNT\Start Menu where YOURACCOUNT refers to
the
name of your user account.

I pointed out to Don McGlynn that he could place a shortcut
to
Process Explorer and/or Task Manager in the Startup folder
on
his Start menu because I thought it would save him a step in
troubleshooting the issue he was seeing when his computer
first
booted up. I thought it might make things easier if the
tools
he was using were already running at startup. If he had come
back and asked how that could be accomplished, I would have
replied with the following.

Go to your Start menu and move the mouse pointer up to All
Programs -> Startup. Right click and select "Open All Users"
from the menu that drops down. This folder should open up.

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start
Menu\Programs\Startup

Now, go back and right click on Startup again except this
time
select Open from the menu. This folder should open.

C:\Documents and Settings\YOURACCOUNT\Start
Menu\Programs\Startup

Next, go to C:\WINDOWS\system32 and locate Task Manager.
Right
click on it and select Send to -> Desktop (create shortcut)
from the menu. Go to your Desktop and drag this new shortcut
into either the All Users Startup folder if you want the
program to launch when anyone logs on or to your Startup
folder
if you want the program to launch only when you log on. Do
the
same for Process Explorer if that's the program you want to
launch.

That's the best I can come up with to explain exactly what I
was trying to convey to the OP.

Nepatsfan

I don't want to split hairs and I am not understanding
exactly
what you are
saying. To add a short-cut to load on startup I go to
control panel/task bar
and edit there. To add a program for easy access (not to
start at startup) I
drag the program icon that is listed under All Programs/(X
program) to the
Start Button or right click it and Pin it to Start. So,
what
are the
instructions you gave via Document & Settings doing?
Sorry,
I apparently I
am dense and the written word is sometimes confusing but
generally it is my
written word that is confusing.

Thanks

:

Answered inline.

In
Nepatsfan

Keep in mind that you can have Task Manager and/or
Process
Explorer launch automatically at start up by placing a
shortcut
to the program in the Startup folder on your Start menu.

To clarify the above statement. If I drag a program icon
from "Start/all
programs/[program]" to the start key that the programs
showing on the Start
button will load upon startup? In other words, is this a
second method of
putting something in your startup folder? If so, I have
some
cleaning up to
do. Thank you very much.

No, the program icon would still have to be dragged to
Start ->
All Programs -> Startup. That's the only location on the
Start
Menu to place shortcuts to programs you want launched at
start
up. The phrase "placing a shortcut to the program in the
Startup folder on your Start menu" in my earlier response
simply means the shortcut has to end up in one of these
two
folders and nowhere else.

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start
Menu\Programs\Startup
C:\Documents and Settings\YOURACCOUNT\Start
Menu\Programs\Startup

Note: Replace YOURACCOUNT with the name of the appropriate
user
account.

Nepatsfan


:

In Recently when booting from a cold start my hard drive
goes
into a busy frenzy
for about 2 solid minutes. This occurs following a
normal
Windows and desktop
and McAfee Security Center boot. This does not occur
after
coming to life
following a hibernation period. I cannot associate
this
with
anything I've done
recently.

I'm running XP SP2 Media Ctr Edition on a Dell Dem
XPS400
with Outlook Express
7. All updates are current

How can I find out during this 2 minutes what program
is
causing this while it's
happening?

Thank you,
Don

Right click an open spot on your Taskbar at the bottom
of
the
screen and select Task Manager from the menu.
Note: You can also hit the Ctrl + Alt + Del keys at the
same
time to launch Task Manager.
In Task Manager, click on the Processes tab.
On the Processes page, click on the CPU column twice to
arrange
the items in descending order. This will allow you to
identify
which processes are the most active.

If you're looking for more information than what is
provided
by
Task Manager try Process Explorer.

Process Explorer v11.04
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/processexplorer.mspx

If you need help in identifying entries listed in either
utility, take a look here,

TASK LIST PROGRAMS
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

Startup Applications List
http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php

WinTasks Process Library
http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary/other/a/

Keep in mind that you can have Task Manager and/or
Process
Explorer launch automatically at start up by placing a
shortcut
to the program in the Startup folder on your Start menu.

Good luck

Nepatsfan