Windows 7 What's going on?

Commander_Cool

Senior Member
Hello,

from time to time my PC 'acts up' in the way that suddenly and without obvious provocation there is violent, and I use the word 'violent' judiciously, activity on the c:/ drive such that the LED is lit continuously (it doesn't blink rapidly but is lit as if powered by a 5 volt battery - that's how busy the drive is) and the PC is also obviously 'elsewhere occupied' so that mouse-clicks are maddeningly slow to register and the desired action as well, or else simply ignored (stack overflow! whoa!!).

This is, to put it mildly, irritating and I am damned if I can see any reason for this volcanic, hammer-and-tongs activity.

A look in Task Manager under Processes shows nothing suspect or out of the ordinary. I have had this happen before but then it turned out that the machine was remote-controlled from Khazakstan and employed in a DDOS-attack against some local government agency; a Trojan infection which the Kaspersky Rescue Disk took care of.

But this intense diskactivity happens even when I'm not infected or even online and I would very much like to know what's going on. There is probably a good reason but I bought and paid dearly for the PC and I want full control.
Any ideas on how to find out (excepting task Manager) what's going on under the hood?
Thank you.
:)
 
All you can do is try things. If you are not getting a message in the Action center about some backup operations, and it isn't a virus scan or Windows Update, or maybe a disk defrag or check, you can leave some utility open to see if you can catch it. Resource monitor or Task Manager (show processes from all users), or Performance monitor.

Have you tried disconnecting from the net to see if it stops or are you showing network activity?
 
Obviously, something is 'choking' it, be it software or hardward but, for now, let's address software....

>> cmd as Admin:
1. chkdsk /r/f
2. sfc /scannow
3. %SystemRoot%\System32\Cmd.exe /c Cleanmgr
/sageset:65535 & Cleanmgr /sagerun:65535

Check all boxes; only necessary @ 1st running.

Run CCleaner
Run Malwarebytes; Quick Scan will do.

Check msconfig for unneeded or unwanted background items

What is the current security?
Are there any sounds from the tower you'd put w/ said activities?
What is age of the unit?

Drew
 
All you can do is try things. If you are not getting a message in the Action center about some backup operations, and it isn't a virus scan or Windows Update, or maybe a disk defrag or check, you can leave some utility open to see if you can catch it. Resource monitor or Task Manager (show processes from all users), or Performance monitor.

Have you tried disconnecting from the net to see if it stops or are you showing network activity?
Hi Saltgrass, what up? I'm up, that's what! I'm back online after a couple months of involuntary unconnectedness and it's even better than I remembered it.

Being unconnected sucked and it's wonderful to have rejoined the human race. :D

"All you can do is try things."
I know it, and I wouldn't bug you good people if I hadn't tried every way I know. Sure I've checked show processes from all users in Task Manager but as I said in the OP nothing out of the ordinary shows up.

I hadn't thought of Resource Monitor, though, so I will try that. Thanks for the tip. Can it also log and not just show momentary use?

If so it would be, like, useful. Like, really, know what I'm sayin'?

Again thanks.
 
a
Obviously, something is 'choking' it, be it software or hardward but, for now, let's address software....

>> cmd as Admin:
1. chkdsk /r/f
2. sfc /scannow
3. %SystemRoot%\System32\Cmd.exe /c Cleanmgr
/sageset:65535 & Cleanmgr /sagerun:65535

Check all boxes; only necessary @ 1st running.

Run CCleaner
Run Malwarebytes; Quick Scan will do.

Check msconfig for unneeded or unwnted background items

What is the current security?
Are there any sounds from the tower you'd put w/ said activities?
What is age of the unit?

Drew
Yummy, this looks like low-level rooting and I like that plus experience has taught me to be careful in DOS sessions run as Admin so I think it'll be safe.

I run chkdsk with the /r and /f switches about once a week as a preventive measure, but sfc is new to me. Like I said, I like this already, fix or not; makes me feel like I'm a seasoned computer wiz, great for the old self-esteem, wobbly as it is.

"Check msconfig for unneeded or unwnted background items."
That's routine too. It's also annoying the way some software inserts itself there without asking the owners permission. I don't like such wilful behavior and out they go if they are not 100% useful.

"What is the current security?"
Howzat? Do you mean AV? If so: AVG. Chosen on the principle of maximum performance and reliability for the minimum outlay and the minimum intrusiveness.

"Are there any sounds from the tower you'd put w/ said activities?"
No.

"What is age of the unit?"
Isn't that sort of an undelicate question, Drew?
;) OK then, six years.

Oh, I just recalled a question I have been meaning to ask here: I have had two 160 GB external drives give up on me within the past four months, both of them brimming with useful stuff.

Such events can be...kind of annoying. So, is it better over the life-span of a disk to leave it on 24/7 (as I have been doing on my own theory that the spinning up of the disk puts more strain on the bearings than leaving it running) or to stop and start it together with the PC?

Also, is there any concensus on wether your data is safer over time on a hard disk (a technology dating from the mid-50's) or is a USB stick a better bet?

A friend claims that his Kingston drive (literally no bigger than the last joint of ones thumb) has a 500 GB capacity. If true, then thumb drives start to become an interesting alternative I think.
 
I strongly urge using MSE not, AVG.

Honestly, @ 6 yrs, the machine could, in a word, being getting tired. Your original post made me wonder if the HDD is showing age.

A large USB can suffice. Although, odds of good externals failing are slim. These days they are tending to be 1TB & up... my own is 1.5TB. Ergo, w/ large files being saved (vids/music) a big external HDD is it.
OR, are you meaning expected 'shelf-life', HDD vs USB?

Just leave running. Oft doing Daily Bkups, anyway. Does no harm & likely better, over the long-term.

Cheers,
Drew
 
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I always worry about the heat generated in some external drives. I suppose it depends on how well it is cooled or venilated. But I use my extenal drives only when I need them.

If I had some type of network drive, I would probably leave it running for at least the normal hours. I would feel it was made to run much like a computer in relation to how it handles it drives...

I don't think there are any 500G flash drives, but I haven't checked since yesterday.... It does say the have some up to 256G. I just paid quite a bit for my SSD and it is only 128G.
 
Not meaning to hijack this thread, BUT: I am having trouble using cmd prompt, as i seem to NOT be the admin.. must I use that phrase: >>cmd as Admin: ????
 
I strongly urge using MSE not, AVG.

Honestly, @ 6 yrs, the machine could, in a word, being getting tired. Your original post made me wonder if the HDD is showing age.

A large USB can suffice. Although, odds of good externals failing are slim. These days they are tending to be 1TB & up... my own is 1.5TB. Ergo, w/ large files being saved (vids/music) a big external HDD is it.
OR, are you meaning expected 'shelf-life', HDD vs USB?

Just leave running. Oft doing Daily Bkups, anyway. Does no harm & likely better, over the long-term.

Cheers,
Drew
"I strongly urge using MSE not, AVG."

Okay, I'll run MSE up the flagpole etc.


"Honestly, @ 6 yrs, the machine could, in a word, being getting tired."

Sure it could and I appreciate your honesty...but I have an HP Pavilion that is, believe or not, even older with its eight years and which runs as well today as it did back when I got it. In fact even better as I have upgraded the processor and memory, bought at very reasonable prices on Ebay.

Besides, I'm old too ('57 model) so we go well together, my old, outdated museum pieces (PC's) and me...

"Although, odds of good externals failing are slim."

Now, there's a comforting thought that doesn't do
sɦıt for me with my lost data. Btw: both the capsized drives were Western Digital, a third and even older one, is a Seagate. I wonder if that is any indication of anything? I had thought that WD was a pretty good brand but it doesn't look it.

"OR, are you meaning expected 'shelf-life', HDD vs USB?"

Whaa..? Shelf-life?! Why in heavens name would I mean that? Oh, it's kidding me you are...a bit slow on the uptake, but age does that to one. My intentions are good, though.

"Just leave running."

Will do (it's what I wanted to hear anyway).

"Oft doing Daily Bkups, anyway."

That's good advice that can't be repeated often enough.

"Does no harm & likely better, over the long-term."


Which? Doing backups or leaving the drive running?


Anyhoo, thanks for the input Drew. Seeyabye.


C_C
 
Not meaning to hijack this thread, BUT: I am having trouble using cmd prompt, as i seem to NOT be the admin.. must I use that phrase: >>cmd as Admin: ????
Hijack away, friend! The whole point of this forum is for nice people to get together and ask questions and we're all wiser when we leave than when we came here.

I am by no means an expert like others here (my PC "experience" stems only from working in PC support since 1985 for companies like Ericsson, the swedish sugar company and AstraZeneca) but what I do is I press the Start button, enter cmd into the text box and when the command prompt icon appears in the program list, I right-click on it and select Run as administrator.

This works for me, but you may want to wait around for the expert opinion.

C_C

- - - Restrictions may apply. Your PC may explode. World war three may ensue. If so, I am in no way, shape or form responsible - - -
 

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Was in reference to leaving the drive running.

I've for a long time had more faith in Seagate than others.

It's no different w/ computers or cars or anything... 1 may break or wear out, in whole or part & another may not or not @ the same time.

IF a drive does actually fail (not spinning anymore) they can be shipped to Seagate in Toronto. Not cheap but, they can retrive data from almost anything.

I'm an even older model than you ;)

Cheers,
Drew
 
Was in reference to leaving the drive running.

I've for a long time had more faith in Seagate than others.

It's no different w/ computers or cars or anything... 1 may break or wear out, in whole or part & another may not or not @ the same time.

IF a drive does actually fail (not spinning anymore) they can be shipped to Seagate in Toronto. Not cheap but, they can retrive data from almost anything.

I'm an even older model than you ;)

Cheers,
Drew

Hi Drew, you said:

"I've for a long time had more faith in Seagate than others."

Yes, as I recall the original IBM XT back in the mid 80's (the 1980's) the model on which I cut my PC teeth had a, for the time, whopping 5 MB hard drive and that was a Seagate. So, since Seagate are still around and since the IBM people had been making computers since 1953 and made hardware meant to last (no built-in redundancy there, that is a recent concept) they are probably good.

À propos the IBM XT, I read @ Wikipedia the other day that...

...as of June 2006, IBM PC and XT models were still in use at the majority of U.S. National Weather Service upper-air observing sites, used to process data as it is returned from the ascending radiosonde, attached to a weather balloon, although they have been slowly phased out.

2006! Pretty impressive in my opinion. My hat's off to these people; not just out to turn a quick buck, screw the customer base and move on but serious machine builders. Now, that's how you get loyal customers.

"It's no different w/ computers or cars or anything... 1 may break or wear out, in whole or part & another may not or not @ the same time."

True, but as I said I had two Western Digital disks give up on me, within 6-8 months of each other - the Seagate is still hangin' in there despite being older than the WD ones.

"I'm an even older model than you"
:wink3:

My
sincere condolences, Drew. But...wait a minute! You sure you're not an impostor? Drew is a very fine name, grand-sounding even but I get 80's, 90's vibes...hmm :)
 
Even '60s & '70s... I'm 59
That's cool man. You could be a nice guy just the same...doesn't mean squat :cool:

EDIT: I now run MSE as per your (I think it was you) recommendation. But why is MSE better than, e g, AVG? or DOA for that matter?
 
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