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| Thread ID: 144202 | 2017-08-10 05:46:00 | Hard drive very busy for no reason? | mzee (3324) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 1438160 | 2017-08-10 05:46:00 | One of my old Dell Vostro W10 computers has developed a problem. The hard drive is always busy for no apparent reason, even when Task Manager has no apps running. About an hour ago I updated Malwarebytes, and went for a Restart. For 20 minutes I got the message "preparing windows - do not turn off your computer". Eventually after reboot I checked the update history and the folders, checked for scanning - found nothing. Restarted again successfully, the drive light is still flickering all the time. Response is good and stable. It had Defender on at the moment. Is it possible that Defender is continually scanning in the background? Still doesn't explain what it was doing for 20 minutes. |
mzee (3324) | ||
| 1438161 | 2017-08-10 06:09:00 | Many things are happening when you think nothing is running. Windows does all sorts in the background and having a fragmented drive can make it worse. |
pctek (84) | ||
| 1438162 | 2017-08-10 07:16:00 | Usually preparing windows means an update. What version of win 10 is running, is it up to 1703. |
Driftwood (5551) | ||
| 1438163 | 2017-08-10 09:05:00 | Usually preparing windows means an update. What version of win 10 is running, is it up to 1703. No update, was up to date. Turned out to be Windows Defender and was triggered by the new version of Malwarebytes. Disabled Defender and installed Avira, no more problems, they are compatible. Interesting to note that when the Dell is running Linux (dual boot) the drive light only comes on when you do something, and then just a flicker. I use Linux most of the time now, only use Windows for special programs such as web editors and graphics. |
mzee (3324) | ||
| 1438164 | 2017-08-10 14:07:00 | Interesting to note that when the Dell is running Linux (dual boot) the drive light only comes on when you do something, and then just a flicker. I use Linux most of the time now, only use Windows for special programs such as web editors and graphics. Yes, it's a fact. One of the most noticeable things about running Windows is that the hard drive always seems to be doing something. Besides AV/Malware scanning another cause might be drive indexing (for Desktop search). If you run Linux for any length of time you do notice that the hard drive is having an easier time of it and the system is more responsive. I also disable drive indexing in Linux as I think it's more trouble than it's worth. :2cents: |
Rod J (451) | ||
| 1438165 | 2017-08-10 22:11:00 | Yes but if Linux was as popular as windows you'd need to be running anti-virus and anti-malware on it as well. At the moment you can largely get away without it because it's just too small of a target for most malware writers to bother with. I've been playing with Mint and Fedora on some old hardware lately and am rather impressed, still running windows for the foreseeable future though. |
dugimodo (138) | ||
| 1438166 | 2017-08-10 22:42:00 | Yes, it's a fact. One of the most noticeable things about running Windows is that the hard drive always seems to be doing something. Besides AV/Malware scanning another cause might be drive indexing (for Desktop search). Add to that Win Telemetry : now even included on Win7 :mad: :badpc: Ive seen telemetry grind a few PCs down to unusable speeds . It can be disabled via Task Scheduler in Win7, do that & by magic Win is back to normal speed. Then we get Onedrive, dropbox, 365 email all trying to sync , AV trying to do background scans .....the list goes on & on . |
1101 (13337) | ||
| 1438167 | 2017-08-14 21:03:00 | Yes, it would be great if Windows 10 actually told us what was happening. Its a bit disconcerting It would help us make the appropriate changes to our Settings eg time of doing things. |
Digby (677) | ||
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