Harddisk running wild when computer is inactive?

B

bogmaerke

New Member
I usually leave my computer on mostly when I go to bed, but after 20minutes~ the harddisk goes insane and sounds like it's transfering or something, but then it I move the mouse 1 pixel - it stops. (Locked mode, not sleep or hibernate)

Which programs could cause such noise?

I have Avast, MSN, BitTorrent running only.

Any help is appreciated.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Dual Core E2200 @ 2.20 GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus P5B-VM
    Memory
    4,00 GB (2.5 availible)
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia 8500GT
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG FLATTRON W2361V 23" 1080p
    Screen Resolution
    1920*1080
    Hard Drives
    250 GB & 150 GB
    PSU
    Unknown
    Case
    Unknown
    Cooling
    Fanless CPU heatsink
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    A4-Tech X7 XL-750BF
    Internet Speed
    2mbit/512kbit
My guess would be that Avast is scanning the system. Many security system use the inactive times for their background scans - which can take quite a while. My Norton does that too.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Q6600
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2207h
    Hard Drives
    2x250GB HDDs
    1x60GB OCZ SSD
    6 external disks 60 to 640GBs
    Other Info
    Also 1xHP desktop, 1xHP laptop, 1xGateway laptop
whs said:
My guess would be that Avast is scanning the system. Many security system use the inactive times for their background scans - which can take quite a while. My Norton does that too.
Click to expand...

Possible to change the time untill it starts?
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Dual Core E2200 @ 2.20 GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus P5B-VM
    Memory
    4,00 GB (2.5 availible)
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia 8500GT
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG FLATTRON W2361V 23" 1080p
    Screen Resolution
    1920*1080
    Hard Drives
    250 GB & 150 GB
    PSU
    Unknown
    Case
    Unknown
    Cooling
    Fanless CPU heatsink
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    A4-Tech X7 XL-750BF
    Internet Speed
    2mbit/512kbit
I don't think so. It just goes by the idle time. But maybe there is a setting in Avast (that I am not familiar with).
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Q6600
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2207h
    Hard Drives
    2x250GB HDDs
    1x60GB OCZ SSD
    6 external disks 60 to 640GBs
    Other Info
    Also 1xHP desktop, 1xHP laptop, 1xGateway laptop
Avast doesn't scan anything during idle so its something else.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Compaq Presario/SR5113WM
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ 1.9Ghz
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N68-LA
    Memory
    PNY Optima Memory DDR2 2GB 2x1 kit
    Graphics Card(s)
    PNY Nvidia 8400 GS 256MB
    Sound Card
    On board RealTek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer X163W LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital 160 GB SATA 3G (3.0Gb/sec)
    7200 rpm
    Western Digital 160 GB IDE
    PSU
    Dynex 400w
    Case
    Nothin Special
    Cooling
    Stock
    Keyboard
    Standard 102 key with volume and sleep buttons
    Mouse
    Wireless Logitech LX7
    Internet Speed
    Comcrap 10mb cable
    Other Info
    Insignia 2.1 speakers, wireless Xbox 360 controller w/plug n play charger, Belkin wireless G + mimo usb network adapter.

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Dual Core E2200 @ 2.20 GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus P5B-VM
    Memory
    4,00 GB (2.5 availible)
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia 8500GT
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG FLATTRON W2361V 23" 1080p
    Screen Resolution
    1920*1080
    Hard Drives
    250 GB & 150 GB
    PSU
    Unknown
    Case
    Unknown
    Cooling
    Fanless CPU heatsink
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    A4-Tech X7 XL-750BF
    Internet Speed
    2mbit/512kbit
Hello Bogmaerke,

Yes, it could be the index running to update itself while the computer is idle. You can teat this by temporarily disabling the index to see if it continues to do this while idle.

Hope this helps,
Shawn
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Brink said:
Hello Bogmaerke,

Yes, it could be the index running to update itself while the computer is idle. You can teat this by temporarily disabling the index to see if it continues to do this while idle.

Hope this helps,
Shawn
Click to expand...

It's already turned off. If it's disabled, will it still update the index of a harddrive set to index?
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Dual Core E2200 @ 2.20 GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus P5B-VM
    Memory
    4,00 GB (2.5 availible)
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia 8500GT
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG FLATTRON W2361V 23" 1080p
    Screen Resolution
    1920*1080
    Hard Drives
    250 GB & 150 GB
    PSU
    Unknown
    Case
    Unknown
    Cooling
    Fanless CPU heatsink
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    A4-Tech X7 XL-750BF
    Internet Speed
    2mbit/512kbit
No, when disabled, the index will not run at all.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Noise means activity. If it's an unusual amount of noise, it might be something else? Could it be the fan? The disc drive? (My disc drive is the biggest noise maker - more than my whole computer together and more)

If it's the hard drive, one of the ways to see what's working with the hard drive is by using Task Manager:

To open task manager, press Control+Shift+Escape. In task manager, click View -> Select columns. Make sure that I/O Reads [Bytes] and I/O Writes [Bytes] are checked. These columns show how much each process is reading/writing from the hard disk since startup. If you follow these numbers, and see which increases after/when this is happening, you'll probably find the program responsible.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP dv5-1120ej Notebook PC
    CPU
    Intel Dual 2.16GHz
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVidia GeForce 9200M GS, 256MB
    Hard Drives
    320GB internal, 320GB external, 1TB external to come (big download library XD)
    Internet Speed
    Fast enough
    Other Info
    Firefox, Foobar, and AutoHotkey! Go open source!
VaguelyRapt said:
Noise means activity. If it's an unusual amount of noise, it might be something else? Could it be the fan? The disc drive? (My disc drive is the biggest noise maker - more than my whole computer together and more)

If it's the hard drive, one of the ways to see what's working with the hard drive is by using Task Manager:

To open task manager, press Control+Shift+Escape. In task manager, click View -> Select columns. Make sure that I/O Reads [Bytes] and I/O Writes [Bytes] are checked. These columns show how much each process is reading/writing from the hard disk since startup. If you follow these numbers, and see which increases after/when this is happening, you'll probably find the program responsible.
Click to expand...

I'll give the last part a try tomorrow :) Thank you!
And I'm 100% sure it's my harddrive, it's the exact same noise if I move a file from Z:\ to E:\ :p
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Dual Core E2200 @ 2.20 GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus P5B-VM
    Memory
    4,00 GB (2.5 availible)
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia 8500GT
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG FLATTRON W2361V 23" 1080p
    Screen Resolution
    1920*1080
    Hard Drives
    250 GB & 150 GB
    PSU
    Unknown
    Case
    Unknown
    Cooling
    Fanless CPU heatsink
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    A4-Tech X7 XL-750BF
    Internet Speed
    2mbit/512kbit
it showed explorer.exe at 13 million bytes in both read and write. Is there a way to stop it from what ever it's doing?
(Actually ended the process while sleeping, and it kept quiet)
Click to expand...
My explorer.exe has almost 7 million bytes in read, and less that 250,000 in write. It does seems like it's doing more work than expected, but the thing is that explorer.exe is usually responsible for more than just the Vista interface. If you have Process Explorer (freeware), I suggest looking into what sub-processes under explorer are so busy (it can show I/O read and write bytes for each "sub-process"). If you can't figure it out, a screenshot of explorer.exe and it's sub-processes would help figure out what to do next.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP dv5-1120ej Notebook PC
    CPU
    Intel Dual 2.16GHz
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVidia GeForce 9200M GS, 256MB
    Hard Drives
    320GB internal, 320GB external, 1TB external to come (big download library XD)
    Internet Speed
    Fast enough
    Other Info
    Firefox, Foobar, and AutoHotkey! Go open source!
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