Vista - Hard Drive working while PC idle? Some suggestions to stop it...

If you are like me and have found your Vista install using your HD while you
are not at your PC, here are two ways to stop it!

1. You need to open your Services panel (Control Panel->Admistrative
Tools->Services) and Stop and disable "Windows Search".
Why? If you notice on your start menu you will see a search bar. This is
very simliar to Windows Desktop Search for XP. It indexes your files so that
you can search for files easier. While you are not at your pc, it indexes.
2. (Not recommended, but if you really want to)... You need to navigate to
your system settings (Control Panel->System->System Protection), uncheck
your drives.
Why? Vista creates system restore points so that if something goes wrong
(bad drivers for example), you can reset your settings back to what it was
before.

I know this worked for me, and it has helped other I know with the same
problem. Give it a go...

Timothy.

#1: if you do this then you will go back to the dark ages of 5 minute
searches for files on your computer. no thank you! a proper search service
integrated throughout the OS is one of the best features of vista. also,
the service only runs when your files have changed so on a new vista
installation, give it a week to settle down properly before you judge it as
too much of a hog on your hard disk activity.

#2: system protection is a vital part of windows vista, it is designed to
"protect your system" (surprisingly). if you disable it you are at a much
higher risk of permanently hosing your vista installation, due to factors
you may have no control over, e.g. a virus, a driver installed through
Windows Update, new software that is not tested on Vista and causes system
instability etc.

honestly i don't see the point of a vista installation if you pull out
search and system protection, you might as well turn off User Account
Control while you're at it, because it's annoying right? and every other
feature that has been designed by some of the best software engineers in the
world to give us a truly helpful and usable operating system. you might not
understand the benefits of all the features, but you never will if you turn
them all off just because they blink your hard drive light from time to
time.

tim


"Timothy" <tripix@msn.com> wrote in message
news:92B22320-3D47-48AD-BF6A-B2C60416399C@microsoft.com...
> If you are like me and have found your Vista install using your HD while
> you are not at your PC, here are two ways to stop it!
>
> 1. You need to open your Services panel (Control Panel->Admistrative
> Tools->Services) and Stop and disable "Windows Search".
> Why? If you notice on your start menu you will see a search bar. This
> is
> very simliar to Windows Desktop Search for XP. It indexes your files so
> that
> you can search for files easier. While you are not at your pc, it indexes.
> 2. (Not recommended, but if you really want to)... You need to navigate to
> your system settings (Control Panel->System->System Protection), uncheck
> your drives.
> Why? Vista creates system restore points so that if something goes
> wrong
> (bad drivers for example), you can reset your settings back to what it was
> before.
>
> I know this worked for me, and it has helped other I know with the same
> problem. Give it a go...
>
> Timothy.

"Timothy" <tripix@msn.com> wrote in message
news:92B22320-3D47-48AD-BF6A-B2C60416399C@microsoft.com...
> If you are like me and have found your Vista install using your HD while
> you are not at your PC, here are two ways to stop it!
>
> 1. You need to open your Services panel (Control Panel->Admistrative
> Tools->Services) and Stop and disable "Windows Search".
> Why? If you notice on your start menu you will see a search bar. This
> is
> very simliar to Windows Desktop Search for XP. It indexes your files so
> that
> you can search for files easier. While you are not at your pc, it indexes.
> 2. (Not recommended, but if you really want to)... You need to navigate to
> your system settings (Control Panel->System->System Protection), uncheck
> your drives.
> Why? Vista creates system restore points so that if something goes
> wrong
> (bad drivers for example), you can reset your settings back to what it was
> before.
>
> I know this worked for me, and it has helped other I know with the same
> problem. Give it a go...

I fail to see how this is a "problem".

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User.
http://www.windowsresource.net/

*Remove nospam. to reply by e-mail*

I do not advocate turning off that which the system does to protect itself.

--

Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

"Timothy" <tripix@msn.com> wrote in message
news:92B22320-3D47-48AD-BF6A-B2C60416399C@microsoft.com...
> If you are like me and have found your Vista install using your HD while
> you are not at your PC, here are two ways to stop it!
>
> 1. You need to open your Services panel (Control Panel->Admistrative
> Tools->Services) and Stop and disable "Windows Search".
> Why? If you notice on your start menu you will see a search bar. This
> is
> very simliar to Windows Desktop Search for XP. It indexes your files so
> that
> you can search for files easier. While you are not at your pc, it indexes.
> 2. (Not recommended, but if you really want to)... You need to navigate to
> your system settings (Control Panel->System->System Protection), uncheck
> your drives.
> Why? Vista creates system restore points so that if something goes
> wrong
> (bad drivers for example), you can reset your settings back to what it was
> before.
>
> I know this worked for me, and it has helped other I know with the same
> problem. Give it a go...
>
> Timothy.

I have already done what you suggested on my laptop computer. However it is
only a Pentium III 300 MHz system, and it runs Windows XP. I am trying to
get more performance out of it by freeing up ram usage.
My desktop computer running Vista has plenty of resources, 2GB of ram, I
don't give it a second thought as to whether the hard drive is being
accessed. At the moment anyway my two TV tuner cards are recording 2
separate TV shows, and writing the data to the hard drive.

"Timothy" <tripix@msn.com> wrote in message
news:92B22320-3D47-48AD-BF6A-B2C60416399C@microsoft.com...
> If you are like me and have found your Vista install using your HD while
> you are not at your PC, here are two ways to stop it!
>
> 1. You need to open your Services panel (Control Panel->Admistrative
> Tools->Services) and Stop and disable "Windows Search".
> Why? If you notice on your start menu you will see a search bar. This
> is
> very simliar to Windows Desktop Search for XP. It indexes your files so
> that
> you can search for files easier. While you are not at your pc, it indexes.
> 2. (Not recommended, but if you really want to)... You need to navigate to
> your system settings (Control Panel->System->System Protection), uncheck
> your drives.
> Why? Vista creates system restore points so that if something goes
> wrong
> (bad drivers for example), you can reset your settings back to what it was
> before.
>
> I know this worked for me, and it has helped other I know with the same
> problem. Give it a go...
>
> Timothy.

Why do people assume that free ram will give them a faster PC, it will NOT.
Free ram is wasted ram.

"Gary Mount" <gary_mount@telus.net> wrote in message
news:F1DD5E2A-71D4-4ADD-AACD-4421A5ABD570@microsoft.com...
>I have already done what you suggested on my laptop computer. However it is
>only a Pentium III 300 MHz system, and it runs Windows XP. I am trying to
>get more performance out of it by freeing up ram usage.

"Dave B." <mail@nomail.com> wrote in message
news:uP81ykbAHHA.4428@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> "Gary Mount" <gary_mount@telus.net> wrote in message
> news:F1DD5E2A-71D4-4ADD-AACD-4421A5ABD570@microsoft.com...
>>I have already done what you suggested on my laptop computer.
>>However it is only a Pentium III 300 MHz system, and it runs Windows
>>XP. I am trying to get more performance out of it by freeing up ram
>>usage.
>
> Why do people assume that free ram will give them a faster PC, it
> will NOT.
> Free ram is wasted ram.

Correct, free RAM is a waste.

However, I believe Gary means he wants to reduce resource usage to
make that RAM available for other processes and caching, which WILL
improve performance. Vista uses all available RAM to improve
performance, so on a system with less memory, finding ways to free up
RAM will help Vista to use it more efficiently.

Having said that, memory is relatively cheap these days, so simply
adding more memory is easier and more efficient than fiddling with
services and configuration.

You are correct Bill, that is what I mean. My laptop has its maximum of 192
MBytes installed. Its not running Vista, just XP.
For a long while it only had 64 MBytes installed. After installing an
additional 128 it made the laptop useful and fast compared to just having 64
MB.

"Bill" <bill@c.a> wrote in message
news:x5udnSj5P-dwxdLYnZ2dnUVZ_uKdnZ2d@golden.net...
> "Dave B." <mail@nomail.com> wrote in message
> news:uP81ykbAHHA.4428@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>> "Gary Mount" <gary_mount@telus.net> wrote in message
>> news:F1DD5E2A-71D4-4ADD-AACD-4421A5ABD570@microsoft.com...
>>>I have already done what you suggested on my laptop computer. However it
>>>is only a Pentium III 300 MHz system, and it runs Windows XP. I am trying
>>>to get more performance out of it by freeing up ram usage.
>>
>> Why do people assume that free ram will give them a faster PC, it will
>> NOT.
>> Free ram is wasted ram.
>
> Correct, free RAM is a waste.
>
> However, I believe Gary means he wants to reduce resource usage to make
> that RAM available for other processes and caching, which WILL improve
> performance. Vista uses all available RAM to improve performance, so on a
> system with less memory, finding ways to free up RAM will help Vista to
> use it more efficiently.
>
> Having said that, memory is relatively cheap these days, so simply adding
> more memory is easier and more efficient than fiddling with services and
> configuration.
>

I can imagine it would, XP is painful on anything under 256MB.

"Gary Mount" <gary_mount@telus.net> wrote in message
news:0BBBA750-D805-4C6E-8CAA-C2B0C3FC9E0A@microsoft.com...
> You are correct Bill, that is what I mean. My laptop has its maximum of
> 192 MBytes installed. Its not running Vista, just XP.
> For a long while it only had 64 MBytes installed. After installing an
> additional 128 it made the laptop useful and fast compared to just having
> 64 MB.
>