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Question : Hard drive seems to run all the time.
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This seems to be a problem that I think is related to windows, but it might not be. To start with I have a 1-year-old computer from Gateway it is a Solo 9300. 400Mhz and 288 RAM. I have Windows 98 second edition 4.10.222A. My problem as I can best state it is that on some days it seems that the hard drive just runs and runs and runs. Without changing anything or adding or deleting any programs it just picks days that it seems that the hard drive is in a continues usage stage. I can turn off programs and it seems not to matter, I can walk away and do nothing or be running Word and the hard drive just keeps being accessed. I am not on any network of any type. In fact as I type this letter the hard drive light just keeps running and blinking. My friend says he thinks that it is Paging. Now mind you that this does not happen all the time. I think it has been 20 to 30 days since this has happened, it might have even been longer. I do a complete scan disk at least 2 or 3 times a week, and a defrag at least 2 times a week (at night when the computer is not in use). When this problem happens there is no indication what is going on, I look to see if there are any programs (such as anti virus doing a check) and can find nothing that indicates that any program is running. Are there programs that windows runs periodically with no knowledge to the users? Where can I check to see why this is happening, whenever it happens? If you have any questions on areas I might not have covered here please ask, I will do my best to explain further if need be. Thank you for your help!
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Answer : Hard drive seems to run all the time.
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Housecleaning which you already know most likely!
A. Cleaning and preventative maintenance
1. Take as much stuff as you can from running in systray. Light off each app and disable them from running in systray.
2. Run msconfig and take checkmarks out of all you don't need running in start-up. Experiment with different apps etc.
3. Click on control-alt-delete and highlight an item and end task then look at system resources and it will give you an idea on how much an application is robbing from your resources.
Note: You can right-click my computer and go to properties and click on the performance tab and see what your free system resources are and check as you eliminate some items to see how you are doing!
4. Search your "C" drive for *.tmp and *.chk and delete them. You can do this from start\find\files (make sure you have your C drive set to be searched)
5. If you are running any Norton stuff (it likes to use resources!) be careful, a very powerful program. (You may want to disable it for this troubleshooting and enable after you clear up your problem).
6. Clear your browser cache!
7. Empty the recycle bin!
8. If you see findfast when you hit control-alt-delete then highlight it and end task and get rid of the program per this url:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q158/7/05.asp
Note: It is installed by Microsoft products (Office etc>) and was a bad dream from Microsoft that will cause major resource problems.
9. Run scandisk and defrag!
B. Utilities
1. Run hwinfo /ui (don't forget the space between the o and the /) and this will identify any device or driver problems in red text.
2. Run SFC (system file checker) be careful and back up and files you may want to restore! This utility can replace files that will cause you to have to reinstall some applications. Caution this file needs to run with care because you may have to load some applications again if you replace certain files.
C. Recommendations:
1. Update your IE5 to either 5.01 or 5.5 if you use these.
2. Increasing Your System Performance:
If you have a little extra memory to spare, here's one trick that really helps speed Windows 95\98 along. Changing your File System Performance from Desktop Computer to Network Server (even if you're not on a network) will basically increase the size of the cache that that the operating system uses. Here's how: Right click on "MY COMPUTER" and select "PROPERTIES". Then click on the "PERFORMANCE" tab near the top of the dialog box, and the "FILE SYSTEM" button at the bottom. Change from "DESKTOP COMPUTER" to "NETWORK SERVER", click on "OK", and "OK" again. The changes will take effect the next time you reboot your computer.
This should be a good start. Dave
I once found this link that helped do a general cleanup and thought they had identified the files one can remove quite nicely to clear out the hard disk, so I'll show that here. Lastly, as regards the FREE RESOURCE percentage of issue here, there are programs that are notorious for creating memory leaks, and that could be another piece of the pie to pursue. I'll include some valuable links that help with this further.
Here's the link I referred to above for WIndows 98 Annoyances
http://www.annoyances.org/win98/
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System Resources Decrease After Starting and Quitting a Program
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q185/8/32.ASP?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0
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Computer Speed and Performance Decreases
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q259/1/61.ASP?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0
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