Re: Continuous hard disk activity - Please help...getting crazy!

Hi Jay,

Thanks for your quick reply. I have tried to disable MacAfee but the burts
were still going on...:>((
I have actually 68 processes running but my knowledge doesn't allow me to
close much of them....
Defrag.exe is not running.
Do you think Messenger could be responsible for that? I've never signed in!
I will try disabbling Windows Update but I don't think this will fix the
problem.

Could you explain the procedure for a hijack log?

TKS

Erick

 

I'm with Jay on this one. I had McAfee Security Center come preinstalled on
a new Dim 9150 and it crashed on the initial bootup and installation. It
also slowed my machine to a crawl. It's also tough to get rid of and took
about a week to completely rid my machine's registry. AoHell is next on my
registry cleanup list when I get the time. The preinstalled Google desktop
search also ate up system resources and I ditched that too along with some
other worthless starter Freebies.

FWIW, I now use Free AVG and ZoneAlarm for AV and firewall. Are you still
using XP's built-in firewall? If so, I would download and install Free
ZoneAlarm and disable XP's firewall. ZoneAlarm will nag you when something
wants to phone home to the net, but that's a good thing!

HTH, Pat

 

Excellent! My first boot wasn't really a success and has terminated by a
crash. My new PC is also a Dim 9150.
I have also a 3 years old other Dim (8100) with which I have had no prob. so
far. I use AVG and ZoneAlarm too..;>))

I will follow your advice: remove MacAfee, disable XP's firewall.
On the other hand, I don't think I have Google desktop pre-installed. How
can I be sure?

Do I have to clean the registry after that?

But here is another important info related to my problem: I still get noisy
drive accesses when booting in Safe Mode......much lesser but still
abnormal! Any thoughts?

Thks

Erick

 

Snip

Try looking in Control Panel Add/Remove Programs for Google Desktop. I went
through the list of all the Free/Light Programs in Add/Remove and
uninstalled all the ones I don't use. You can clean the registry if you
want, depending on how semi-clean you want your system to be. Of course,
back it up first!

You can also disable many Win XP services to improve performance. I
followed www.blackviper.com's SAFE recommendations, but that site is down
now. A copy of his recommendations are found hear.

http://majorgeeks.com/page.php?id=12

I don't know why it still happens in Safe Mode. Have you scanned for
viruses or spyware? I use Free Spybot S&D and Adaware. ZoneAlarm will also
tell you what's trying to phone home and running in the background.

I just did a clean install of XP for my niece and nephews on an older Dim
4600. They got a new HP AIO Printer, Scanner, Kitchen Sink and reported it
running too slow again!! So I stopped by and found 879 HP processes running
trying to connect to the internet and update the HP Bloatware. Clicking
cancel 879 times improved things immensely. Turning off HP updates works
even better. Do you have an HP Printer/Scanner?

HTH, Pat

 

Thanks for your quick reply. I have tried to disable MacAfee but the burts

This might be a worthwhile place to start...

http://www.yorkspace.com/2006/04/38

Download Dell Decrapifier and use it :-}

I've got a bit of info on general security on my site at
http://www.coreutilities.co.uk

Every file I link to is free, with the exception of PestPatrol, and
that`s not an affiliate link.

Under the second link on my homepage is a reference to
http://www.hijackthis.de

You can download HijackThis from there, and it has a text form where you
can submit the results for some assistance in parsing the results (run
the executable, it doesn't need installing, choose the "save logfile"
option in, and copy and paste the results to the webpage)

The webpage is only a guide, so take the results with a pinch of salt -
but it can make the report a lot more readable by highlighting what it
isn't sure about.

 

List those 68 processes... That is *WAY* too many, something is wrong,
I'd suspect virus, zombie or adware infections.

 

Do you know how I can log the processes into a txt file? I can't select the
names or import the list?
Sorry if you find this a stupid question but I am not an expert in OS and I
have to gain time because I have so much to tune on this PC...

Many thanks

Erick

 

Do you know how I can log the processes into a txt file? I can't select the

Try this...

http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/ProcessExplorer.html

Download it, unpack it, and run it (click to agree the T&Cs), then
select File/Save and choose where you want to save the list.

The list is saved as plain text, and may also give other useful
information about who the "owner" of the process is.

You can then copy and paste the results into your news reader.

We all start somewhere, and they're not stupid questions if you haven't
had to do it before - at least you're making an effort to learn

 

Thank you for your valuable advices. Yes I have a HP PSC3510 printer,
connected on my family network and I can already tell you that according
Filemon, this device, even closed, contribute to a lot of unwanted IO...
Also McAfee will be uninstalled as soon as I have time for this.

Erick

 

Here they are....Which one may I delete and is thit risky? Can I find them
back if needed?
Thks for your help.

Process PID CPU Description Company Name
System Idle Process 0 96.92
Interrupts n/a Hardware Interrupts
DPCs n/a Deferred Procedure Calls
System 4
smss.exe 720 Windows NT Session Manager
Microsoft Corporation
csrss.exe 768 Client Server Runtime
Process Microsoft Corporation
winlogon.exe 792 Windows NT Logon Application
Microsoft Corporation
services.exe 836 Services and Controller app
Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 1108 Generic Host Process for
Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation
hptskmgr.exe 2152 HP Task Management Component
Hewlett-Packard Company
MpfAgent.exe 1420 McAfee Personal Firewall Agent
Interface McAfee Security
wmiprvse.exe 2924 WMI Microsoft Corporation
ehmsas.exe 960 Media Center Media Status
Aggregator Service Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 1176 Generic Host Process for
Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 1284 Generic Host Process for
Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation
wuauclt.exe 2724 Automatic Updates Microsoft
Corporation
svchost.exe 1376 Generic Host Process for
Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 1536 Generic Host Process for
Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation
ccSetMgr.exe 1620 Symantec Settings Manager
Service Symantec Corporation
ccEvtMgr.exe 1676 Symantec Event Manager Service
Symantec Corporation
spoolsv.exe 1824 Spooler SubSystem App
Microsoft Corporation
CTSVCCDA.EXE 304 Creative Service for CDROM Access
Creative Technology Ltd
ehrecvr.exe 312 Media Center Receiver Service
Microsoft Corporation
ehSched.exe 328 Media Center Scheduler Service
Microsoft Corporation
gearsec.exe 356 gearsec GEAR Software
IAANTMon.exe 532 RAID Monitor Intel Corporation
Mcdetect.exe 572 McAfee WSC Integration Service
McAfee, Inc
McShield.exe 608 On-Access Scanner service McAfee
Inc.
McTskshd.exe 652 McAfee Task Scheduler McAfee, Inc
MpfService.exe 1136 McAfee Personal Firewall
Service McAfee Corporation
MSKSrvr.exe 1248 McAfee SpamKiller Server McAfee Inc.
nvsvc32.exe 2036 NVIDIA Driver Helper Service,
Version 84.40 NVIDIA Corporation
svchost.exe 2180 Generic Host Process for Win32
Services Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 2220 Generic Host Process for Win32
Services Microsoft Corporation
ELService.exe 2432 Intel Corporation
mcrdsvc.exe 2552 MCRD Device Service Microsoft
Corporation
dllhost.exe 3432 COM Surrogate Microsoft
Corporation
CreativeLicensing.exe 3808 System Level Service Utility
Creative Labs
alg.exe 4072 Application Layer Gateway
Service Microsoft Corporation
lsass.exe 848 LSA Shell (Export Version)
Microsoft Corporation
explorer.exe 1996 Windows Explorer Microsoft
Corporation
ehtray.exe 2912 Media Center Tray Applet
Microsoft Corporation
jusched.exe 2932 Java(TM) 2 Platform Standard
Edition binary Sun Microsystems, Inc.
stsystra.exe 2964 Sigmatel Audio system tray
application SigmaTel, Inc.
IAAnotif.exe 2980 Event Monitor User
Notification Tool Intel Corporation
DMXLauncher.exe 3028
CTSysVol.exe 3040 CTSysVol.exe Creative Technology
Ltd
rundll32.exe 3048 Run a DLL as an App
Microsoft Corporation
clclean.0001 3096 Cleanup Macrovision Europe Ltd.
ccApp.exe 3064 Symantec User Session Symantec
Corporation
issch.exe 3080 InstallShield Update
Service Scheduler InstallShield Software Corporation
oasclnt.exe 3108 McAfee VirusScan OAS
Client McAfee, Inc.
mcagent.exe 3140 McAfee SecurityCenter Agent
McAfee, Inc
DLACTRLW.EXE 3308 Drive Letter Access Component Sonic
Solutions
MSKAgent.exe 3320 McAfee SpamKiller Agent
Interface module McAfee Inc.
mcvsshld.exe 3336 McAfee VirusScan
ActiveShield Resource McAfee, Inc.
McVSEscn.exe 3396 McAfee VirusScan E-mail
Scan Module McAfee, Inc.
MpfTray.exe 3368 McAfee Personal Firewall
Tray Monitor McAfee Security
hpwuSchd.exe 3408 hpwuSchd Hewlett-Packard
hpcmpmgr.exe 3452 HP Framework Component
Manager Service Hewlett-Packard Company
mscifapp.exe 3496 McAfee Privacy
Service McAfee, Inc.
CTDetect.exe 3572 Creative MediaSource
Detector Creative Technology Ltd
LogitechDesktopMessenger.exe 3612 Logitech Desktop Messenger Logitech
ctfmon.exe 3644 CTF Loader Microsoft
Corporation
GoogleToolbarNotifier.exe 3712 GoogleToolbarNotifier Google
Inc.
hpqtra08.exe 3792 HP Digital Imaging
Monitor (CUE) Hewlett-Packard Co.
procexp.exe 4088 3.08 Sysinternals Process
Explorer Sysinternals

 

Here they are....Which one may I delete and is thit risky? Can I find them

Off the top of my head, I can't see any "risky" apps amongst that lot -
perhaps the HP software is worse than I thought !

HP do have something on their site which is supposed to switch off the
automatic driver updating, but it didn't work for me (!)

 

Erick,

One quick question...does the hard drive access noise sound very rhythmic,
that is, is it an identical sound every second or two? If so, it could just
be a faulty IDE/SATA data cable that connects the drive to the motherboard
or controller, or a hard drive that is developing platter problems. Try
changing out and/or checking the connections of the hard drive data cable
first (system powered off first, of course.)

 

well

http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/

won't do you any harm and it's free.

 

i would kill the following tasks, but more improtantly, remove them from
the startup using hijackthis.

also i would remove mcaffee which i did not list below. to properly
remove it, you must stop most of the background processes, then use
add/remove programs to remove all the pieces, then even after you
reboot, you still need to use hijackthis to remove other pieces that
will wind up being still in the startup.

alsi i would stop and remove all the windows media center services -- i
see about 4 running there, they dont need to be running all the time!!
go to the services control panel and set them from automatic to manual.
none of the intel processes are needed for proper operation, as well as
most of the HP processes are not needed for proper operation. the only
HP process needed in memory is the pml driver. especially remove all
the updater ones!!
i also dont like the google toolbar and all those associated processes.

also other cleaners not needed, not sure what clclean is, but not needed.
dont need the creative and audio stuff running for all that to work. it
still will.

you can stop all these using procexp and see what affect they will have
on your system, before permanently removing them. in case you dont like
the change. i use hijackthis to make most changes because it makes a
nice log file backup in case you need to reverse your changes.

 

All too many self-important software companies arbitrarily add their junk to the
toolbar, and their programs are launched at startup, sucking up memory and
offering little except the convenience of clicking an icon to launch an
infrequently used bit of software.

The Creative and other audio garbage falls into that category. So do Acrobat
Reader and Firefox "Quick Launch" icons, icons for various video (ATI, for
example) and network card (some Intel network chips). Then you have to use
hijackthis, not the most friendly for the less advanced computer user, to get
the junk out of there.

I don't mind a toolbar icon and program launch for programs I use with some
regularity.

I'll end this rant by asking what can be done about it? ... Ben Myers

 

Dell has a support forum staffed by knowledgable volunteers that is
solely devoted to using HijackThis to ferret out adware/spyware. I
found their help invaluable in cleaning VirtuMonde and WinFixer
slimeware off my daughters laptop. The FAQs there explain everything.
The only word of caution is to make sure that anybody that responds to
your post there is on the list of approved HijackThis experts. I had
somebody from left field jump into my thread - the moderators are
pretty good about telling the amateur helpers to butt out.

Here's the URL to the Dell HJT forum:

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board?board.id=si_hijack

There are other similar non-Dell forums, but the common tool seems to
be HijackThis.


Jerry

 

Here's the URL to the Dell HJT forum:

HijackThis is great at what it does, but it will not pick up desktop
hijackers such as Smitfraud, as it doesn't start by being "run" in the
normal way.

 

True. HijackThis is not a panacea, only one of a set of useful tools in the
anti-spy, anti-virus, anti-trojan, anti-varmint arsenal. HijackThis DOES tell
lots about what is going on inside a computer, much of which cannot be gleaned
from other tools.

There is a one-off removal tool for Smitfraud... Ben Myers

 

True. HijackThis is not a panacea, only one of a set of useful tools in the

Yup... found here:

http://noahdfear.geekstogo.com

Word of warning to anyone who uses it - it removes all your existing
desktop settings, such as background images. Small price to pay to get
rid of it SmitFraud (and its variants) though !

 

WD Hard Drive clicking

Hi all, first time poster. I just bought a Dell Precision Workstation 390 and came across this thread.

I have a similar problem - my hard drive, even when idle, makes (very gentle) writing or accessing clicks at a rate of around 1 per second. The drive in question is a Sata II 320 Gig WD drive that came preinstalled from Dell. When it writes or accesses data, it makes some noise as expected (actually more than I expected), but nothing unhealthy sounding.

The clicking when idle problem is intermittent; at times the PC is whisper quiet, but at others I can hear those little clicks. There'll be maybe ten in a row, one a second, and then silence again for a few minutes. It's just enough to annoy me and make me hope I can fix it.

I defragged, to no avail.

There are 44 processes running. I can attempt to list them if that would help.

The computer is three days old, and the WD drive has 90% free space. I also installed a Seagate 320 GB drive for data, but it's 97% free and I'm sure it's not the one making noise.