Hard drive constantly working?

Morning all. This is probably something simple, but my hard drive (WinXP) is constantly working and the machine is very slow. I have installed and run the following: Windows Defender, Lavasoft Ad-Aware Personal. AVG Free, Webroot Spy-sweeper and Windows Safety Centre on-line scanner. I have also run disc cleanup and the defrag utility. All have come up ok excepting the usual minor tweeks. Any ideas?

Thanks.

 

The system will use space on the hard drive as 'virtual memory' when your system runs out of RAM to use. This is normal, but can also be used against you. Some malware will intentionally use up all your memory so that you rely excessively on virtual memory, putting alot of wear and tear on your hard drive. (known as disk thrashing), so I'm glad to see you're trying to stay on top of that. May I ask how much memory you have installed? Too little RAM for the work you are doing will also cause this problem. Installing more RAM will help alleviate the problem.

However, we may not have to resort to that. There are lots of ways to use software to fight back. I would recommend that you follow these instructions to decrease the load on your RAM and CPU, making them rely on your hard drive less, as well as boosting performance.

We can also set your virtual memory options. The data in virtual memory is stored in a system file called the pagefile. To change its settings, please do the following:

1. Hit Windows key + break (Or right-click My Computer and select 'Properties')
2. Select the 'Advanced' tab
3. Under 'Performance' press the 'Settings' button
4. Select the 'Advanced' tab
5. Under 'Virtual Memory' press the 'Change' button

Here, we can manually set the size of this file (rule of thumb is that you set it to 1.5 times your RAM), have the system dictate which size, or have no pagefile at all. Select the radio button you find suitable, fill in the size parameters if necessary, and press the set button. Your pagefile will now uses these settings when you next restart the system.

Good luck!

 

Process Explorer may help you find out what is running.

Process Explorer. http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4566

 

nvm....

 

Sorry all. Been away since your post. I have just started with the cleaner - immediate results. Loads of *rap and other problems that the other programmes missed. I'm going to work cautiously through the other fixes, with a mind that the cleaner has probably cured most of the problem.

HD has almost stopped thrashing.

Just a thought. I installed my old HD in the box with the intention of using it as a backup, but haven't got round to it yet. It runs FAT32. If I just press format, will it give me the option after to run NTFS so that I can just backup to it from the C drive?

Also, when you check the program files in the second drive, there are installations from recent downloads on C. Will formatting this drive affect the installed components of these programmes on the C drive?

Sorry to drift off the thread slightly......