T400 - Hard drive is constantly being accessed. You too?

My HD access light keeps flashing... like every second. Any ideas what's causing this?

I turned of AntiVirus, Wireless connection, EVERYTHING!!

 

did you turn off indexing? if not... right click on c:/drive>>>properties, uncheck 'allow indexing service to index this disk for fast file searching' to turn off. indexing is the cause of a lot of hard drive thrashing. personally, i disable the indexing service using services.msc as well.

 

i'm on Windows XP SP3 too... if that helps...

000111 i just turned off the indexing and it's still doing it! =(

 

hehe. lame. my hard drive is pretty silent with the indexing off... did you disable the service using services.msc? i would do that to be sure. you will be better off without indexing, even if it has not cured your hard drive thrashing problem.

other things can be accessing the hard drive... the pagefile and prefetch are a few that come to mind. i run XP pro without a pagefile, works great. others will say the sky will fall if you turn off the pagefile. but i dig it.

to turn off pagefile;
my computer>>>properties>>>advanced>>>settings>>>advanced>>>change>>>no paging file>>>set.

could be you have too many processes as well, how many processes are running? you could also look in the taskmanager and see which process is using I/O read/write...

 

I have 37 processes running. Pagefile has already been turned off. Here are a list of the services I disable:

Alerter
Application Management
ClipBook
Distributed Link Tracking Client
Distributed Transaction Coordinator
DNS Client
Error Reporting Service
Fast User Switching Compatibility
Help and Support
HTTP SSL
Human Interface Device Access
IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service
Indexing Service
IPSEC Services
Logical Disk Manager Administrative Service
Messenger
MS Software Shadow Copy Provider
Network DDE
Network DDE DSDM
NT LM Security Support Provider
Portable Media Serial Number Service
QoS RSVP
Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator
Remote Registry
Routing and Remote Access
Secondary Logon
Security Center
SSDP Discovery Service
System Restore Service
Telnet
Universal Plug and Play Device Host
Volume Shadow Copy
WebClient
Windows Management Instrumentation Driver Extensions
Windows Time
WMI Performance Adapter

 

Put more ram. 256MB X 2 is a little wee bit too little for Windows Vista

 

lol. got it at a bargain price too!

 

Somebody else had a similar problem and in their case it turned out that it was a loose connection between the sata connector and the internal harddrive. Once they pushed in the drive and the connection was tight again, the problem was solved. You could check it out. It is very easy to get to the drive.

 

I have the same issue, have tried majority of tips from this forum to optimize my T400 XP SP3 setup...machine will boot to the logon screen in about 32 second, almost twice as fast as before...i have 42 processes running at startup and like rxblitxrx, seems my fujitsu 250gb is constantly active...the hdd light flickers every second or twice a second...what could it be?...

i turned off indexing, but did anybody encounter error messages saying "access denied" and that it couldn't turn off indexing to certain files/folders?...when i unchecked indexing, it asked whether to apply to just the drive or all subfolders too...i selected subfolders too... run into the same errors on both the new T400 and old Dell 600m, both are running XP SP3... i also keep system restore on but reduced the allotted size to about a gig, but this can't be the cause because the hdd light flickers while the system is idle too and there isn't enough significant change for XP to warrant creating another restore point... i turned indexing off on drive properties plus in services.msc...anybody else encounter those "access denied" messages when they disable indexing?...i'm running as administrator...interestingly, i also get similar messages when i disable startup stuff through msconfig...says i don't have sufficient privileges to disable certain stuff, but it goes through anyways...i'm the only user account (as admin) on this computer...any ideas?

i'm also running CSS and the fingerprint reader if anyone thinks that's the culprit...i don't have Active Protection installed...thanks for the help!

 

Potstickr: Great to hear that I'm not the only one! It sounds like my words coming out of your mouth here. I've tried everything you did with the same errors ("access denied"). No clue yet. Check your PM.

 

Anyone else having this issue? Look at your HD light!

 

It sounds like you got spyware on your machine after reading all of the posts. Download Spybot Search and Destroy and run it. Also download Trojan Remover and run it (make sure to check the option of scanning for files not found under scan options. Lastly download Spywareblaster and run it. None of these programs will run in the background at all and make sure you immunize the machine with both Spybot and Spywareblaster. Uncheck tea-timer during spybot's installation because it isn't necessary for this purpose. It should only take you a few minutes to download and install all of these. Trojan Removier takes a minute to scan while spywareblaster takes a minute to immunize. Spybot search and Destroy will take 10 minutes or so to run depending on how many files on machine. These three programs are the best in the industry in my opinion..

http://www.simplysup.com/

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

 

No disrespect intended, Supermans...i suppose it could be spyware, but i highly doubt it on a fresh, clean install with minimal software and only windows updates installed on a new T400...i'm familiar with the tools you shared, but services/process lists don't indicate anything suspicious...

 

You say you installed minimal software which means it came from somewhere.
It's possible one of your USB sticks is infected with a trojan or virus and all it takes is plugging it in for a few seconds while you transfer over the programs to install. Oftentimes it is a trojan that is unknown and not detected by Norton or Mcafee however Trojan Remover's more advanced scan will be able to detect programs that are hidden or changed in the registry and also rootkits.. It's better to be safe than sorry.. After turning off indexing and so forth, your HD light should not be acting up the way you describe..

 

Not every problem is caused by a trojan or virus, but to humor you and rule it out, i'll run some scans. I actually found out it could be caused by various anti-virus suites through a protective measure to guard against virus/malware from turning off security software...so rather than an infection on a brand new machine i'm very protective of, it could just be McAfee locking some files or registry settings...i get the same Access Denied error when disabling hdd indexing and also when disabling startups in msconfig. I can still disable startup programs in msconfig, it's just accompanied by an Access Denied error. Apparently, when anything is enabled/disabled in msconfig, it actually touches all the listed programs and when it attempts to access antivirus registries or settings, it triggers an error. I suspect the same occurs when turning off indexing because applying it to "all subfolders and files" will attempt to change attributes to many files, some of which are restricted, even at the admin level.

I'll post results from scans with the 3 tools you listed and if that doesn't fix the problem, i'll attempt to disable/remove McAfee.

 

hey all. wow. this got busy. it is perfectly normal for a couple of files to have errors when you disable indexing. don't worry about this- it happens to every one. it will not be able to 'apply attributes' to those files. no worries. just hit ignore for the ones that can't be accessed.

if you are an admin, you should not get an error when you disable (uncheck) stuff in msconfig. that is weird. you are right, probably antivirus locked it. dunno much about mcafee other than everyone hates it.

word.

 

yeah, i guess the title of this thread would immediately make someone think "virus" or "trojan" or "spyware" whatever word you want to use.

I honestly don't think that this is the issue though. I could be wrong. Just in case, I'll try running all the spyware/malware/antivirus crap. I don't see how TWO people could have the same issue though. Using different sets of software and different OS.

 

Regarding the hard drive being constantly accessed.

Is it Lenovo's Thinkvantage Rescue and Recovery (R&R) doing a scheduled backup? Check the (R&R) setting to see it has recurring backups scheduled.

 

dude, i wiped that crap off and installed a fresh copy of Windows XP w/SP3 =) IBM specific software annoys me.

 

I installed Vista SP1 Home Premium and not connected to the internet... and just sitting there the light flashed. I think it's normal for it to do that. The cause has to be something that's in vanilla Windows.

 

and rxblitzrx,

It could be your heuristics level in the antivirus is doing the background access. Heuristics is the antivirus's way of checking for new and unknown viruses. It runs in the background (silently meaning low resources, although an HD light would go off if it is in use). You can disable it in advanced settings of your antivirus and your computer should run a little faster with it off and be as protected. (just keep the antivirus updated). Let me know if this simple fix solves your problem...

 

Is it flickering every second? You could set a clock my the pulse of my HD flash

 

Well, maybe not every second (more like once every 3/4th second or so). I didn't time it, but it was fairly consistantly spaced.

 

wow. ok that's good to know.

 

yea, mine's pretty consistent, as well...approximately a flash every second, like clockwork...

 

OK, so I tried the 3 utilities above and they didn't detect any malicious malware...Spybot identified some cookies, but nothing too serious...after the scan & fixes, the hdd still continued to flicker at the same rate...

...i then removed McAffee and although it fixed my Access Denied error when disabling services in msconfig, the constant hdd activity remains...i disabled System Restore, disabled indexing, disabled CSS, disabled RMclock and nothing seems to stop the hdd activity light from flickering every second...the mystery continues...

 

Wow, thanks for trying everything.. I would say if others are not having the same problem as you with the same laptop model...When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.. So my guess is something may be wrong with the hard drive light switch or contact itself. Re-install windows or a different version of windows and if the problem continues, that has to be the answer to your mystery...

 

I've tried pulling my HD out and pushing it back in... like PUUUUUSHING it in. If it wasn't connected before, it sure is now. My HD light continues to flicker as well.

 

The hard drive indicator light on my T400 flashes every second too, sometimes twice a second. Is this even a problem? I don't think it should be a problem.
I did a clean Vista install too.

 

It's not a problem per se but could be an annoyance if you don't know what is causing it as it should remain off when the hard drive is not being accessed. I would re-install windows or a different version of windows just out of curiosity if you are interested in determining the problem.. If not, I wouldn't worry about it...

 

jsyt check your pm

 

I agree, it's not a problem per se, but rather a curiosity as our other laptop doesn't exhibit this behavior, and it runs the same OS, updates, and software. It bothers me because I assume the flashing hdd light indicates hdd activity and if the hdd/light stays off, then maybe i'd get additional precious time off the battery...

interestingly, there was an old post (sorry, i couldn't find the thread again) on this forum about their Asus hdd light not really indicating hdd activity...apparently, the person heard their hdd spin down, yet the light continued to flicker...i'm running RMclock and maybe that's interfering with the default Windows power manager...but i've tried disabling RMclock already...but at one point, i did have RMclock, ThinkVantage PowerManager, AND Windows power management all running...i actually can't turn off the Windows power manager, but have uninstalled thinkvantage power manager...the odd thing is i can't get the Windows battery icon to disappear from the system tray...it stays there, regardless of the setting...maybe there's a conflict that's keeping the hdd from spinning down, regardless of settings...but i've disabled/removed everything and it still continues to flicker...i literally kept my ear near the palmrest for 5minutes (hdd set to idle after 3 min) but never heard it spin down...gonna take Supermans suggestion and reinstall XP and also install Vista this weekend...will keep those insterested, updated...thanks!

 

Official Update:

Now that we have three people with the same issue I think it might be safe to rule out several possibilities.

1. We're all running different OS so I think it's safe to say that it's not OS related. We have all done clean installs using a)XP SP3 b) XP SP2 and c)Vista SP1.

2. We all have different third party software running so it might also be safe to say that it's not virus-infected software related.

This leaves hardware and driver issues as the only possibility. Here's a list of my hardware. Maybe we can find a common piece:

Intel 5300 Wireless
Intel Integrated Graphics
Intel P8400 2.26 GHz Core 2 Duo
2 GB RAM
Hitachi 80GB 5400 RPM hard drive
No Bluetooth
No Fingerprint

All other hardware should be the same as everyone else.

 

My specs are:

Thinkpad a/b/g wireless
Integrated graphics
Intel P8400 2.26 GHZ
2 GB RAM
Fujitsu 250 GB 5400 RPM HDD
Bluetooth
Fingerprint Reader
4in1 Card Reader

 

Does anyone else notice their task manager flashes too?...at the same 1 per second rate as the HDD light, except the two are not necessarily synchronized...

 

Just wondering, does it flash like clockwork when you're outside your OS as well? For example, in the BIOS. If not, then I doubt that it's a contact or any kind of hardware problem. Because it should show up everywhere.

Another question is... when you actually run something that's HD-intensive, does it flash more frequently?

 

My light flashes more frequently AND more brightly when you open apps and other functions. I know this is normal though.

 

There is no need for guessing game. The FileMon utility can tell exactly which process is reading/writing to which file.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896642.aspx

The hdd on my T42 is usually spin down during internet browsing. I have windows xp sp3, 24 processes running at the moment.

 

OK, I think I might have the solution...after reading numerous cases of hdd blinking lights on other forums, a few implied that the hdd light indicates bus activity, not necessarily hdd only. It is highly likely the optical drive is on the same sata channel and is polled periodically, every second, in order to support Windows autorun/autoplay feature.

Suggestions include using TweakXP/TweakUI to disable the autorun feature for the optical drive...all those tweaks do is change some registry settings. According to microsoft, we can accomplish the same here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/155217

This finally stopped my hdd light from blinking!...i believe it stops windows from polling the optical drive...however, "My Computer" will not refresh the status of the dvd drive when a disc is inserted...this is not acceptable to me...i knew i didn't always have this hdd blinking problem...I decided to re-install the ThinkVantage Power Manager utility, which gives the option of enabling "power saving" mode on the optical drive...I had previously uninstalled it because it seemed pointless to run TVPM with Windows power management, as well as RMclock (i would basically have 3 battery indicators in the system tray and could no longer turn off the display of the Windows default battery icon)...

now, you can't set how soon the optical drive is turned off but the good news is when TVPM does power off the optical drive (after 3-5 minutes), the hdd light stops blinking every second...when you view My Computer, you'll see a red circle and slash indicating the dvd drive is "off"...in addition, when you place a disc in the drive, it automatically wakes and My Computer reflects the disc label...as I write this, Power Manager has turned off the optical drive and my hdd light does not flicker as much...it still indicates random activity on the bus, but it is very faint and the hdd light stays off for the most part...it definitely does not flicker as regularly as before...wish i knew which registry change(s) TVPM is making...hope this solves the issue for others...

 

Problem solved

 

Turn off Auto Play.

Start | Run | gpedit.msc

Go to: Admin Templates | System | Turn off Autoplay (enable it)


EDIT: Nevermind. The registry edit trick worked. This doesn't work.

WAY TO GO POTSTCKER!!!

 

nice find. this will be good to know when i get my t400! i usually disable my optical drive altogether, since i use it so rarely... maybe that will solve the problem as well. hehe... will this still happen if i have another hard drive in the ultrabay? guess i'll find out.

 

ditto. the only time i use my optical is to install windows. i should just invest in a plastic insert so i can take the cdrom out and save weight.

 

Thanks for narrowing down and eliminating other possible causes, RX...the manual is too skimpy to have been any help...

 

Thanks. I had the same problem. I will try this later.