[trudgechr]

hi since a new install of windows vista ultimate after a system corruption i have noticed my hard disc is constantly reading. i installed vista to a partion keeping all previous non windows data i had before on my other partitions which was also from a previous install of vista ultimate. can anybody suggest anything ,dont want to loose my hdd.
thanks for your time
chris

[eyeCpc]

What I could suggest is simply due to having more then one hard drive in along with an external drive used for storing files. That would backing everything you want to keep onto another drive all together and seeing the present drive wiped totally and creating a brand new primary with the thought of a second storage parition for keeping your files there.

The advice that would have been given prior to seeing a second install go onto a second partition would be simply backing the files up on the second and reformatting the first OS primary for a clean install of the replacement copy of Windows. You are now likely seeing a tie in between the two installations where something is continuously trying to write to the drive itself.

Review the processes in the task manager by right clicking on the Start taskbar and selecting it that way or pressing the ctrl-alt-del key combination to bring that up. That should indicate what one or more processes are active since that will provide a clue as to what needs to be disabled or removed.

[trudgechr]

i have 8 svchost processes running,2 ati processes and 2 sidebar processes.
do you think formatting the main harddrive fully will solve the problem?can copy all my other files to a external drive of my brothers and copy back afterwards.
thanks
chris

[eyeCpc]

I currently have 11 svchost processes listed. Seeing that multiplied is normal for the most part unless a virus renames itself as that.

Once you got back online prior to seeing all protections installed like antivirus, antispyware, etc. you could have got hit with something trying gum up the works with a hidden process. But wiping the drive entirely while being a hassle for most would insure any bugs were gone whether a trojan snuck in or a Windows glitch between the remnants of the previous install tied in with the current one.

One thing to know first is which partition in Windows on presently first or second? It sounds like you installed it to a second where the first could be removed once all files are copied from that. But moving the current OS primary to the front of the drive takes as long as creating a new primary after dumping the first, reinstalling Windows plus! and I mean plus all drivers along with most of the programs you run.

A quick wipe and a new primary with the files backed up elsewhere goes much faster while still being a large pain until you finally have everything back on again. The second install was rushed by you leaving that a little awkward where this would be the idea. On a normal install the isolation and solution for the problem would be looked into rather then this however.

[Mak213]

Turn off indexing, shadow copies. Indexing will be the biggest one there. Also there should only be 1 instance of Sidebar running.

[eyeCpc]

For that seeing indexing completely turned off you need to change the startup type for that service. Scroll down about half way on the page seen at Speed Up or Disable Windows Search Indexing in Vista :: the How-To Geek for screenshots as well as the steps to take.

Here I have the sidebar and all the gadgets on the disabled list already. That's one thing I looked into when first trying the new version out back in early 2007 shortly after Vista came out for keeping the Classic theme. I hope they still see that in 7?

[[t..o..m]]

Doesn't vista do automatic defragmenting? That would explain the constant hard drive activity

[Mak213]

Originally Posted by [t..o..m]

Doesn't vista do automatic defragmenting? That would explain the constant hard drive activity

Yes it does but only at times of low activity. Indexing happens all the time.

[eyeCpc]

I was under the impression that the defragmenter had to be scheduled to run for the most part in order to be active enough to even be seen in processes in any percentage amount being a low key type background process. But just how intact is the first copy of Vista as far as the second installation is concerned?

When starting the system up do you see any boot options menu appear for a few seconds before Windows goes onto load to the desktop?

Are you thinking what I'm thinking Mak with two copies on there?

[Mak213]

The only way to confirm that would be to try and find a windows.old file on there. Could be but doesnt explain all the problems.