Win 7 Help

[ameerat42]

Hi All.
I don't know if I should post this here or in General Help.

I just installed Win 7 Ult on a quad core machine. After a while, when the screen blanks, there's a lot of HDD activity (and associated noise, HDD light blaring, etc.) I can't tell what's happening because any activity stops it, and the screen re-appears as normal.

I'm new to Win 7, but when my XP idles it's as quiet as anything.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks, Am.

[NikonUser]

I'd say that it is probably the computer indexing all of your files.

When installing vista or windows 7 the operating system does a lot of indexing and other optimizations after you have installed it.

It should stop after a few days/week (depending on how fast your drives are, how much is on them and how often you leave your computer idle)

Good luck
Paul

[ameerat42]

Thanks for that, Paul. Am.

[milspec]

Could be indexing, anti-virus or auto defrag ... no big deal I would think.

[arnica]

It wouldn't be the screen saver would it?

[ricktas]

Speaking of screen savers. It is best to turn them off and have your system turn the monitor off after a set time, than use a screen saver. Yes it stops 'burn in' on your screen, but you can save a heap of money in power usage costs by not using a screen saver and having your system shut the monitor down after a period of inactivity instead. Screen savers are huge a waste of power.

[ameerat42]

Thanks to all.
Arnica, it would be the default screen blanking, in fact maybe hibernation, except for the racket it makes.
Ricktas, in fact I had the screen switched off as well, but still the noise started up.
I'll look at the settings some more. I'm new to W7 and it's for someone else anyway.
Am.

[dieselpower]

Am -

As others have said, automated processes. Indexing most likely, and defrag and maybe antivirus. Eventually it will not do it for as long and then probably hardly even be noticeable. I don't notice any of my W7 machines doing it anymore.

With hibernate, the whole running state of the system is saved to the hard disk and the system is effectively shut down. This also requires some time to come back - once it's hibernated all disk activity etc is stopped.

Hope this helps.
Tom

[Invictus]

Hard drive activity for idle processing (Antivirus, indexing, etc etc) is normal, as mentioned by others already.
What concerns me in your description of the problem is: "except for the racket it makes"
Though it does vary with different model and manufacturers... Modern drives aren't that noisy, especially compared to one's made years ago. ( It's not an old drive is it? ie: 3+ years old? )

A couple of thoughts that come to mind regarding the noise (assuming it's a pc tower, not a laptop):
- Check how it has been mounted. It could be vibration or drive noise being amplified through the case.
- Try it with the case open, and listen closely, to isolate if it is the drive, and try to locate where the noise is coming from.

Even with 10 drives in a case, there shouldn't be any 'racket' going on.

[dieselpower]

A lot of modern drives are still noisy not with the spinning, but with the read/write heads rattling away. It's not excruciatingly loud but to someone who hasn't heard it before it may be worriesome. I never noticed my hard disks chatting away until I got my latest PC - CPU runs much cooler and cant hear the fans, but can hear the same disks chatting.

My interpretation of the original post is that it's just read/write rattle as the disk activity is up.

[ameerat42]

Thanks, D. Now since yesterday the drives have quietened down heaps. Am.

[Roof]

Yes it stops 'burn in' on your screen,

I don't think burn in happens anymore, that's more an CRT old thing.

[arnica]

Off topic: For me when I walk away from the computer, I always turn my monitor off ... I know there are energy saving monitors and screensavers out there. But I'd rather do my bit for the environment by using as less power as possible.