high cpu load and hd continously working when "idle"

hello, I installed w7 yeterday and it was ok, I installed avira and photoshop cs3. Today I noticed something with the hd: it keeps working for several minutes after I log in. First I thought it was the antivirus, avira, I uninstalled it but the hd keeps working like when you copy a very large file, also the cpu activity varies from 60% - 100% for the same period of time. Right now, like after 30 minutes from loging in, the cpu meter reports a steady 24% cpu activity and the hd light still pulses regularly. My guess is the ram is not enough, the machine has 1gb installed, the procesor is a p4 2.66 Ghz, the video card is a 7600 nvidia with 256 mb. I know the specs are low, but when I checked system compatibility, the machine passed all the tests. Do you think there is any other reason for the cpu load and the non stop hd?

thanks in advance

Please pardon me if I seem condescending and obvious, but have you loaded any other data to the install, such as documents and music? The seemingly interminable usage could be as simple as Win indexing the disk, which will go away in short order.

HEre's a total shot in the dark about your cpu: On my fresh install a Windows Media Player service was abusing the processor @ idle. Forgive me for not having a direct link as I can't recall the exact name - but it has to do with WMP's network/streaming. Browse around WMP services until you see something that fits that description and untick it (assuming you won't be using the service). Seems to have been a fairly common problem and hey, it may be yours. Again, TOTAL shot in the dark, so don't get excited or anything.

Try running Process Explorer to determine what the problem is as it shows both CPU and Disk IO . Process Explorer
If your commit history is over 1Gig as in your case, you will get a lot of paging to the disk.

it indexes files for first few hours and runs WEI , thats why

every time you log in? I "disabled" the indexing as I found in a tutorial, the time of the disk activity shortens a bit, but thats it; disk and cpu activity still lasts for several minutes. Edit: Yes I loaded like 40gb of things I backed up before installing w7, the thing is, I leave the machine idle for several hours during the day, at some point it looks like it finished to work and the cpu stands at 0% and the disk isnt working either, then I start to do my thing without problems, but when I restart it next day or after a crash, the process starts over again, with the corresponding lack of performance when doing something else. w7 looks terrific compared to vista, and so far the only problem I have found is that... Im a particular, so my needs doesnt go beyond using the computer for some work, hearing music, watching movies and play a game. I wish there would be a way for the machine to do the indexing at idle times or in a scheduled way, but not when I log in to use it.

horacius said:

hello, I installed w7 yeterday and it was ok, I installed avira and photoshop cs3. Today I noticed something with the hd: it keeps working for several minutes after I log in. First I thought it was the antivirus, avira, I uninstalled it but the hd keeps working like when you copy a very large file, also the cpu activity varies from 60% - 100% for the same period of time. Right now, like after 30 minutes from loging in, the cpu meter reports a steady 24% cpu activity and the hd light still pulses regularly. My guess is the ram is not enough, the machine has 1gb installed, the procesor is a p4 2.66 Ghz, the video card is a 7600 nvidia with 256 mb. I know the specs are low, but when I checked system compatibility, the machine passed all the tests. Do you think there is any other reason for the cpu load and the non stop hd?



thanks in advance

Photoshop creates a huge page file for itself. could also be indexing. does it do this on start up and logon od just logon?

Ken

Could also be the automatic defrag in the background.

yay so many answers When I check the cpu manager I see 3 or 4 procs. jumping up and down: svchost.exe (2), wmpnetwk.exe, dwm.exe, system.exe and avg.