Show tasks that are scheduled to run only when PC is idle

[sethioz]

Hey, well as title says. there's something that keeps spinning up my HDDs when PC has been idle for about 30 mins or so. I'm watching tv and then on background i hear PC spinning up my HDDs, its extremely annoying as i don't need this. If i want to defrag or scan my pc, i do it manually.

It's not my anti-virus (im using zonealarm and i've disabled all auto scans).
Also i've disabled search indexer and search completely (i'm using Agent Runsack).

but something still keeps doing it. i just want windows to leave my HDDs alone. I have 1 HDD specifically for games, so it should be spinned down while im not playing, but windows keeps spinning it up on its own (when pc is idle).
Same with other HDD, which I use for other general stuff.

Is there a way i can see all the tasks that run when PC is idle? I'm looking into task scheduler atm, but don't see anything there that might be causing this.


EDIT: Think i found the troublemaker > "Program Compatibility Assistant Service"

HOW?: I used Procmon (process monitor) and set the filter to "If Path Contains - F:" and "If Path Contains - G:", where F and G are drive letters for my HDDs.
After PC went idle, it popped up like 10000+ entries before i snapped pc out of idle and then it stopped automatically. From there i was able to see that it was rundll32.exe and command line for it was:

C:\Windows\system32\rundll32.exe aepdu.dll,AePduRunUpdate

So i looked it up in google and found what it belongs to. Then i disabled that junk via services.msc

but it's yet to be seen if this happens again when PC goes Idle.

Microsoft really needs to leave my PC alone and stop running all those secret tasks that do nothing but cause problems. First they add a function to spin down HDDs after idle (default value is 20 mins) and then after 1-2 min idle they spin them right back up, it makes no sense at all. at least they should add some sort of system, that if this dumb scan is scheduled, then windows won't spin down your HDDs, first it runs the scans and THEN spins down HDDs ....
honestly, brainless monkeys have made windows, they have no logical thinking at all.

anyone knows that spinning HDDs down and then up is not good at all, that's why i don't want some useless programs spinning my HDDs for no reason.

 

[OvenMaster]

My PC is set up the same way... disabled search indexing, manual defrags, etc. (I use Locate32 and Defraggler)
It turned out that Windows was automatically defragging System Volume Information files.. the big multi-GB ones that get generated automatically at 1am every day by System Restore. If I move my mouse, the HDD activity stops.

 

[sethioz]

I think that thing i turned off did the trick, PC has been idle since i made the post and didn't see anything in procmon. Can't say if HDDs spinned up or not, i wasn't near PC, but if there's no activity, i see no reason why they would spin up.

Yeah i hate all this gay stuff they put into windows. We're on SSDs and they don't need defragging ... microsoft just breaks your machines with all this unneccesary stuff.

 

[Layback Bear]

By default Windows 7 turns off defrag to SSD's.
By default Windows 7 does not schedule anything.

If these things were happening on your computer someone or something changed the default settings.

You can check these things to make sure they are still set at default or where ever you want them.

You can also check programs like Adobe, anti virus, anti malware to make sure they are not set to auto check for updates. Many of these types of programs when installed set default to auto check for updates.
Indexing which is a good thing could be happening from time to time.
If you installed Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool can also start scanning when the computer is at low usage.

As you can see their are many things that can cause your drives to start working without you doing anything. With a little research you can learn how to stop this from happening if you so desire.

Another item is infection of various kinds can start things all by them selves.

 

[DavidE]

By default Windows 7 does not schedule anything.

Hello LB, but I have to disagree with this ...
I didn't setup all the scheduled tasks I have ...

 

[Layback Bear]

Maybe it's me but I have never had such a problem. Nothing on any of my Windows 7 system has ever had any schedule of any kind as default.

 

[DavidE]

I don't have any problem(s) that I know of.
I'm just saying WINDOWS did install and schedule many tasks "by default" for me ...
My screen print shows another scheduled task I have ...
I don't know "how or why" to schedule such a task, so I know I didn't do it.

If I'm the only one with MICROSOFT/WINDOWS tasks such as this, maybe my PCs are really messed up ...
I'm showing screen prints ... what do you see in Scheduled Tasks for Windows and all the sub-folders ?

 

[DavidE]

LB, do you log in with an Administrator account or a Standard (Limited) account?

 

[Layback Bear]

Administrator.
Without changing any settings do you notice anything running when you don't request it to run.
Your setting look like mine in your picture. Nothing runs unless I tell it to.

Something you could look at.
Ccleaner/ Tools and look under schedule.

 

[sethioz]

I agree, you people are very badly misinformed about windows 7 behavior. It runs all sorts of automatic checks by default, defrag, disk checks, error checks ..etc ..etc ..etc ..etc ..etc ..etc and list goes on and on and on.
When i installed my win7, i turned off about 50 services and tasks that were set to run by default and they do nothing but cause problems for users.

Anyway, back to the issue, whatever i did, was not enough. that crap "aepdu.dll" still runs. Seems like there was another aepdu.dll in some amd folder.

I had enough of this crap, so i simply renamed the file to aepdu.dll.bak and create empty text.txt file and renamed it to aepdu.dll and made changed permission to "read only"...lets see if that junk still bothers my HDDs. I'm quite sure it won't bother me again, but will have to see.


oh yeah and speaking of win 7 turning off defrag for SSD? RIGHT ... windows 7 is still in the "floppy" era, how can you expect it to even know about SSDs??
What i mean, is that during installation, sometimes it gives error about some drivers (sometimes when DVD is corrupt or there's dust/scratches on it, it gives false error and says its about drivers, while all it is .. is disk read error). Anyone, it offers you option "insert floppy with drivers" .. so yeah, really...win7 and SSD? RIGHT!
It isn't defrag tho, it's that aepdu.dll that is doing it.

 

[DavidE]

Administrator.
Without changing any settings do you notice anything running when you don't request it to run.
Your setting look like mine in your picture. Nothing runs unless I tell it to.

Something you could look at.
Ccleaner/ Tools and look under schedule.

So your tasks show they never run ...
Can you Enable All Tasks History and show me screen prints like I've included ?
Below is another Screen Print - I have Enable All Tasks History set ... ALWAYS, so I can better see what happened.

Even without "All Tasks History", what does your task show for Last Run Time and Next Run Time ?
Please show me a screen print.

I don't notice most of these tasks running, and I certainly don't request them to run ...
But I believe they do run, or Task History is totally wrong !

 

[DavidE]

I agree, you people are very badly misinformed about windows 7 behavior. It runs all sorts of automatic checks by default, defrag, disk checks, error checks ..etc ..etc ..etc ..etc ..etc ..etc and list goes on and on and on.
When i installed my win7, i turned off about 50 services and tasks that were set to run by default and they do nothing but cause problems for users.

Anyway, back to the issue, whatever i did, was not enough. that crap "aepdu.dll" still runs. Seems like there was another aepdu.dll in some amd folder.

I had enough of this crap, so i simply renamed the file to aepdu.dll.bak and create empty text.txt file and renamed it to aepdu.dll and made changed permission to "read only"...lets see if that junk still bothers my HDDs. I'm quite sure it won't bother me again, but will have to see.


oh yeah and speaking of win 7 turning off defrag for SSD? RIGHT ... windows 7 is still in the "floppy" era, how can you expect it to even know about SSDs??
What i mean, is that during installation, sometimes it gives error about some drivers (sometimes when DVD is corrupt or there's dust/scratches on it, it gives false error and says its about drivers, while all it is .. is disk read error). Anyone, it offers you option "insert floppy with drivers" .. so yeah, really...win7 and SSD? RIGHT!
It isn't defrag tho, it's that aepdu.dll that is doing it.

I apologize for taking your thread off track
I converted an OS from a HD to a SSD using Acronis Backup Imaging, and I was pleasantly surprised that "Scheduled Auto Defrag" removed the SSD from the schedule (for me).
It was one of the first things I checked after the conversion ...
I'll see if I can find anything about "aepdu.dll" that might help ...