HD Light Doesn't Stop

[TtlRecall]

Any ideas why my HD light turns on at startup and just won't go out?

Thanks,

[Cricket]

Post your complete system specs.

Is this a brand new build or an older computer?

What have you done to fix the problem?

:) Cricket

[glc]

Is the drive audibly running too? If not, the hard drive LED connector from the front panel is probably reversed.

[TtlRecall]

My system:

HP Pavilion 6735 Model number P1441A | Intel Celeron 633 MHz processor Chipset 810L | 64 MB SDRAM & added 256 MB myself :) | 15 GB Ultra DMA HD | Video Graphics 810L (on motherboard) 11 MB shared memory Controller AMC97 codec & added J2/N Appian dual-monitor card myself :) | Microsoft Windows Millennium

It's 4 years old and hope to keep it a few months more at least (until I can build another one myself, maybe).

Windows has been crashing alot recently, so I've defragmented it and last year I took it apart and blew OfficeDuster on it (it's dusty in here!).

I can't hear it running, glc.

Thanks.

[Cricket]

The hard drive has either failed or is near failure. Find out what brand the hard drive is and then go to the manufacturer's web site and download the diagnostic utilities and test the drive. My guess is the hard drive has developed lots of bad clusters.

:) Cricket

[theENiGMA]

It doesn't neccissarily mean the drive is dying. It might not even be the HD itelf. It could be a virus or a very persistent bit of spyware, or some other bit of errant software. Does it happen from the moment you hit the power button (during POST) or once you get into windows?
-KEiTH

[TtlRecall]

The HD light typically won't be on when I start up in the morning, but comes on later and stays on for the rest of the day, even if I do a restart.

It may be spyware, since I do use Grokster.

I also looked for a diagnostic tool at Google, then Maxtor.com, then Google again, but without any luck so far.

[glc]

It's a Maxtor or Quantum drive?

http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/powermax.htm

[TtlRecall]

Okay, I downloaded the Maxtor diagnostic utility and my hard drive passed with flying colors!

Also downloaded Spysweeper from webroot.com which removed 10 adware and 1 spyware program (spyworks, which records every keystroke for later retrieval...great :( ) from my computer.

But the HD light still won't go out!!

[glc]

Try turning off system restore.

[TwoRails]

PC Mag use to have a little free utility called Disk Access Monitor that would log everything that, you guessed it, accessed your hard drives. I couldnt' find it the last time I searched, but maybe your'll have better luck. I think the filename was DiskAct.

HtH

TwoRails

[TtlRecall]

I found this (http://vil.nai.com/vil/SystemHelpDocs/DisableSysRestore.htm) on google and managed to turn off system restore. Then I went back and deleted the alleged spyware (\windows\system\dwspy32.dll) again. I say alleged because I don't know if spyworks is spyware based on this website (http://www.desaware.com/SpyWorksL2.htm).

In any case, the HD light is still on, I'm bushed, and it's Miller Time. Tomorrow's another day...

[KMARTshopper]

Start your computer with the internet/lan connection disconnected... when the computer 1st starts up,,, click the cooresponding button to go into your bios..... if you are in bios setup and the HDD is doing that,, ten might be an issue with the windows software and not the HDD... I have a slew of Maxtor HDDS ranging from the 2 gig models to the 40 gig model in one of my PCs.. good luck....,

one more thing to consider.... Did you build the computer? chack out and make sure that the wires for the front end of the computer are connected correctly... check to see if the PWR LED is swapped with the HDD LED inadvertantly... it can happen,,, those things are poorly marked sometimes


BTW,, in the post can you decypher if it is an older ATA 30 HDD,, 60, ATA or 100?

Oh yeah btw,, I assume that Grokster is peer to peer download server software..

some of these like grokster, kazaa let you download fomr other people,,, but if there are files in that directory someone wants on the network,,, and you are connected,,, then your HDD will light up since you are now uploading to them via the software....

KMARTshopper :)