Strange harddisk behaviour

[De Joker]

Since last weekend my pc started behaving strange, like some program is running in the background. Sometimes when i boot or restart it works ok for a few minutes but then all of a sudden the harddisks go crazy (the hd lights keep flickering)and the whole computer becomes very slow.

About a month ago i rounded my ide cables and enabled dma (from the article on sysopt), but everthing worked fine up until know so i doubt that the cable rounding or dma has anything to do with it.

I already tried to unload everthing from memory (with ctrl+alt+del) when the problem started but that didn't help. First i thought one of my harddisks was about to crash but no matter which harddisk i run from the problem is still there. I use norton sysdoc to monitor hd smart status but no warning, i also ran diskdoctor on all the partitions but everthing checks out ok.

Anohter strange thing is even if i restart or shutdown normally, the next time win me starts, scandisk pops up and starts scanning my harddisk eventhough the previous shutdown was normal.

My virus scanner is also up to date, and i haven't run any strange programms so i don't think it's a virus. The only new programm i recently installed is nero 5.5.1.8.

Thanks for any reply.

[Vagabond]

Some unsavory programs can run in the background and can hide form ctrl-alt-del. To see what is actually running do this (remember I run win 98) start - programs - accessories - system tools - system information. Expand Software Environment and go to Running Tasks and check it all out. Now to find the unsavory programs is a process of Elimination
good luck

[Brangwen]

For the heck of it, try using non-rounded cables. Just for comparison. Could have sliced some insulation, or lost some and the data is getting corrupted. Worth a shot.

Brangwen http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

[NDC]

It could also be OS related.... I had a problem when I installed a version of DX8 where it was a different language version from my OS and the hard disk would just spin non-stop after reboots... The problem was quickly solved by installing the correct language version. I still can understand to this day what DX8 has to do with the hard disk going crazy like that...

[This message has been edited by NDC (edited 05-19-2001).]

[De Joker]

Thanks for the replys guys, i think i will reinstall windows, i'm just waiting for my new videocard. Saterday i played some mp3's with winamp and i also had system information-running tasks open. The problem doesn't start immediately after my first boot but about 25 minutes later. First it lasts for only a couple of seconds and then after a few more minutes it lasts longer and happens more frequently. Also, as soon as the problem started i checked the runnnig tasks and nothing else is being loaded.

Brangwen don't you think i can rule out the cable because everthing works ok for about 20 minutes after my first boot. And NDC i did install dx8 recently with nba live 2001 but everything is english. I will keep you guys posted after my reinstall (which hopefully solves the problem).