Article View: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
Article #11895Re: HD lights flicker in Windows 3.1 ?
From: The Bard Duelak
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 05:01
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 05:01
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3805 bytes
jmalloy@itsmail1.hamilton.edu (Joseph T. Malloy) writes: >In article <1993Jan25.181926.19241@donau.et.tudelft.nl> linstee@dutecaj.et.tudelft.nl (Erik van Linstee) writes: >>mechalas@gn.ecn.purdue.edu (John P. Mechalas) writes: >> >>>In article <C1EEq5.Ky1@news.cso.uiuc.edu> bes38869@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (The Bard Duelak ) writes: >>>> I have a 386DX@40Mhz, w/ a Maxtor 7120A 130Mb Hd, and a >>>>Cirrus GD54 video card. I havent noticed this before, but when I enter >>>>Windows, it seems to be taking longer for it to start up, and then when >>>>it finally does, Windows seems to be accessin the HD alot, and when it isnt >>>>accessing the HD, the HD lights constantly flicker. They dont do this >>>>running under DOS. I have even run the most recent version of scan on >>>>all the files on the hard drive, and no viruses are reported. >>>> Has anyone had this problem, or know what is causing it and >>>>how to stop it? Please post, or reply by e-mail. >> >>>How many buffers and files do you have set in your config.sys? If you don't >>>have enough of either, Windows will be foreced to do a lot of disk accessing >>>(at least, that has been my experience). I set 30 files and 15 buffers, >>>though your mileage may vary, if this is indeed the problem. >> >>Last time I looked (ages ago) windows keeps accessing the harddisk >>periodically (every3-5 seconds) even when it isn't touched. >>I never found a valid reason for it doing so. >> >When I boot Windows, hard drive activity stops afer startup and doesn't >occur again until I do something to require it. If you're running a >program that automatically saves files in the background (word >processor, one of those post-it notes type utilities, spreadsheets -- >all will do that if the options to do so are enabled), well, you'll see >a bit of disk activity from time to time. It sounds like theoriginal >poster's configuration has somehow changed (do you have a disk cache? >How large is it?) or he's using one or more programs that require more >memory and so Windows swaps out to disk... >This may be the equivalent of a Windows Urban Legend, but I've heard >often enough of problems with Windows (mostly 3.0, I admit) that were >solved by increasing the number of file handles in config.sys to 50 or >60 or so. If you have a disk cache, 15 buffers ought to be okay; if >not, the more the merrier. >Try Windows in standard mode and see how that goes, too... >Good luck! >jmalloy@hamilton.edu >> I found the problem, I had reconfigured my memory manager after installing a new video card, and changing something in autoexec. Apparently my memory manager did something screwy (still dont know what), but after re-reconfiguring it, everything is back to normal. Thanks to all who replied. -- Blair -- |Blair Sandberg, student in | "If paper feathers are all it takes to fly,dont| | Microbiology, at the | you think we'd have heard about it before?"... | | University of Illinois | - "It takes an uncommon mind to think of these | | bes38869@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu | things, Hobbes." -- Calvin and Hobbes |
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<C1EEq5.Ky1@news.cso.uiuc.edu> <1993Jan25.141024.6013@gn.ecn.purdue.edu> <1993Jan25.181926.19241@donau.et.tudelft.nl> <1993Jan26.192807.18878@itsmail1.hamilton.edu>Show Full Headers
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Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!sparky!uunet!tcsi.com!iat.holonet.net!news.cerf.net!usc!sdd.hp.com!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!news.cso.uiuc.edu!uxa.cso.uiuc.edu!bes38869 From: bes38869@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (The Bard Duelak ) Subject: Re: HD lights flicker in Windows 3.1 ? References: <C1EEq5.Ky1@news.cso.uiuc.edu> <1993Jan25.141024.6013@gn.ecn.purdue.edu> <1993Jan25.181926.19241@donau.et.tudelft.nl> <1993Jan26.192807.18878@itsmail1.hamilton.edu> Message-ID: <C1Hxz5.65M@news.cso.uiuc.edu> Sender: usenet@news.cso.uiuc.edu (Net Noise owner) Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 05:01:52 GMT Lines: 61