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The hard disk activity LED flickers every few seconds even when nothing is running on
the PC and it is completely idle
Explanation: The activity LED on the
system case flickers every few seconds, even when nothing is going on with the PC.
Diagnosis: There are a couple of possible explanations for this behavior. First is
Windows 95's "auto-insert notification". The feature that automatically loads
software from CD-ROM drives works by constantly checking to see if there is a CD-ROM disk
in the drive. This causes the activity light to flicker on some systems. Another
possibility is that there is system work occurring that you may not be aware of. Windows
does do some housekeeping work at occasionally odd times, and there can also be background
tasks that run from time to time.
Recommendation:
- Pay close attention to when the LED lights up. If it is regular, every three seconds or
so, this is the auto-insert notification. If it is irregular or hard to track, then it is
likely just periodic system activity, which is perfectly normal. For example, several
seconds after closing a Windows application, Windows may rearrange its internal memory
structures and you'll see it access the disk a great deal. (During normal activity you can
usually hear the hard disk operating, as well, while the auto-insert-notification-induced
LED lighting is not normally accompanies by any actual hard disk activity.)
- If you do not need auto-insert notification then disable it. This can be done from the
Device Manager. Go into the Control Panel, select the System icon, then the Device Manager
tab. Click on the "CDROM" icon to reveal the CD-ROM drive in your system, then
select "Properties" and then "Settings". Uncheck the "Auto insert
notification" checkbox.
- Try moving the CD-ROM drive to a different IDE channel, if possible. This may cause the
problem to go away.
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