# Computer problem - excessive HD access **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 17, 2009, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-excessive-hd-access/496725 "2009-05-17T05:38:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-excessive-hd-access/496725/21 "2009-05-19T05:40:49Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > A quick check: on the Performance tab of Task Manager, there are various memory figures below the graphs. I’m interested in the memory figures. Right now (three Internet Explorer windows open, no excessive HD access), 288M available of 512M. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-excessive-hd-access/496725/22 "2009-05-19T06:11:50Z")
Do these figures change when you run Firefox? I’m guessing that you have a rogue add-in for Firefox. If you want to stay away from Internet Explorer, I suggest you try Google Chrome. As for Performance Monitor, basically, you pick something you want to monitor and it creates a graph over time. There are shedloads of things to monitor, but you’re mainly interested in disk accesses. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-excessive-hd-access/496725/23 "2009-05-19T06:20:51Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > As for Performance Monitor, basically, you pick something you want to monitor and it creates a graph over time. There are shedloads of things to monitor, but you’re mainly interested in disk accesses. Yup. Could you be a bit more specific in the “hows” of this? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-excessive-hd-access/496725/24 "2009-05-19T10:29:53Z")
Not really, because I don’t have a XP box to hand and it’s changed significantly in Vista. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-excessive-hd-access/496725/25 "2009-05-20T01:02:08Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Not really, because I don’t have a XP box to hand and it’s changed significantly in Vista. I’m running 2000. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-excessive-hd-access/496725/26 "2009-05-20T01:11:54Z")
Friend of mine reported symptoms very much like these and he’s just narrowed it down to some bit of something or other he installed from eBay (from eBay inc. themselves - not one of their sellers)- he didn’t say whether it was a toolbar, a standalone application like Turbo Lister (or whatever it’s called now, if different), or something else. Don’t know if that helps at all, but there it is, in case. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-excessive-hd-access/496725/27 "2009-05-20T07:11:59Z")
Update: One of the uninstall options for Firefox is to lose your bookmarks etc. I finally did this, reinstalling Firefox for the fifth time, and Firefox seems to be working just fine. Now to figure out why Spybot continues to be such a hellbitch to launch… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-excessive-hd-access/496725.md?page=1)