Stopping Vista & 7's constant HD hammering from driving you nuts

qubit · Oct 23, 2009

Relief is now at hand for those that are driven to distraction by Vista & 7's constant hammering of the hard disc when the computer isn't touched for a few minutes. I've got a Raptor X, a very noisy drive and it used to be very annoying. Until now.

I have tried this fix on my Win 7 64-bit RTM only, but should be the same on Vista and on 32-bit versions.

To stop the noise, do the following:

Disable scheduled defrags. I went one further and disabled the defrag service
Disable the the Superfetch service in the Control Panel Administrative Tools
And finally, turn off the little-known ReadyBoot (not to be confused with ReadyBoost, although they are related and both part of the Superfetch function). Helpfully, there's no service that can be turned off for this and the damn thing constantly hammers the hard disc for many minutes at a time. You have to edit the registry instead

Before editing the registry, be aware that it's like playing with fire and must be treated with the utmost respect, or it will bite you in the ass. It's quite possible to bork it badly enough that Windows won't boot again. You have been warned.

Run REGEDIT (click the Orb and enter REGEDIT, for those unfamiliar with this) and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet002\Control\WMI\Autologger\ReadyBoot

In there you will find a key called Start with the value 1. Change it to 0 and reboot the PC.

That's it, Windows will never hammer the hard disc incessantly again. If you're wondering about the Search Indexer, then yes, that will hammer it too. However, it's a one-time job and the realtime updates only take a few seconds, so aren't enough to be a nuisance.

Note that all these services are there to help keep Windows working optimally, especially the defragger. Driving you nuts is a mere side effect of these good intentions. Therefore, manually defrag the PC once in a while and if you notice boot performance degrading significantly, try switching all these services back on for a while (but Windows gets bogged down with time, anyway).

Also, don't forget to clear out your temp files with the excellent ATF-Cleaner, available free from www.atribune.org

Mussels · Oct 23, 2009

scheduled defrags was a no brainer, and superfetch was a logical thing to disable - but readyboot is new to me.

kudos for putting it all together in one easy little compilation.

It should be noted i've not been seeing HDD hammering in windows 7 here, and i've only disabled the defrag.

Solaris17 · Oct 23, 2009

subscribed

stevednmc · Oct 23, 2009

this may deserve a sticky no?

Mussels · Oct 23, 2009

i dont have mod rights in general software, but it sounds like a good idea.

RejZoR · Oct 23, 2009

I don't get it where ppl get HDD thrashing all the time. I've only experienced it exactly once per each new install. And it lasted for like half an hour tops. After that it never ever happened again and i haven't disabled anything. I'm just writting from ACER Aspire One with Windows 7 and there is no problem with HDD activity. I also never had one with Vista. My systems really are extraordinary it seems...

Mussels · Oct 23, 2009

RejZoR said:
I don't get it where ppl get HDD thrashing all the time. I've only experienced it exactly once per each new install. And it lasted for like half an hour tops. After that it never ever happened again and i haven't disabled anything. I'm just writting from ACER Aspire One with Windows 7 and there is no problem with HDD activity. I also never had one with Vista. My systems really are extraordinary it seems...

the defragger was the only thing that repeatedly did it for me - and now thats the first thing i disable on a fresh install

qubit · Oct 23, 2009

RejZoR said:
I don't get it where ppl get HDD thrashing all the time. I've only experienced it exactly once per each new install. And it lasted for like half an hour tops. After that it never ever happened again and i haven't disabled anything. I'm just writting from ACER Aspire One with Windows 7 and there is no problem with HDD activity. I also never had one with Vista. My systems really are extraordinary it seems...

All you have to do is not touch the keyboard or mouse. Sooner or later, it'll start hammering the disc. It might take it perhaps 30 minutes or so and sometimes I didn't notice it at all, presumably because Windows thought itself already optimised.

For best effect, perhaps try installing a couple of big apps, such as an office suit and a game (a demanding one that takes lots of disc space eg Crysis etc) and use those programs for a bit. Once you leave the computer after that you are bound to see this.

You hard disc may be failrly silent, so watch out for the HD indicator flickering.

qubit · Oct 23, 2009

Thankyou!

Thanks for the kind words everybody. Feels good to help. :toast:

RejZoR · Oct 23, 2009

Mussels said:
the defragger was the only thing that repeatedly did it for me - and now thats the first thing i disable on a fresh install

Defragger is set to run once per week at 2 AM (by default). So i don't know how yours was running all the time.

Tatty_Two · Oct 23, 2009

Thank you..... Like Mussels I was not aware of the "readyboot".

RejZoR · Oct 23, 2009

It's indexing service if anything anything is causing excess HDD usage. I'd say you guys are barking at the wrong thing...

qubit · Oct 23, 2009

RejZoR said:
It's indexing service if anything anything is causing excess HDD usage. I'd say you guys are barking at the wrong thing...

Turning the indexer service off still results in the same thing.

You can prove it to yourself, by leaving the Task Manager open, clicking Resource Monitor and watching the HD activity. You'll see that a file called ReadyBoot.evl is the one constantly being written to when the HD activity happens and shows up at the top of the list as the most active file.

EastCoasthandle · Oct 23, 2009

interesting idea.

Easo · Oct 23, 2009

Dunno, my HDD is not doing anything, except defrag or when new files are downloaded or installed, Indexing service turns on. Vista, yes, it was trashing HDD all the time, 7 isnt doing that for me.

erocker · Oct 23, 2009

qubit said:
Turning the indexer service off still results in the same thing.

You can prove it to yourself, by leaving the Task Manager open, clicking Resource Monitor and watching the HD activity. You'll see that a file called ReadyBoot.evl is the one constantly being written to when the HD activity happens and shows up at the top of the list as the most active file.

Turning off indexing does help, though indexing isn't always running. I keep ReadyBoost (or boot) enabled, indexing off, system restore off, windows search off, and auto defrag off, and my drives don't run excessively. I've been using this guide for years. http://www.blackviper.com/WinVista/supertweaks.htm It has everything you listed and much much more.

RejZoR · Oct 23, 2009

Well, i never had any HDD thrashing, so i can't prove anything. Never had problems with HDD usage.
Not even with indexing. Only after Windows install when system was indexing files but after that it was dead silent.

However i can tell 2 things that i'm certain.

Indexing and System Restore.
Indexing is constantly indexing data, lots of it at first and incriments later. System Restore however backs up data all the time. If you install something (games, drivers, programs), if system files are modified, if scheduled restore point is created.

So, if you want to really get rid of HDD usage, disable these two. But from my past experience, i wouldn't want to disable System Restore, because it just might save your a$$ someday.
Indexing is optional.

qubit · Oct 23, 2009

RejZoR said:
Well, i never had any HDD thrashing, so i can't prove anything. Never had problems with HDD usage.
Not even with indexing. Only after Windows install when system was indexing files but after that it was dead silent.

However i can tell 2 things that i'm certain.

Indexing and System Restore.
Indexing is constantly indexing data, lots of it at first and incriments later. System Restore however backs up data all the time. If you install something (games, drivers, programs), if system files are modified, if scheduled restore point is created.

So, if you want to really get rid of HDD usage, disable these two. But from my past experience, i wouldn't want to disable System Restore, because it just might save your a$$ someday.
Indexing is optional.

Interesting, I dunno what to say, really. Perhaps it does this much less on your system? It's just that on every PC I've installed Vista & 7 on, plus those of my friend's, I have seen this.

I've just checked System Restore on my PC and it's switched on. It certainly makes sense that SR would cause extra HD activity.

erocker · Oct 23, 2009

The system restore and indexing services are covered in the link I provided in my post above. From what I have read, Superfetch shouldn't be disabled, nor does it need to be. :toast:

qubit · Oct 23, 2009

erocker said:
The system restore and indexing services are covered in the link I provided in my post above. From what I have read, Superfetch shouldn't be disabled, nor does it need to be.

Thanks, I'll check that link out; I see there's lots of goodies in it.

Turning off Superfetch may well degrade perforamance eventually, which is why I covered myself with the last bit in my post.

I can tell you, however, that I disabled the defrag service quite some time ago, not defragged it since and not seen my PC run excessively slowly (I've not benched it objectively either, to be fair). But then again, it's a modern, powerful one with a fast HD, so a more modest one may slow down noticeably.

erocker · Oct 23, 2009

qubit said:
Thanks, I'll check that link out; I see there's lots of goodies in it.

Turning off Superfetch may well degrade perforamance eventually, which is why I covered myself with the last bit in my post.

I can tell you, however, that I disabled the defrag service quite some time ago, not defragged it since and not seen my PC run excessively slowly (I've not benched it objectively either, to be fair). But then again, it's a modern, powerful one with a fast HD, so a more modest one may slow down noticeably.

I've kept superfetch on since Vista came out, haven't had a problem with it, other than it possibly filling up the prefetch folder. If you do turn off auto-defrag, you should do so only knowing that you will run it manually. I run defrag every two weeks or so.

qubit · Oct 23, 2009

erocker said:
I've kept superfetch on since Vista came out, haven't had a problem with it, other than it possibly filling up the prefetch folder. If you do turn off auto-defrag, you should do so only knowing that you will run it manually. I run defrag every two weeks or so.

Oh, absolutely. It's just that I have to install that free one that I saw on here a while back and have forgotten what it's called. Also, I wanted to see the impact on my system of not defragging.

It wouldn't hurt to try switching Superfetch back on and seeing what happens.

EDIT: Superfetch is now switched on.

suraswami · Oct 23, 2009

stevednmc said:
this may deserve a sticky no?

I would say yes, but may be start a thread for W7 Tweaks or something like that, so it will have just tweaks no blabbering.

qubit · Oct 24, 2009

erocker: Superfetch back off. As I thought, it turned on ReadyBoot in the registry, putting me back to square one.

erocker · Oct 24, 2009

I've just been following the guides in the link for years. No HDD thrashing, no un-needed background processes, everything's been running great with XP, Vista and 7. :toast:

System Name	Quantumville™
Processor	Intel Core i7-2700K @ 4GHz
Motherboard	Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3
Cooling	Noctua NH-D14
Memory	16GB (2 x 8GB Corsair Vengeance Black DDR3 PC3-12800 C9 1600MHz)
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 2080 SUPER Gaming X Trio
Storage	Samsung 850 Pro 256GB \| WD Black 4TB \| WD Blue 6TB
Display(s)	ASUS ROG Strix XG27UQR (4K, 144Hz, G-SYNC compatible) \| Asus MG28UQ (4K, 60Hz, FreeSync compatible)
Case	Cooler Master HAF 922
Audio Device(s)	Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty PCIe
Power Supply	Corsair AX1600i
Mouse	Microsoft Intellimouse Pro - Black Shadow
Keyboard	Yes
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

System Name	Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor	Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard	Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling	Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory	2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage	2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s)	Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) \| Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) \| Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case	Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s)	Logitech G560 \| Corsair Void pro RGB \|Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply	Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse	Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD	Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software	Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores	Nyooom.

System Name	Rocinante
Processor	I9 14900KS
Motherboard	EVGA z690 Dark KINGPIN (modded BIOS)
Cooling	EK-AIO Elite 360 D-RGB
Memory	64GB Gskill Trident Z5 DDR5 6000 @6400
Video Card(s)	MSI SUPRIM Liquid X 4090
Storage	1x 500GB 980 Pro \| 1x 1TB 980 Pro \| 1x 8TB Corsair MP400
Display(s)	Odyssey OLED G9 G95SC
Case	Lian Li o11 Evo Dynamic White
Audio Device(s)	Moondrop S8's on Schiit Hel 2e
Power Supply	Bequiet! Power Pro 12 1500w
Mouse	Lamzu Atlantis mini (White)
Keyboard	Monsgeek M3 Lavender, Akko Crystal Blues
VR HMD	Quest 3
Software	Windows 11
Benchmark Scores	I dont have time for that.

System Name	TheBruise
Processor	i7-960
Motherboard	Gigabyte x58A -Ud5
Cooling	Vantage ALC push pull/2x180mm fans/1x120mm silverstone
Memory	12GB Corsair Vengeance 1600Mhz
Video Card(s)	2 Sapphire Vapor-X 5870's in Xfire
Storage	Ocz Vertex 3 Max Iops (OS) 300GB Velociraptor, 750 GB WD Black
Display(s)	Asus 23" VS238H-P
Case	Silverstone Ft01-BW Fortress
Audio Device(s)	Creative X-fi Titanium
Power Supply	Corsair HX-850
Software	W7pro SP1

System Name	Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor	Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard	Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling	Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory	2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage	2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s)	Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) \| Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) \| Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case	Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s)	Logitech G560 \| Corsair Void pro RGB \|Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply	Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse	Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD	Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software	Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores	Nyooom.

Processor	Rocket Lake Core i5 11600K @ 5 Ghz with PL tweaks
Motherboard	MSI MAG Z490 TOMAHAWK
Cooling	Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120SE + 4 Phanteks 140mm case fans
Memory	32GB (4 x 8GB SR) Patriot Viper Steel 4133Mhz DDR4 @ 3600Mhz CL14@1.45v Gear 1
Video Card(s)	Asus Dual RTX 4070 OC
Storage	WD Blue SN550 1TB M.2 NVME//Crucial MX500 500GB SSD (OS)
Display(s)	AOC Q2781PQ 27 inch Ultra Slim 2560 x 1440 IPS
Case	Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Windowed - Gunmetal
Audio Device(s)	Onboard Realtek ALC1200/SPDIF to Sony AVR @ 5.1
Power Supply	Seasonic CORE GM650w Gold Semi modular
Mouse	Coolermaster Storm Octane wired
Keyboard	Element Gaming Carbon Mk2 Tournament Mech
Software	Win 10 Home x64

System Name	MY PC
Processor	E8400 @ 3.80Ghz > Q9650 3.60Ghz
Motherboard	Maximus Formula
Cooling	D5, 7/16" ID Tubing, Maze4 with Fuzion CPU WB
Memory	XMS 8500C5D @ 1066MHz
Video Card(s)	HD 2900 XT 858/900 to 4870 to 5870 (Keep Vreg area clean)
Storage	2
Display(s)	24"
Case	P180
Audio Device(s)	X-fi Plantinum
Power Supply	Silencer 750
Software	XP Pro SP3 to Windows 7
Benchmark Scores	This varies from one driver to another.

System Name	Personal \\ Work - HP EliteBook 840 G6
Processor	7700X \\ i7-8565U
Motherboard	Asrock X670E PG Lightning
Cooling	Noctua DH-15
Memory	G.SKILL Trident Z5 RGB Black 32GB 6000MHz CL36 \\ 16GB DDR4-2400
Video Card(s)	ASUS RoG Strix 1070 Ti \\ Intel UHD Graphics 620
Storage	2x KC3000 2TB, Samsung 970 EVO 512GB \\ OEM 256GB NVMe SSD
Display(s)	BenQ XL2411Z \\ FullHD + 2x HP Z24i external screens via docking station
Case	Fractal Design Define Arc Midi R2 with window
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC1150 with Logitech Z533
Power Supply	Corsair AX860i
Mouse	Logitech G502
Keyboard	Corsair K55 RGB PRO
Software	Windows 11 \\ Windows 10

Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard	ASUS TUF x670e
Cooling	EK AIO 360. Phantek T30 fans.
Memory	32GB G.Skill 6000Mhz
Video Card(s)	Asus RTX 4090
Storage	WD m.2
Display(s)	LG C2 Evo OLED 42"
Case	Lian Li PC 011 Dynamic Evo
Audio Device(s)	Topping E70 DAC, SMSL SP200 Headphone Amp.
Power Supply	FSP Hydro Ti PRO 1000W
Mouse	Razer Basilisk V3 Pro
Keyboard	Tester84
Software	Windows 11

System Name	---
Processor	FX 8350 @ 4.00 Ghz with 1.28v
Motherboard	Gigabyte 990FX-UD3 v4.0, Hacked Bios F4.x
Cooling	Silenx 4 pipe Tower cooler + 2 x Cougar 120mm fan, 3 x 120mm, 1 x 200 mm Red LED fan
Memory	Kingston HyperX DDR3 1866 16GB + Patriot Memory DDR3 1866 16GB
Video Card(s)	Asus R9 290 OC @ GPU - 1050, MEM - 1300
Storage	Inland 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD for OS, WDC Black - 2TB + 1TB Storage, Inland 480GB SSD - Games
Display(s)	3 x 1080P LCDs - Acer 25" + Acer 23" + HP 23"
Case	AeroCool XPredator X3
Audio Device(s)	Built-in Realtek
Power Supply	Corsair HX1000 Modular
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64 bit

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