Flickering HD light; erratic high CPU usage;...

On 23 Jun, 03:01, Nehmo <
Could be any of several things. Some mentioned. Also open msconfig and
check nothing unneeded is ticked. Also use 'autoruns' to see if
anything is running that shouldnt be - which is what it sounds like.
But be careful with autoruns, very easy to screw up the OS if you
untick something essential.

Also running MS wintop will show a fair bit.

NT

I realize you are using AVG and Defender but not long ago I had a similar
problem on my Windows machine. I was using AVG and AdAware Pro. The
problem, in my case, turned out to be "VirtuMonde" which was very
difficult to detect and even more difficult to remove. My symptoms were
identical to yours plus I had an added "popup" bonus which drove me crazy.

My point is that you could be suffering some sort of malware attack and
it may not be a hardware *or* software problem at all.

--


Linux Geek

Saying that XP is the most stable MS OS is like saying that
asparagus is the most articulate vegetable. (Dave Barry)

I do have Everest. Here's the report I get when I run Everest:
ID Attribute Description Threshold Value Worst Data Status
01 Raw Read Error Rate 50 100 100 0 OK: Value is normal
02 Throughput Performance 50 100 100 0 OK: Value is normal
03 Spin Up Time 1 100 100 1452 OK: Value is normal
04 Start/Stop Count 0 100 100 1946 OK: Always passing
05 Reallocated Sector Count 50 100 100 6 OK: Value is normal
07 Seek Error Rate 50 100 100 0 OK: Value is normal
08 Seek Time Performance 50 100 100 0 OK: Value is normal
09 Power-On Time Count 0 88 88 5056 OK: Always passing
0A Spin Retry Count 30 137 100 0 OK: Value is normal
0C Power Cycle Count 0 100 100 1858 OK: Always passing
C0 Power-Off Retract Count 0 100 100 27 OK: Always passing
C1 Load/Unload Cycle Count 0 88 88 128173 OK: Always passing
C2 Temperature 0 100 100 4294639661 OK: Always passing
C4 Reallocation Event Count 0 100 100 6 OK: Always passing
C5 Current Pending Sector Count 0 100 100 19 OK: Always passing
C6 Off-Line Uncorrectable Sector Count 0 100 100 0 OK: Always passing
C7 Ultra ATA CRC Error Rate 0 200 253 0 OK: Always passing
DC Disk Shift 0 100 100 8271 OK: Always passing
DE Loaded Hours 0 91 91 3635 OK: Always passing
DF Load Retry Count 0 100 100 0 OK: Always passing
E0 Load Friction 0 100 100 0 OK: Always passing
E2 Load-In Time 0 100 100 209 OK: Always passing
F0 Head Flying Hours 1 100 100 0 OK: Value is normal

The C2 temp looks funny. Is this what you mean by the SMART report?
Yes, I suspected there may be dirt around the fan. I have lots of
dogs. It really would be "fur". I'd have to figure out how to open
this thing.

--
(||) Nehmo (||)

...

Is warmer/hotter than normal air being blown out by the fan(s)?
Does there appear to be any dust buildup around the fan(s)?

Check the memory for integrity using one of the utilities below running it for a few
hours (2-3):
#
#

--

Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Shell/User }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
#

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: #
How to ask a question: #

"Nehmo" <
Have you tried a system restore to before the issue started? What does task
manager show as the process maxing out the CPU? Do you have process
explorer? That will give more detailed info than task manager.

#

--
Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]