Thinkpads Forum

I'm using PerfectDisk 8.0 on my X60. When I run Process Monitor to look at file and process activity, PerfectDisk is constantly creating lots of activity when not actually running. I never checked PerfectDisk 7 to see if it's so hyperactive, but this seems bizarre since I'm not actually running the program. I know that PD loads some processes at bootup, but why is there so much activity? (I've set PD processes to "manual" because they were generating constant entries in the event log at their default setting. PD support suggested I do this.) Has anyone else seen this behavior for PD?

Same, it may be letting PD manage the layout files thats doing this. *Shrug*. I just disabled the schedules and put its services to manual.

I get a few entries in the event log, but nothing major. PD is usually not running. It runs to a schedule each day, and I tell it to miss the day if the PC is not on when the schedule comes up. To do otherwise will have it running whenever you start up. PD checks for updates occassionally, but otherwise I never see it.
... JD Hurst

Just for clarification, I'm not referring to the Windows event log, which shows PD services starting and stopping. I'm referring to what's going on behind the scenes as shown in a program like Process Monitor. I'm amazed at the constant file and process activity exhibited by PD when it's not asked to run by the user.

I see it when I check things with HijackThis, but because I have everything on "manual" instead of a schedule, I don't think anything significant is happening. Check the automatic stuff, turn it all off, run the defragger when you think you need it.

ronbo613 wrote:I see it when I check things with HijackThis, but because I have everything on "manual" instead of a schedule, I don't think anything significant is happening. Check the automatic stuff, turn it all off, run the defragger when you think you need it.

I mentioned in my original post that I've already set the PD services to "manual." Disabling the PD services and running them when you defrag may be a workaround, but it sure seems like a pain. Does anyone know if this behavior is due to the "smart placement" feature which places files on the HD depending upon usage patterns? That would seem to require constant monitoring.

I have PD set to default (which includes Smart Placement) except that I have it set not to run on startup when a daily schedule is missed.

I don't have Process Monitor (and don't have a need to pay for it). But any time the hard drive is regularly and frequently accessed, I can tell by (1) the HD light and (2) mild performance issues at the instant of HD access (normal operation). I can say with some assurance (that of physical observation) that PD is not making regular disk accesses. I can tell from Task Manager that PD is usually not running at all (from the perspective of CPU).

So I don't know what the issue is on your machine, but in general, I don't find PD to be hyperactive on either of my machines, or on any client machine I know of.
... JD Hurst

Which PerfectDisk processes are running? PerfectDisk.exe? PDAgent et al are quite unobtrusive for me when the scheduled runs aren't happening.

Process Monitor is free software, which shows what's going on behind the scenes. Here's a link:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysint ... nitor.mspx

So I downloaded that Process Monitor and ran it. Tons of stuff is happening over and over again in there. So what? Yes, there are a lot of PD entries. So what?

I don't see anything wrong with PD in my computer. No disk thrashing, no CPU usage.

I'm not saying you don't have a problem, but Process Monitor sure does not shed any light on it.
... JD Hurst

Indeed. I can see the PDAgent.exe is checking its registry entries rather more often than necessary, but the overhead for that is relly minimal. And it's doing much less than some other "idle" applets (such as Skype!).

You should filter out registry monitoring (every Windows computer has lots of registry activity) and process monitoring in Process Monitor, leaving file access only. You should also enable automatic scrolling. When you do this, you can see that much or most of the file activity (at least on my machine) is caused by PerfectDisk when it's not running. How much of a performance hit does this cause? I don't know, but it must have some effect. My original post asked if anyone knew why PerfectDisk does this, and I guess that only Raxco software engineers have the answer.

think2much wrote:You should filter out registry monitoring (every Windows computer has lots of registry activity) and process monitoring in Process Monitor, leaving file access only. You should also enable automatic scrolling. When you do this, you can see that much or most of the file activity (at least on my machine) is caused by PerfectDisk when it's not running. How much of a performance hit does this cause? I don't know, but it must have some effect. My original post asked if anyone knew why PerfectDisk does this, and I guess that only Raxco software engineers have the answer.

Yeah its annoying and the constant disk access can frighten a security conscious person until they pull up a utility like Process Monitor (or FileMon by Sysinternals/Microsoft) and see what its doing. It's benign, but personally I don't want to hear the constant access or see the light flashing so I put its services to manual. Another program that seems to have constant I/O Access is ActiveSync.

think2much wrote:You should filter out registry monitoring (every Windows computer has lots of registry activity) and process monitoring in Process Monitor, leaving file access only. <snip>

I did that *and* I looked at it from a Process Tree perspective. PD is a service, so certainly it will have activity in Process Monitor, but in the Tree view, it had a smaller number of activities than just about anything else, and it sure is not causing any disk access that I can see. Of course, the registry is a set of disk files and everything (services) is accessing the registry all the time.

I still see nothing wrong with PD on my machines and perhaps something is wrong with your setup. But your problem does not seem to reflect a general problem with PD.
... JD Hurst

Bob34 wrote:<snip> Another program that seems to have constant I/O Access is ActiveSync.

When I finish syncing my iPAQ, Active Sync goes nuts for three or four minutes. It drives CPU to 100 percent, the disk is being worked, the fan goes on high. Yuchh - don't the programmers know what they are doing? (NO).

But once it settles down, I never see Active Sync again.

Bob34 - you put your finger on the point I am trying to get at. If the disk is being accessed unduly, you will see it. The disk light will be on. Further, if there is much of it, things like keystrokes and mouse activity drags.

My point is this: More than 95 percent of the time, CPU runs 2 percent or less. Then, at IDLE, the hard disk is rarely in operation. In light use (like this) I see no disk usage, no CPU in task manager and no drag on any operation.

... JD Hurst

OK, so I monitored files only for a file. That reduced it from 500K events to 112K. Of those 112K, 512 (ie about 0.5%) was PerfectDisk. Not a problem in my books.

Outlook and Skype, though, are constantly doing disk i/o ...

Bob34 wrote:It's benign, but personally I don't want to hear the constant access or see the light flashing so I put its services to manual. Another program that seems to have constant I/O Access is ActiveSync.

If you have enough of a concern about the PerfectDisk i/o that you want to stop the engine, you can always schedule a "net start pdengine" and "net stop pdengine" at night, bracketing the time of your scheduled defrag.

tomh009 wrote:

Bob34 wrote:It's benign, but personally I don't want to hear the constant access or see the light flashing so I put its services to manual. Another program that seems to have constant I/O Access is ActiveSync.

If you have enough of a concern about the PerfectDisk i/o that you want to stop the engine, you can always schedule a "net start pdengine" and "net stop pdengine" at night, bracketing the time of your scheduled defrag.

Honestly I'm not too concerned about disk fragmentation to put it on a schedule. IMHO, PD is good enough if run once a week to once a month for system disks and laptop drives, but I suppose it really depends how you use it. Offline+Smart Defrag when I remember it is good enough for me.

What's odd to me is IIRC PD7 didn't constantly do I/O processes but that was also on a 2K machine so *shrug*.