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49985
XPS 630 Blinking hard drive light
My hard drive light blinks continuously. Even when the pc should be idle (idle system processes 99%). Is this Normal?
Steps I have taken to stop it:
Uninstalled Google Desktop
Unistalled Dell EULA....
Uninstalled McAfee
Have not put any new software on
The only 2 things starting up is Nvidia programs
Turned off Indexing, system restore, MS updates and MS Firewall (I am behind a Nat Firewall)
Browser in Services
It blinks in safe mode and Safe mode with networking.
Called Dell support and the light did stop blinking after verifying through diagnostic (before Windows starts up) the Hard drive is fine.
Blinks with the network cord unplugged.
It acts like a "normal" hard drive light when it is booting. I would expect to blink and sometimes be almost solid which it does.
Thank you in advance for any answers!!
What I have:
1 223-5584 XPS 630, Intel Core2 processorE8400 (3.0 GHz,1333FSB) w/Dual Core Technology and 6MB cache
1 313-6079 Red Bezel Chassis
1 311-8292 4GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
1 310-8028 Dell Enhanced Multimedia USB Keyboard
1 320-6313 NO DISPLAY
1 320-6362 Dual 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT
1 341-6286 500GB NCQ SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM) w/ 16MB DataBurst Cache
1 412-0688 Image Restore
1 420-4927 Windows Media Player 10
1 420-7975 Microsoft Windows XP Pro,ENG
1 420-5769 Internet Search and Portal
1 420-5924 Icon Consolidation Application
1 330-0283 Dell Resource DVD with Application Backup
1 310-9573 Dell 2-Button Optical Mouse
1 420-7468 ADOBE ACROBAT READER 8.1 DIM/INSP
1 313-6082 48X Combo and 16X DVD+/-RW
1 420-7205 Power DVD 7.0
1 420-7206 6 Channel,Dolby,PDVD,7.0
1 420-6464 Roxio Creator Basic
1 313-2758 Integrated Audio
1 313-6139 Dell A525 30 Watt 2.1 stereo speakers w/subwoofer 45Hz-20Khz
1 410-1800 McAfee Security 9.0, 2-Year Subscription
1 412-0148 No Internet Service Provider Requested
1 420-8103 Microsoft Works 9.0, English
cmajewsk
51 Posts
1
May 14th, 2008 23:00
I have a fairly similar setup on my 630i as you do but I have a 160GB Raptor, and I started the same thread here.
Of course no one knows what to make of this and every computer I have ever owned and still own has never done anyting like this...makes me kinda nervous that something is spinning the drive constantly...:smileysad:
mswells1
12 Posts
1
May 15th, 2008 15:00
My hard drive light is always blinking to. Something is writing to the hard disk, and I havent figured out why.
You can download a programs called Diskmon at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896646.aspx and see the contant write activity. I also have turned off indexing, and most everything else, just to see, and the write activity is still going on !:smileymad:
BushPlt
2 Posts
1
May 15th, 2008 22:00
Ok,
I downloaded File Monitor from:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/cb56073f-62a3-4ed8-9dd6-40c84cb9e2f5.aspx
Explorer.exe, csrss.exe and svchost.exe is hitting the hd a lot on my 630.
Can't kill Explorer.exe. Found several websites that said:
"csrss.exe is the main executable for the Microsoft Client/Server Runtime Server Subsystem. This process manages most graphical commands in Windows. This program is important for the stable and secure running of your computer and should not be terminated."
svchost.exe is also normal part of Windows XP.
I have a home built computer that I am on right now. The hd light doesn't blink all the time. Guess what? Explorer.exe, csrss.exe and many others are hitting the hd and per File Monitor.
Both of my Sons have 2 year old XPS's and my youngest pointed that both of their hd lights blink all the time.
It would be nice if Dell could officially say the blinking hd light is normal.
But I am no longer worrying about the continuously blinking hd light.
djcypher
190 Posts
1
May 15th, 2008 23:00
DELL-Chris M
Community Manager
Community Manager
•
54.2K Posts
0
May 16th, 2008 13:00
* Read this
mike aday
1 Message
1
December 21st, 2008 16:00
Just purchased and XPS 630i with Radon 4800 3D card, and the hard disk light blinks once per second, in addition to blinking every time the hard disk is accessed. I was told not to worry, that this is normal operation for this particular computer.
staar23
8 Posts
1
January 6th, 2009 15:00
Take a look at this page:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xps630i/en/OM/HTML/about.htm
The power light illuminates or remains solid to indicate different states:
o No light — The computer is turned off.
o White light— The computer is in a normal operating state.
o Blinking white light— The computer is in a power-saving state.
To exit from a power-saving state, press the power button or use the keyboard or mouse if it is configured as a wake device in the Windows Device Manager. For more information about sleep states and exiting from a power-saving state, see Power Management.
michaelbelt
1 Message
1
January 15th, 2009 06:00
Starr23: That's the power light, not the hard drive light.
Chris M: None of those links work any more, unfortunately. Can you point us to the new URLs for those threads?
staar23
8 Posts
0
January 25th, 2009 09:00
That is the power light, not the power button.
The link does work, you have to select, copy, then paste it into your address bar.
These posts seem to not recognize hyper links.
Here is the link again.
Link to 630 owner manual online
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xps630i/en/OM/HTML/about.htm
staar23
8 Posts
1
January 25th, 2009 10:00
Amazingly, this fix from a post in May 2008 worked for my new XPS 630 purchased in December 2008 with XP preinstalled. Your millage may very.
Link to posted item
* Click Start- Run
* Type regedit
* Click OK
* Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\CdRom
* Double click on AutoRun
* Change the value from 1 to 0
* Click OK
* Click File- Exit
* Click Start- Shutdown- Restart- OK or Click Start- Turn Off Computer- Restart
I'll have to press the F5 key more than usual, but I'd rather live with that on my rig than a blinking light.
P.S. Just because a computer does one thing, one time, does not necessarily mean it will do it again.