Hard Drive Activity During DVD Viewing

[stevem326]

Hey...whenever I watch a Netflix DVD on my computer my DVD light will flicker off and on every few seconds but my hard drive light flickers off and on NON-STOP the entire time the DVD is playing. I use PowerDVD to watch movies. Does anyone know why this is? I would think just the video card and DVD player would be getting a workout during DVD play but I guess the hard drive plays a major role as well and that's why the light is going crazy?

Nothing seems to be wrong at all...everything works fine...just curious.

 

[Snakexor]

page file?

 

[stevem326]

Originally posted by: Snakexor
page file?

I have no clue. Everything runs fine so I guess this is normal. I have an older system (2.4 GHz with only 512MB of PC2100 RAM...my video card is a bit of a joke, too...nVidia GEForce 4 MX440....yes, only 64MB of RAM)...:Q

 

[SparkyJJO]

Does the HD light blink in sync with the DVD drive light? If so then it is just the DVD drive triggering the light. My NEC drive does that. Nothing to worry about.

Heck even if it doesn't it really isn't a problem. Your system is fine for DVDs, I ran them on my 700MHz laptop with 192MB RAM with no trouble 😛

 

[stevem326]

Originally posted by: SparkyJJO
Does the HD light blink in sync with the DVD drive light? If so then it is just the DVD drive triggering the light. My NEC drive does that. Nothing to worry about.

Heck even if it doesn't it really isn't a problem. Your system is fine for DVDs, I ran them on my 700MHz laptop with 192MB RAM with no trouble 😛

No, the DVD light blinks a few times every 3 seconds or so but the HD light blinks at a constant rate ALL THE TIME.

Like you said, it's probably normal and everything works fine. I'm just curious as to what all the HD activity is about during DVD viewing. If it's the page file like the other poster suggested, would that cause the HD light to constantly flicker?

Thanks again!

 

[pkme2]

When I'm playing a movie, my external DVD is blinking at a constant rate; my hdd is at idle with no activity.

Try googling it. Maybe somebody has an answer.

 

[stevem326]

Originally posted by: pkme2
When I'm playing a movie, my external DVD is blinking at a constant rate; my hdd is at idle with no activity.

Try googling it. Maybe somebody has an answer.

Cool, thanks...good idea. That's interesting that your HD light shows no activity while mine blinks at a constant rate 100% of the time a DVD is playing...

Off to Google now.... 🙂

 

[Operandi]

My guess is that it's using your hard drive as a really big cache, kinda like Tivo or portible CD players that had skip buffer.

 

[corkyg]

It's impossible to really pinpoint. There are many background updates and scans on most systems - my sense is, they have nothing whatsoever to do with your DVD movie. I can play those on my HP laptop without turning the PC on.

 

[Raduque]

Originally posted by: SparkyJJO
Does the HD light blink in sync with the DVD drive light? If so then it is just the DVD drive triggering the light. My NEC drive does that. Nothing to worry about.

I'm betting this is the answer, especially if your DVD drive is on the same cable as the HD. What you should do is play a DVD, mute your speakers, and stick your head next to your tower... see if you can hear your HD going. If you can't, the above is likely happening.

Oh, and BTW, pkme2 has an external dvd drive.

 

[Slammy1]

Yeah, it sounds as though the access light is connected to the DVD player. A couple of other thoughts. Do you have "always on" internet connection while playing back? Antivirus auto-protect disabled during playback? In the first case, you might look into malware as a possible cause. The later should not cause access issues, but just in case it's always a good idea to disable any TSR AV programs.

 

[Coolone]

Now is this just the light flashing? or can you actually hear the hard drive working overtime?

 

[stevem326]

Originally posted by: Raduque

Originally posted by: SparkyJJO
Does the HD light blink in sync with the DVD drive light? If so then it is just the DVD drive triggering the light. My NEC drive does that. Nothing to worry about.

I'm betting this is the answer, especially if your DVD drive is on the same cable as the HD. What you should do is play a DVD, mute your speakers, and stick your head next to your tower... see if you can hear your HD going. If you can't, the above is likely happening.

Oh, and BTW, pkme2 has an external dvd drive.

Hey...thanks for the replies. I think you got it here. The DVD light blinks every few seconds but the HD light seems to blink non-stop. However, the HD light blinks a little brighter at the same time the DVD light blinks every few seconds, so it's like they are in sync with each other.

Also, I don't hear any HD noise at all during this...it's just the light. Anyway, it looks like you guys solved the mystery!

Thanks a lot... 😎