Suspicious processor activity

[brewby]

Go for it, theres always something free out there, its knowing where to look.

 

[boron]

Hi Boron, I usually use free software(and there is loads of it) from nonags.com, they only have nag/ad free software. also if you search shareaza for download applications you can findwhat you want, sometimes full programs with serial keys to unlock full progs, Dragon NaturallySpeaking 7 should be there.you may need winrar zip program to unzip. again get it with shareaza and you won't get any spyware because it does not come from a website rather from shared folders of peers conected to the internet.

nonags is just a freeware/shareware site, search for " fosi programz" gives away cracked progs.

 

[powerviewer]

I understand the fear of trojans and viruses, but the hard drive working all by itself could well be virtual memory adjusting or even the windows indexing

 

[BGonaSTICK]

Using the Windows Task Manager to check active processes is a very useful way to detect unwanted code executing. If you are familiar with what's normally running, then it's easier to spot rogue programs.

 

[Analoguesat]

If you have Office quick index loaded there will be loads of activity all the time as office tries to keep updating its list of files loaded on the hdd's.

Its loaded by default on most Office installations. Check the startup folder, and remove any shortcut with the flag icon

 

[Topper]

Came across this explanation re the processor activity with XP

What you are witnessing, if you have not scheduled any other background tasks to run while the system is idle, is the XP Indexer at work. The dead giveaway is the fact that your HDD stops the activity as soon as you start another activity. It kicks in periodically only when your processor is otherwise idle. The purpose of the Indexer is to speed up your file operations. If you have a large number of data files, say hundreds, having their location indexed by the system could be beneficial, at least in theory. If you don't have a large number of files in your My Documents folder or other data files, you might consider turning the indexing off.

 

[Hareesh]

You can find if some malware is running at background with this tiny wonderful program.
Links here
For 98/ME platforms
http://www.sysinternals.com/files/procexp9x.zip
For NT/XP
http://www.sysinternals.com/files/procexpnt.zip