Hourglass Flashes every few seconds...

[Guest anthony77]

The Hourglass icon flashes about every other second on my computer. I've

restarted many times, I have very little running when I start my computer.

I've deleted a few useless things off of my computer lately to increase the

hard disk space, so that might have something to do with it.

It must be trying to run somthing in the background. How do I stop it, it's

driving me crazy!??

[Guest JS]

Re: Hourglass Flashes every few seconds...

 

You need to find and identify the specific process or application that's

runs every few minutes.

You can do this with Windows Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del key), select the

Processes Tab,

Next, click on the CPU column twice, this should bring the System Idle

process to the top (as long as you are not using any other applications).

Then about every few seconds you should see another process (the one that's

slowing down your PC) float to or near the top of the list.

 

For more exploratory and detailed look, download and try Process Explorer:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/SystemInformation/ProcessExplorer.mspx

 

Once you have Process Explorer installed and running:

In the taskbar select View and check 'Show Process Tree' and 'Show Lower

Pane' options.

(This will provide the detailed info you need)

Next click on the CPU column to sort processes by %CPU usage.

Every few seconds you should see another process (the one that's slowing

down your PC)

float to or near the top of the list.

 

Now quickly click (before it drops back down the list) on the process

of interest that's listed in the CPU % column.

An alternate method when using Process Explorer is to double click

on the Graph just below the Menu bar. This will open the 'System

Information'

window, which has a larger display of all three graphs.

Move your mouse over any spike in the CPU Usage graph to see what

process/application or service was the cause of the spike.

 

Once you select/highlight a process, right click and

from the options listed select the: 'Search Online' option.

This should display what out there on the web about that process.

 

Note: some entries like Explorer and svchost may need to be expanded

to show the detail, (sub processes),

in this case click on the + located to the left of the entry.

 

JS

http://www.pagestart.com

 

 

"anthony77" <anthony77@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:B59DF829-510D-448C-B6CE-85133BA6D08C@microsoft.com...

> The Hourglass icon flashes about every other second on my computer. I've

> restarted many times, I have very little running when I start my computer.

> I've deleted a few useless things off of my computer lately to increase

> the

> hard disk space, so that might have something to do with it.

> It must be trying to run somthing in the background. How do I stop it,

> it's

> driving me crazy!??

[Guest HeyBub]

Re: Hourglass Flashes every few seconds...

 

anthony77 wrote:

> The Hourglass icon flashes about every other second on my computer.

> I've restarted many times, I have very little running when I start my

> computer. I've deleted a few useless things off of my computer lately

> to increase the hard disk space, so that might have something to do

> with it.

> It must be trying to run somthing in the background. How do I stop

> it, it's driving me crazy!??

 

A. Stop the hourglass? Easy:

 

Control Panel/Mouse/Pointers

 

Change the "busy" pointer from hourglass to arrow.

 

B. Stop whatever's going on in the background?

 

Dunno. Depends on what it is.

[Guest Kelly]

Re: Hourglass Flashes every few seconds...

 

Suggestions:

 

Is there a CD/DVD in any of the drives?

 

In the meantime, go to Start/Run: msconfig

 

Go to the Startup Tab and disable all.

Go to the Services Tab and hide all ms services.

 

What is left? Start from there.

 

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

--

 

All the Best,

Kelly (MS-MVP/DTS&XP)

 

Taskbar Repair Tool Plus!

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/taskbarplus!.htm

 

SupportSpace

http://www.supportspace.com/pages?aiu=kellyskorner

 

"anthony77" <anthony77@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:B59DF829-510D-448C-B6CE-85133BA6D08C@microsoft.com...

> The Hourglass icon flashes about every other second on my computer. I've

> restarted many times, I have very little running when I start my computer.

> I've deleted a few useless things off of my computer lately to increase

> the

> hard disk space, so that might have something to do with it.

> It must be trying to run somthing in the background. How do I stop it,

> it's

> driving me crazy!??

[Guest anthony77]

RE: Hourglass Flashes every few seconds...

 

I think I got it. I stopped some things from starting in msconfig and I

stopped some thingsfrom running in the task manager. If when I restart next

time it still happens, I'll have a better idea of what it is that might be

causing it, and how to stop it. Thanks to you all!

 

"anthony77" wrote:

> The Hourglass icon flashes about every other second on my computer. I've

> restarted many times, I have very little running when I start my computer.

> I've deleted a few useless things off of my computer lately to increase the

> hard disk space, so that might have something to do with it.

> It must be trying to run somthing in the background. How do I stop it, it's

> driving me crazy!??

[Guest PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Re: Hourglass Flashes every few seconds...

 

Unexplained computer behavior may be caused by deceptive software

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/827315

 

Run a /thorough/ check for hijackware, including posting your hijackthis log

to an appropriate forum.

 

Checking for/Help with Hijackware

http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm

http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm

http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=5878

http://wiki.castlecops.com/Malware_Removal_and_Prevention:_Introduction

http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm

http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/data/prevention.htm

http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/tshoot.html

http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/Malware_Defence.htm

http://defendingyourmachine2.blogspot.com/

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

 

When all else fails, HijackThis v2.0.2

(http://aumha.org/downloads/hijackthis.exe) is the preferred tool to use (in

conjuction with some other utilities). HijackThis will NOT fix anything on

its own, but it will help you to both identify and remove any

hijackware/spyware with assistance from an expert. **Post your log to

http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30,

http://forums.spybot.info/forumdisplay.php?f=22,

http://castlecops.com/forum67.html, or other appropriate forums for review

by an expert in such matters, not here.**

 

If the procedures look too complex - and there is no shame in admitting this

isn't your cup of tea - take the machine to a local, reputable and

independent (i.e., not BigBoxStoreUSA or Geek Squad) computer repair shop.

--

~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)

MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Desktop Experience - since 2002

AumHa VSOP & Admin http://aumha.net

DTS-L http://dts-l.net/

 

anthony77 wrote:

> I think I got it. I stopped some things from starting in msconfig and I

> stopped some thingsfrom running in the task manager. If when I restart

> next

> time it still happens, I'll have a better idea of what it is that might be

> causing it, and how to stop it. Thanks to you all!

>

> "anthony77" wrote:

>

>> The Hourglass icon flashes about every other second on my computer. I've

>> restarted many times, I have very little running when I start my

>> computer.

>> I've deleted a few useless things off of my computer lately to increase

>> the

>> hard disk space, so that might have something to do with it.

>> It must be trying to run somthing in the background. How do I stop it,

>> it's

>> driving me crazy!??

[Guest Kelly]

Re: Hourglass Flashes every few seconds...

 

Thanks for the feedback and good luck! :o)

 

--

 

All the Best,

Kelly (MS-MVP/DTS&XP)

 

Taskbar Repair Tool Plus!

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/taskbarplus!.htm

 

SupportSpace

http://www.supportspace.com/pages?aiu=kellyskorner

 

"anthony77" <anthony77@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:BFC055C6-83B8-4BBE-80A6-D2EFF01A09E3@microsoft.com...

>I think I got it. I stopped some things from starting in msconfig and I

> stopped some thingsfrom running in the task manager. If when I restart

> next

> time it still happens, I'll have a better idea of what it is that might be

> causing it, and how to stop it. Thanks to you all!

>

> "anthony77" wrote:

>

>> The Hourglass icon flashes about every other second on my computer. I've

>> restarted many times, I have very little running when I start my

>> computer.

>> I've deleted a few useless things off of my computer lately to increase

>> the

>> hard disk space, so that might have something to do with it.

>> It must be trying to run somthing in the background. How do I stop it,

>> it's

>> driving me crazy!??