[ The PC Guide | Troubleshooting and Repair Guide | The Troubleshooting Expert | Troubleshooting Specific Components | Troubleshooting Hard Disk Drives | Windows Issues ] There is frequent access to the hard disk when working within Windows, even without actually performing file operations. For example, frequent disk access when swapping between open applications Explanation: The system seems to be going to the hard disk a lot, even when you are working only with items that are already in memory. For example, when scrolling up and down in a large file, there may be a pause while the hard disk is activated. You may especially notice it when swapping between applications. Diagnosis: The most usual cause of this sort of behavior is what is called thrashing. This refers to the excessive use of virtual memory paging to compensate for having insufficient real physical memory to hold all of the applications and data that are in use. Especially if you are using many applications or large files, and also if there isn't a great deal of real memory in the PC, the operating system will have to move some of the contents of memory to the hard disk when it runs out of space. Then, when you need whatever was swapped to disk, it is loaded and something else is swapped to the disk. This is a supply and demand situation; the only way to resolve it is to increase the supply of real memory, or reduce the demand created by applications and data open simultaneously. Recommendation:
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