My hard disk is way too active

I've been using Windows XP, update 2, for a number of years -- I like it and have resisted going to later systems. But during the past month or two, I've seen the indicator light of my hard disk shining constantly when I'm not using the computer. It goes out immediately when I move the mouse.
I don't know what's causing this. My hard disk is an older one with moving parts, and I'm afraid of wearing it out. I suspect there's a process present which operates in the background, but don't know how to identify it -- the Task Manager can't find it, because the system is active when it runs and the strange disk activity has ceased. I can list all the processes that are active (there are 60+ of them -- is this too many?), but don't have enough information to zero in on a possible culprit.
Can anybody suggest a solution? I feel like I'm observing the progressive death of my hard drive. Thanks, Bob

 

go to device manager, disk drives, find the manufacturer of your hard drive and go to that website and you should be able to find a download for a utility to check your drive.

Also, you can download autoruns to see what is running on startup, and Process explorer to see what processes are running. (better than task manager)

60 processes is quite a lot, I only have 22 running.

AUTORUNS

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902

I would scrutinize what you have loading on StartUp. You need to see if you have programs loading during boot process which might be changed to on demand.
With Autoruns you can uncheck an item, which disables it from starting, or you can right click an item and then delete it. If you uncheck you can recheck to re-enable the item. It is a much safer approach than editing the Registry and better than using msconfig.
Another useful feature of the program is that you can right click an item and select Search Online to get information about the item selected.
When using Autoruns you will need to click on the "Logon" tab to see what is running at start-up.

Process Explorer

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx

Tutorial for process explorer in PDF form

http://www.k-state.edu/its/security...andouts/Process_Explorer_Tutorial_Handout.pdf