Problem first, information after.

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Host: Suse 10.2 / 2.6.18.8-0.5-default

Guest: XP Pro, allotted 75GB disk, not pre-allocated.

VMWare version: 5.5.4 build-44386

i'm having trouble with excessive disk activity. i've read some other threads about this, but none really match my issue. After letting Guest run for a while, hard drive starts going nuts. i've defragged the VM disk file and the guest OS. Nothing fixes it.

Odd part: even after shutting down the Guest and leaving VMWare running, disk activity does not stop. Shutting down VMWare does finally stop the disk activity, but once I restart the Guest, it starts all over again (after an undetermined delay, of course).

Using a single-SATA hard drive, P4 and 1GB memory. Doesn't seem particular to the version of either VMWare or the kernel, so I've tried different RAM & HDD settings for the Guest config to no avail (settings reflected in the vmx file below are just the most recent attempt). Not typically running a lot of disk-intensive programs, either (host or guest).

Any ideas?

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Log available, but not sure what would apply to keep this help request concise.

VMX file:

\----

#!/usr/bin/vmware

config.version = "8"

virtualHW.version = "4"

scsi0.present = "TRUE"

memsize = "256"

MemAllowAutoScaleDown = "FALSE"

ide0:0.present = "TRUE"

ide0:0.fileName = "Windows XP Professional-000002.vmdk"

ide0:0.writeThrough = "TRUE"

ide1:0.present = "TRUE"

ide1:0.fileName = "/dev/hda"

ide1:0.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"

floppy0.startConnected = "FALSE"

floppy0.fileName = "/dev/fd0"

ethernet0.present = "TRUE"

usb.present = "TRUE"

sound.present = "TRUE"

sound.virtualDev = "es1371"

displayName = "Windows XP Professional"

guestOS = "winxppro"

nvram = "Windows XP Professional.nvram"

floppy0.present = "FALSE"

scsi0:0.present = "FALSE"

scsi0:0.fileName = "Windows XP Professional-0.vmdk"

scsi0:0.deviceType = "rawDisk"

ide0:0.redo = ""

scsi0:0.redo = ""

ethernet0.addressType = "generated"

uuid.location = "56 4d 9c 87 4f 5f 75 37-70 47 f8 2b f7 03 cc 61"

uuid.bios = "56 4d 9c 87 4f 5f 75 37-70 47 f8 2b f7 03 cc 61"

ethernet0.generatedAddress = "00:0c:29:03:cc:61"

ethernet0.generatedAddressOffset = "0"

ide1:0.startConnected = "TRUE"

tools.syncTime = "TRUE"

checkpoint.vmState = ""

sharedFolder0.present = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.enabled = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.readAccess = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.writeAccess = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.hostPath = "/home/joe/vmwaredocs"

sharedFolder0.guestName = "Documents"

sharedFolder0.expiration = "never"

sharedFolder.maxNum = "1"

sharedFolder1.present = "FALSE"

sharedFolder1.enabled = "TRUE"

sharedFolder1.readAccess = "TRUE"

sharedFolder1.writeAccess = "TRUE"

sharedFolder1.hostPath = "/home/joe/docs"

sharedFolder1.guestName = "Docs"

sharedFolder1.expiration = "never"

usb.generic.autoconnect = "TRUE"

fileSearchPath = "/home/joe/vmware/Windows XP Professional;."

gui.exitAtPowerOff = "TRUE"

gui.powerOnAtStartup = "TRUE"

powerType.powerOff = "soft"

powerType.reset = "soft"

usb.autoConnect.device0 = "path:3/1 autoclean:1"

usb.autoConnect.device1 = "path:2/1 autoclean:1"

usb.autoConnect.device2 = ""

sound.startConnected = "FALSE"

gui.exitOnCLIHLT = "FALSE"

tools.remindInstall = "FALSE"

disable_acceleration = "FALSE"

MemTrimRate = "0"

snapshot.disabled = "TRUE"

monitor_control.log_vmsample = "FALSE"

ide0:0.mode = "independent-persistent"

\----

End VMX file

Guest OS Directory listing:

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-rw------- 1 joe users  1176240128 2007-09-04 10:06 Windows XP Professional-000002.vmdk.dfgshkgrw-tmp

-rw------- 1 joe root  47223930880 2007-09-04 10:04 Windows XP Professional.vmdk

-rw------- 1 joe root   5060755456 2007-09-04 10:04 Windows XP Professional-000001.vmdk

-rw------- 1 joe root  37673172992 2007-09-04 10:04 Windows XP Professional-000002.vmdk

-rrr-- 1 joe users          11 2007-09-04 10:04 Windows XP Professional-000002.vmdk.WRITELOCK

-rrr-- 1 joe users          11 2007-09-04 10:04 Windows XP Professional.vmsd.READLOCK

-rrr-- 1 joe users          11 2007-09-04 09:59 Windows XP Professional.vmx.WRITELOCK

-rw------- 1 joe root         2205 2007-09-04 09:28 Windows XP Professional.vmx

-rw-rr 1 joe users       42818 2007-09-04 09:25 vmware.log

-rw------- 1 joe root         8664 2007-09-04 09:25 Windows XP Professional.nvram

-rw-rr 1 joe users       31378 2007-08-30 08:02 vmware-0.log

-rw-rr 1 joe users       30235 2007-08-27 11:12 vmware-1.log

-rw-rr 1 joe users       31520 2007-08-24 11:01 vmware-2.log

-rw------- 1 joe root         1438 2007-06-22 09:30 Windows XP Professional.vmsd

-rw------- 1 joe root        64512 2006-07-26 17:09 Windows XP Professional-0-pt.vmdk

-rw------- 1 joe root          619 2006-07-26 17:09 Windows XP Professional-0.vmdk