This is a strange and complex problem which I originally posted on SuperUser but which has no answers there.
Basically, certain programs such as Notepad (notepad.exe) and Windows Volume (sndvol.exe) seem to have become "stuck" to certain files on my storage hard drives. So whenever I launch either of these programs, my storage hard drives switch on, spin up, and specific files are accessed on them.
This is extremely annoying because it causes a huge delay before the programs are launched while the idle drives spin up.
I don't believe this is being caused by malware. Instead I suspect the files have simply become "attached" to these applications somehow; for example, mapped in memory somehow.
Here's a screenshot from ProcessExplorer showing a file being accessed when I change the system volume using sndvol.exe. The file being accessed is always the same file - an MKV video I watched months ago.https://i.stack.imgur.com/TKPes.png
It's important to note that Media Player Classic is no longer running, and indeed the computer has been restarted several times since then. I've also watched many other media files since that time, but this one seems to have become "stuck" to sndvol.exe, somehow.
The same thing also happens when I launch notepad.exe, only with some random .txt files which I opened in the past. Here's a screenshot showing files being accessed when I run notepad.exe.
If I duplicate notepad.exe and run "notepad - Copy.exe" then the problem does not happen.
I've searched the registry for the filenames with no results so I don't believe the applications are storing references to these files there.
What is happening here?
Basically, certain programs such as Notepad (notepad.exe) and Windows Volume (sndvol.exe) seem to have become "stuck" to certain files on my storage hard drives. So whenever I launch either of these programs, my storage hard drives switch on, spin up, and specific files are accessed on them.
This is extremely annoying because it causes a huge delay before the programs are launched while the idle drives spin up.
I don't believe this is being caused by malware. Instead I suspect the files have simply become "attached" to these applications somehow; for example, mapped in memory somehow.
Here's a screenshot from ProcessExplorer showing a file being accessed when I change the system volume using sndvol.exe. The file being accessed is always the same file - an MKV video I watched months ago.https://i.stack.imgur.com/TKPes.png
It's important to note that Media Player Classic is no longer running, and indeed the computer has been restarted several times since then. I've also watched many other media files since that time, but this one seems to have become "stuck" to sndvol.exe, somehow.
The same thing also happens when I launch notepad.exe, only with some random .txt files which I opened in the past. Here's a screenshot showing files being accessed when I run notepad.exe.
If I duplicate notepad.exe and run "notepad - Copy.exe" then the problem does not happen.
I've searched the registry for the filenames with no results so I don't believe the applications are storing references to these files there.
What is happening here?
