Defraging problems

[Pdizog]

I computer can't defrag anymore. Everytime I run scandisc or disc defrag, it stops halfway and starts all over. Egh.

[spigidygak]

reboot into windows safe mode and run the defrag and scandisk. That should do the trick. Remember, make sure all other programs are turned off also.

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[Startide]

Pdizog, your type of problem is often caused by loading one of those monitoring or other weird plugins. If you are curious about what is causing the problem, you can try several approaches other than the Safe Mode reboot (which is a good approach) to see if you can restore your ability to ScanDisk.

0. Close all open windows and programs on your taskbar in preparation for a reboot.

00. Check your STARTUP folder for programs. If any, drag them out of the Startup folder to some temporary location (you will move them back after you are done running ScanDisk).

000. Turn off all screen savers and window blankers. A way to avoid the screen going blank is to move your mouse occasionally so that the screen doesn't turn off. Usually, a screen blanker will cause ScanDisk to restart.

0000. Reboot. Comment: Any open program might write to disk or open a file; when ScanDisk sees this activity, it starts over out of safety reasons.

2. Press CTRL_ALT_DELETE to bring up the list of public tasks. See any tasks that are still open? It should be nice and short. Cancel out when done inspecting.

3. Try running ScanDisk now. If ScanDisk fails, let it continue running. Sometimes, it may take two or three passes.

4. If ScanDisk succeeds, you are done and can try running Defrag. Else, restore the the items back to your Startup folder, restore the screen blanker if you had turned it off, and reboot to resume your normal activity of helping the GotApex Team to drill for oil in the online game competition....

5. If ScanDisk fails to run, go to the Startup button and select the RUN option. Enter "msconfig" as your program choice. Be careful now not to have stray clicks. Click on the Startup tab to show a partial list of proggies that run automatically when you boot. If there are some "optional" programs on the list that you feel are writing to the hard drive, you might click them off. If not, then Cancel out of msconfig. If you make changes, remember to restore them later. If you make changes via MSCONFIG, they take place after another reboot.

So, if you make changes here, reboot and try ScanDisk again. If ScanDisk still fails, restore the settings in MSCONFIG and go to the Safe Mode approach suggested earlier.

[Pdizog]

Thanks. I think I found the problem now.