scandisk and defragmenting

[soo]

help!!!!!! i'm having bad problems with the disk scan,and defragging,on win 98 2nd edit...it starts,then after 3 'bars,stops,restarts,and wont continue!!!!,all it keeps doing,is restarting,over and over again....
the same is when its trying to defragment...it attempts to do it,the window comes on screen,but there is no progress in the 'progress bar',it sounds as if it is defragmenting,but never does!! help!!! whats wrong ,yu guys??pleaz,soo

[tjaymadison]

Welcome, soo! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif You need to --

1. Turn off any screen saver
2. Disable or exit any anti-virus program
3. Pause or exit Task Scheduler, if necessary

Run ScanDisk first, then Defrag

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"When I nod my head, hit it with the hammer."
(Moe, holding nail, to Curly, holding hammer)

[nimnorf2]

Hey Soo,
I was just reading another post on this from some of the "smart guys". They all seemed to suggest that Defrag and Scandisk won't run if they are interupted by activity on the hard drive. There are lots of programs that are running behind the scenes on a typical PC. You need to turn them off. Here's one way.

Hold down the ctrl and alt keys and then push delete once. This will send you to a window with all of the resident programs running. Get rid of them all except "systray" and "explorer" and one at a time select, "end task." If you accidently hit the wrong button you won't hurt anything you'll just have to reboot and do it again. You may also have to turn off your screen saver program in Display. This way nothing will write to your hard disk without you doing it like hitting a key on the keyboard or moving the mouse, then defrag should work like it's intended to.
Hope this is helpful. Post back and let the others see if they need to give you "real" advice.
Peace,

[nimnorf2]

see before I could even get my post on the forum one of the "smart guys" answered you question. Dag!

[sea69]

we should make a defragg section..lol

W9Xx Scandisk/Defrag

Many are having problems running ScanDisk and/or Defrag, with the program[s] running 1%-70% and then stalling. Often with a message that Windows is trying to write to the drive
.
How to run ScanDisk/Defrag successfully:

Go to Start > Run and type: msconfig in the Run (Command) box, clk ok.
On the General tab, uncheck all items listed under Selective startup (make sure that Selective startup is selected)

Hit apply then OK and restart Windows

This starts Windows with only Explorer running, and insures nothing will interfere with ScanDisk and Defrag, other than the Screensaver option, so be sure disable it before beginning
.
Run ScanDisk first, then Defrag.

When completed go into Msconfig and select Normal startup, choose no when prompted to restart, then manually select restart, press the shift key then click restart.
This will perform a quick or warm reboot which is much faster.

Note: this method can be used when installing programs as well, as it
will still update any new changes to the registry.


W95x Users:
Download the Msconfig file, and place it in the C:\Windows\System folder. Then follow the above instructions. Msconfig <http://www.surecool.com/msconfig.zip>

Alternate W95x Solution:
Restart the system, and when you see the "Starting Windows 95... "text on
your screen, quickly press the F8 key. Choose Safe mode from the menu.
Run ScanDisk first, followed by Defrag.



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sea1_69@hotmail.com

[tjjawilson]

The msconfig is a great tool to perform troubleshooting at startup. One of the neatest features is to enable the startup menu at bootup. I was told by my A+ instructor that starting the PC in Safe Mode and running scandisk and defrag in Windows will ensure that no background apps interfere with the utilities. I'm not trying to steal anyone's thunder, btw!

Lastly, I discovered on one machine that the screensaver was still enabled even in safe mode, so if you follow this solution make sure that screensavers are disabled.
http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

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TJW

[jmatt]

DOS's Scandisk can sometimes do better . Invoke your Start-up menu
(F8 or Ctl key during bootup), choose DOS prompt (NOT safe-mode DOS
prompt), then type Scandisk /all
Reboot when finished .

[soo]

thanx to all yu guys,it worked!! :-)
thankyou...soo