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Topic: Windows 98 problems with Defragg

Paul Cassidy
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 549
From: Auckland, New Zealand
Registered: Aug 2001

posted 10-18-2002 04:44 AM

This is sending me up the wall , when doing a Scan Disc and Defragg , something keeps writing to the disc and stopping the process , so it has to keep restarting the operation , so it could take months to do a defragg on my drive ???? I have stopped all other programs running and I can't detect anything else that could be writing to the HDD

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A KIWI eats,roots & Leaves.

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 10-18-2002 05:04 AM

You must have that same version of 98 that drove me to Windows 2000. I could never defrag my drive either, no matter what I did. However in all fairness I did have one version of 98 that did allow defrags. Regardless, unless you really need to stick to 98 for some reason, you'll be much happier with 2000.

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Mike Fitzgerald
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 224
From: Castle Hayne, NC, USA
Registered: Jun 2002

posted 10-18-2002 05:58 AM

I had a similar problem trying to defrag my system. What I founf helped me was to disconnect my road runner (cable) for the night while I did it

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Fitz

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Paul Cassidy
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 549
From: Auckland, New Zealand
Registered: Aug 2001

posted 10-18-2002 06:38 AM

Yep looks like a New OS , 2000 sounds good to me .

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A KIWI eats,roots & Leaves.

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Daryl C. W. O'Shea
Film God

Posts: 3977
From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from)
Registered: Jun 2002

posted 10-18-2002 06:43 AM

Microsoft Defragmenter really doesn't do that great a job anyway. That's one of the reasons why they switched to licensing Executive Software's Diskeeper for Windows 2000 and later. The other reason was NTFS support. You can download a 30 day trail version, just search google for 'Diskeeper Trial'. For a personal license I think it is $30USD.

As for getting MS Defrag to work, hit ctrl-alt-del and see if any semi-hidden processes are running. You could also try running it under Safe Mode, but I can't remember if it will run under Safe Mode or not, it's been quite awhile since I've used MS Defrag.

Also if you have Microsoft Networking installed, try not logging in. This will work occasionally.

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Ray Brown
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 111
From: Dayton, WA, USA
Registered: Sep 2002

posted 10-18-2002 08:28 AM

Windows 98 will defrag in Safe Mode and that is the only way I could get my old computer to defrag.

When rebooting your computer, hold down F8. When the DOS screen comes up, select Safe Mode. Your video card driver will not load so the screen colors will look funny but it's nothing to worry about.

Since I switched to XP, I havn't had any problems.

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Jason Burroughs
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 654
From: Allen, TX
Registered: Jun 99

posted 10-18-2002 09:46 AM

Many times Safe-Mode is the only way to get through the defrag, particualry as the paging file becomes fragmented, Safe mode will not load any system drives that may do periodic writes to the hard drive, causing the problem you describe.

When using an NT based OS, I HIGHLY recommend using a 3rd party defrag utility like Executive Diskeeper.
The built in Defrag utiltiy is based on Diskeeper, however the real thing is much more thorough and many times more efficient.

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Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

Posts: 12859
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: May 99

posted 10-18-2002 10:27 AM

I also recommend Windows 2000. It is the only version of Windows that I like, or that is any good. I was actually impressed the first time I used it... it took me ten long minutes to crash it. That's a record!

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David Stambaugh
Film God

Posts: 4021
From: Eugene, Oregon
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 10-18-2002 11:15 AM

Windows 2000, uh, Rocks! It's stable and it just works. XP tries to do too much, and I don't like the design of its candy-assed GUI.

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Ken Lackner
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1907
From: Atlanta, GA, USA
Registered: Sep 2001

posted 10-18-2002 11:44 AM

If you ever have a problem doing a degrag or scandisk, first close all programs that are running in the System Tray (next to the clock). Then disable the Task Manager and your virus scanner, if you have either running. Then hit ctr-alt-del, and close EVERYTHING except 'explorer' and 'systray'. You should be good to go.

I believe that in Windows XP, you can give it the "classic" Windows look. I don't like the XP look either.

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Gordon McLeod
Film God

Posts: 9532
From: Toronto Ontario Canada
Registered: Jun 99

posted 10-18-2002 11:57 AM

I use Norton Speed Disk and find it quite good

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Ray Brown
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 111
From: Dayton, WA, USA
Registered: Sep 2002

posted 10-18-2002 12:42 PM

Ken wrote: "I believe that in Windows XP, you can give it the "classic" Windows look. I don't like the XP look either."

To get the classic look with XP instead of the "Fisher Price" scheme, right click anywhere on your desktop where there is no icons, left click on properties, left click on "Themes" tab, select "Windows Clasic" from the drop down box, click the OK button.

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Jan Hackett
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 148
From: Albuquerque, NM, USA
Registered: Apr 2002

posted 10-18-2002 02:28 PM

Win 98 will not complete Defrag with anything running in background.... Example virus scan software, screen saver software, or background programs in your systray... Solution is fairly simple...

If you turn off all programs and it still won't complete...make sure you have Active desktop disabled. Right click on desktop and disable.
Some of these background apps are hard to find so the simplelest way around the bull is to run defrag in safemode. Just make sure your power-management is not engaged... 2000 is always the better option...not to sure about reliability of xp..
PS...My other job is PC Support..

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Jan Hackett
Theater Operations Manager
Extreme Screen Dynatheater
NM Museum of Natural History Foundation

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Paul G. Thompson
The Weenie Man

Posts: 4718
From: Mount Vernon WA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 10-18-2002 02:49 PM

I agree. When defrag is started, even an innocent bump of the mouse will take the computer back to "ziltch" and defrag has to restart itself again.

I think it is best to shut down all the programs then start defrag. Don't putz with the computer until it's finished.

Starting the computer in the "Safe" mode is a good idea. Only the necessary drivers are loaded to make it barely run.

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Paul Cassidy
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 549
From: Auckland, New Zealand
Registered: Aug 2001

posted 10-18-2002 06:46 PM

Safe Mode was the ticket , now she runs much quicker , but maybe I should have partitioned the Drive in the first place.

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