Disk defragmenting problems

My system resources are extremely low @ 65%. When
defragmenting I will reach ~ 41% and then I restart back
to 0% and begin the process over again, never exceeding
41%. I have reviewed the defrag tips on the MS Win 98
site, but none seem to address this problem.Any
sugestions? Thanks!

Have a look here, by MS MVP Ron Badour:
http://home.satx.rr.com/badour/html/scandisk.html
and
http://home.satx.rr.com/badour/html/defrag.html


Here is a little utility to automate it for you:
GEODisk by MS MVP George Gedye
http://mvps.org/PracticallyNerded/Software.htm

Or, just boot to Safe Mode and run scandisk and defrag.

For your low resources situation, read he

About Resources:
http://www.aumha.org/a/resource.htm

http://www.onlinehelp.bc.ca/tips.htm#resources
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP W95/98 Systems
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"Rob" wrote in message
...
My system resources are extremely low @ 65%. When
defragmenting I will reach ~ 41% and then I restart back
to 0% and begin the process over again, never exceeding
41%. I have reviewed the defrag tips on the MS Win 98
site, but none seem to address this problem.Any
sugestions? Thanks!

Besides what Glen advises, there's nothing low at all about 41% Resources
remaining.

Low is 15% or below. When running a Resource intensive process, they can
drop all the way to zero. If you're patient, when the process is finished
they'll rebound to wherever they were. "Not Responding" is often the result
of Resources hitting zero--and what that *really* means is, "Too busy to
respond at this moment, please wait."

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP for Win9x

"Rob" wrote in message
...
My system resources are extremely low @ 65%. When
defragmenting I will reach ~ 41% and then I restart back
to 0% and begin the process over again, never exceeding
41%. I have reviewed the defrag tips on the MS Win 98
site, but none seem to address this problem.Any
sugestions? Thanks!

http://support.microsoft.com/default...;EN-US;q287914
Articles about Scandisk
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;Q286263
Articles about Defrag

1. Turn off screen saver (R-Clk Desktop, Properties, Screen Saver--
None)
2. Turn off power management (Control Panel, Power Management-- Always
On,Never,Never,Never)
3. Disable any permanent internet cable connection, perhaps.
4. Suspend Task Scheduler
5. Turn off interfering programs. Use "StartupCop" or "EndItAll2" from
PCMag (below). Or "START, Run, MSConfig, Startup tab". Note what is
unchecked. Then, go to the General tab & disable the entire Startup
Group, by clicking "Selective.." & unchecking "Load Startup...". Reboot.
Don't forget to re-enable before the next boot.
6. Use "HDValet" from PCMag, or
(a) "Control Panel, Internet Options, Delete Files button, bolt Delete
all offline content, OK, OK"
(b) "START, Run, %TEMP%", & delete all files that will let you. This
will likely be "C:\Windows\Temp". This is best done after a fresh boot,
unless you have not seen the message "Reboot to complete this install".
7. Run Scandisk (Thorough, usually w/o write testing. Check all three
items under "Scandisk, Advanced button, 'Check files for' box". If you
want to be informed as it does a fix, UNcheck "Automatically fix errors"
on the front screen, or look inside "C:\Scandisk.log" afterwards.)
8. "START, Run, Defrag /p /details". Apparently, "/p" Defrags the
unmovables.

The purpose of steps 1-5 is only to prevent constant restarts of
Scandisk & Defrag, if you get them; but DEFINITELY turn off the Virus
Scanner. Scandisk should be done perhaps once a month, and certainly
after every serious crash. Do a Defrag after a sluggish boot or when
this says so:
http://www.pcmag.com/ 's CrackUp, by Gregory A. Wolking & Bob Flanders.
Also, take DiskAction, to determine what is constantly writing to the
HDD, which causes the restarts. Take BHOCop & StartupCop too.

"DiskAction" reports the last 12 processes that access any partition. It
discovered the MS Critical Update Notification Tool was accessing my
HDD every five minutes. It can be uninstalled in "Control Panel,
Add/Remove Programs". Then, occasionally, "START, Windows Update" on
your own.

"BHOCop" found a Browser Helper Object called Wavehelper Class, created
by "Wavetop", that was building a monstrosity of an error log called
"Logit.txt" in here. "START, Find, F/F, Logit.txt"-- see one?

Now, my hard drive is quieter than my mouse. (Of course, I now also have
384 MB RAM, up from an initial 64, eliminating Swap File activity.)


--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
should things get worse after this,
PCR

"Rob" wrote in message
...
| My system resources are extremely low @ 65%. When
| defragmenting I will reach ~ 41% and then I restart back
| to 0% and begin the process over again, never exceeding
| 41%. I have reviewed the defrag tips on the MS Win 98
| site, but none seem to address this problem.Any
| sugestions? Thanks!

On Sun, 13 Jun 2004 07:34:49 -0700, "Rob"

My system resources are extremely low @ 65%.

Resource heaps are logical memory structures that persist only for the
duration of the current Windows session's run-time. When depleted (by
software processes that "leak", etc.) the only way to regenerate the
resource heaps is to shutdown and restart Windows.

Adding hardware (RAM, HD capacity) or defragging will have NO impact
on these resource heaps either way. These measures are as irrelevant
to resource heaps as chaging tires or emptying ashtrays are to fixing
a car engine's oil leak.

When defragmenting I will reach ~ 41% and then I restart back
to 0% and begin the process over again, never exceeding 41%.

Defrag is a maintenance task that is poorly compatible with the
multitasking environment that is Windows - especially on a system set
up as one big C: volume that is always "in use". Any task that writes
to the volume being defragged will change the file system on that
volume, and defrag prudently responds by starting over.

I have reviewed the defrag tips on the MS Win 98
site, but none seem to address this problem.Any
sugestions? Thanks!

If something's writing to the HD volume, and you cannot determine what
it is (you've disconnected from network and Internet, shut down all
running tasks and drivers etc.) then you should suspect malware, and
exclude that in the usual way - which is:

1) Formal av scan for traditional malware (worms, viruses, trojans)
- see http://cquirke.mvps.org/9x/virtest.htm
- can download DOS-based av from:
- www.f-prot.com (free, updatable)
- www.sophos.com (free for evaluation, ?no free updates)
- www.nod32.com (free for evaluation, ?no free updates)
- ensure the antivirus scanner you use is up to date
- don't rely on Windows- or online-based av scanners for this

2) Informal utilities for commercial malware (spyware, adware etc.)
- Ad-Aware from www.lavasoft.de (free, updatable)
- Spybot 1.3 from where Google leads you (free, updatable)
- CoolWebSearch Shredder as per Google (free, get new copy)
- ensure these tools are up to date

ScanDefrag and Safe Mode may get you through the Defrag process
without it restarting all the time, but if there's active malware on
board, that's a bigger problem you should know about and fix.
Malware, or other underffotware, may not only be causing Defrag to
restart all the time, but bleeding your resources too.



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