Scandisk & defragmenter fail after Windows Update

This is a recurring problem that I have experienced on several machines
running Win98se and WinME. Both the scandisk and defragmenter programs fail
because one of the updates installed keeps changing the disk drive contents,
causing the program to start over again. The older and slower the machine,
the worse the problem is. This is similar to the problem caused by WinAmp
installations on Win9x.

This is with a clean install of Win9x with no other applications on a
freshly formatted hard drive. The task scheduler program was disabled to
prevent it from interfering. This has been happening for the last two years
or so and I have been unable to figure out which update is causing this or
how to disable it while the drive is defragmented. This happens each and
every time, so I suspect many others must have experienced the same problem.

Can anyone help me out here? It's probably something simple that I just
don't know about, but it's really starting to bug me. Changing over to the
NTFS is not a viable option here.

Thanks.

Why do you think it has to be an update ?

Try runnng them in safe mode.

"skrymir" wrote in message
...
This is a recurring problem that I have experienced on several machines
running Win98se and WinME. Both the scandisk and defragmenter programs
fail
because one of the updates installed keeps changing the disk drive
contents,
causing the program to start over again. The older and slower the machine,
the worse the problem is. This is similar to the problem caused by WinAmp
installations on Win9x.

This is with a clean install of Win9x with no other applications on a
freshly formatted hard drive. The task scheduler program was disabled to
prevent it from interfering. This has been happening for the last two
years
or so and I have been unable to figure out which update is causing this or
how to disable it while the drive is defragmented. This happens each and
every time, so I suspect many others must have experienced the same
problem.

Can anyone help me out here? It's probably something simple that I just
don't know about, but it's really starting to bug me. Changing over to the
NTFS is not a viable option here.

Thanks.

Hi Skrymir,

I am not aware of an update that would cause defrag to keep
restarting, but here are a few tips to consider when running
Scandisk and Defrag.

1. Restart to the Command Prompt and do a thorough Scandisk on the
drive first and repair any errors.
Restart the computer. Hold down the CTRL key while the system is
booting. This will take you to the Boot Menu then select Command
Prompt Only. Run Scandisk on the drive from there by typing SCANDISK
then press enter and let it perform a surface scan.
2. Close all running programs using Close Programs (Ctrl + Alt + Del)
except Explorer.
3. Turn off screen savers and any power management
4. Delete Temp files and Temporary Internet Files
5. Empty the Recycle Bin
6. Do a virus scan with up to date virus software
Free offer: eTrust EZ Armor Security Suite from Computer Associates
http://www.my-etrust.com/microsoft/index.cfm
7. Disable PC-Cillin if installed
8. Turn off and disconnect DSL/Cable Modem
9. Run Ad-aware to remove any possible spyware
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/

Note: Defragging in Safe Mode is another option.

And you are correct, NTFS is not a viable option sense Win98 will
not run on such a partition. Win98 can be fooled into reading a
NTFS partition using 3ed party software such as:
Sysinternals Freeware - NTFS for Windows 98:
http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/fr...tfswin98.shtml

--
Regards,
Bert Kinney [MS-MVP DTS]
http://dts-l.org/


"skrymir" wrote
This is a recurring problem that I have experienced on several machines
running Win98se and WinME. Both the scandisk and defragmenter programs
fail
because one of the updates installed keeps changing the disk drive
contents,
causing the program to start over again. The older and slower the machine,
the worse the problem is. This is similar to the problem caused by WinAmp
installations on Win9x.

This is with a clean install of Win9x with no other applications on a
freshly formatted hard drive. The task scheduler program was disabled to
prevent it from interfering. This has been happening for the last two
years
or so and I have been unable to figure out which update is causing this or
how to disable it while the drive is defragmented. This happens each and
every time, so I suspect many others must have experienced the same
problem.

Can anyone help me out here? It's probably something simple that I just
don't know about, but it's really starting to bug me. Changing over to the
NTFS is not a viable option here.

Thanks.