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After many problems recently, I have not been able to run scandisk or defrag.
This is an old problem, however. They start and stop over and over again in a loop, and the message I get after ten stops/starts is "another program is writing to the disk".
I have tried stopping my anti-virus and firewall programs, I do not know what else there is or how to check for running processes that would interfere with scandisk and defrag. I have run anti-virus, spybot and ad-aware.
Can any one help me? It is greatly appreciated.
Couldn't help noticing from your other post:
"but the boot scanner runs and interferes with my scandisk and defrag."
The AVG boot scanner is a DOS program that starts & stops before Windows actually loads - so, not really a factor
Still, various (Windows) programs can interfere with scandisc - also swapfile changes may impact its operation. You 'should' be able to find the offending app and disable, but there's always Safe Mode, as suggested (or this method)
Many of us use the defrag from WinME - it tends to run more smoothly
Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie!'... till you can find a rock
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Hi,That's sometimes a sign that the Hard Drive is too full. Try to maintain 20 - 25 % of the drive as free space. The programs need a place to store intermediate results etc. ScanDisk and Defrag need a lot of wiggle room. Remove some of the stuff you don't need anymore.
Good Luck, Jim
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Unless there are errors Scandisk probably doesn't need empty space to function. Defrag needs space to hold the files to be moved. I have just tried a 2G partition with less than 10 MB free. No problems, just Defrag slower than normal.
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You have already been given good information to get these to run.
In the long term it is "usually" possible to get these to run in normal Windows mode. It's just a matter of finding the culprit(s) which are background programs which keep running. Screensavers have already been mentioned.
As for the rest well if you type msconfig in the Run box it is safe to "temporarily" untick anything in the Startup tab except ScanRegistry.
If they then run OK you just keep popping the ticks back until you find the culprit(s). It's then a matter of deciding whether you can run those programs from a shortcut instead, rather than all the time. Otherwise it might be possible to disable them somehow when running Scandisk or Defrag.
This gives some idea what the most well-known background tasks are about:
STARTUP ITEMSViruses and other nasties are a possibility although I wouldn't jump to that conclusion too quickly.
DerekW
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Just a quick THANK YOU to all as I run in and scan your notes!
I will try all the suggestions, however, I do not run a screen saver, have redownloaded AVG AV 7.5 and do not run the bootscan any more, found an istactivex.exe bug and deleted it. I do have a very full partition, however, which is why I wanted to run defrag!
I am running out now, will give all the suggestions a try and get back to you.
Many, many thanks to all! I've learned so much here -- what a lifesaver!
Ty
Echoe
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Defragging is somewhat overrated, but there's no denying it's beneficial to do so periodically (on a healthy system)
Feel free to disregard the 'PIMput' (#3) - works for me
Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie!'... till you can find a rock
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You said:
"I do have a very full partition, however, which is why I wanted to run defrag".It's good to defrag from time to time but it won't make any difference to "how full" your partition happens to be. What it does is relocate files and part files so they are not spread about (fragmented). This improves speed of access but does not alter the amount of space used.
DerekW
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Some on-board sound drivers (e.g. soundman) can have the same effect.
These kind of problems usually occur with TSR (terminate and stay resident) programs. These tend to stay permanently in memory once they are loaded and can and do interfere with Defrag.
Try and identify and disable those before trying to defrag.
Finally you can always defrag in safe mode as wizard-fred has already suggested.
___________________________________________
☺ When everything else fails, read the instructions.
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I have had good luck using a small freeware called scandefrag. It is found here http://www.blueorbsoft.com/scandefrag I use it when I have a stubborn comp that has problems finishing scandisk/defrag, it has a read me file with it which should be read. I run it in it`s selective mode which allows you to turn off all startup items in the system configuration utility while scandefrag runs, then when it finishes, you run msconfig and go to the startup list, and turn on the programs you turned off. It might just be of some assistance with your problem.
Regards
IKE
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When I run these programs I always have to run msconfig. and uncheck all the startup items in tab and restart. Use Ctl Alt Delete keys to make sure all the programs are shut down (some tend to recheck themselves)and should work. Ike Peters program sounds nice but keep it simple if possible. good luck
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