The following is a question and answer session hosted by Array Systems Inc .: “When trying to defragment drive C on my 333 E Machines PC using Windows 98 OS 6.1 edition, the first message I get is Reading Drive Information. defragmentation begins but does not go beyond 10 percent completion. Then a blank screen appears, then returns to the last partially defragmented screen with the message Drive contents changed on reboot. This sequence repeats every 3 to 4 minutes “.
What you are experiencing is a conflict / contention with another open program. When the defragmentation utility runs, it copies information (data, programs, or files) from one area of your hard drive to a clean area. If a program is open or another program is accessing a file, the defragmentation utility will not copy it to the clean area. These programs are probably part of your startup process. For example, my startup process automatically opens my virus detection program so that when I access the Internet it is protected. If I want to run my defrag utility, I need to start my computer in safe mode.
Safe Mode is a stripped down version of your Windows operating system and will bypass your startup process so that programs that start automatically will not start. You will notice a difference immediately because your Windows desktop will look different and your icons will appear larger than normal. This is because the default screen resolution is higher than the normal setting.
For those of you unfamiliar with the defrag utility, let me take a few minutes to explain what exactly it is. There are two programs that you should run on a regular basis, which should be part of your disk maintenance program. These programs are disk defragmenter and scandisk.
I run my disk defrag once a quarter and my scandisk once a month. The disk defragmentation utility cleans your hard drive to make it more efficient. Let me explain how your hard drive works and why it needs to be cleaned periodically.
I am writing my column using MS Word. When I open my current column file, I like to save it after 5-10 minutes of writing. When I save it, the Word document cannot be saved to the same place on my hard drive. Therefore, a new location must be found on the hard drive and the pointer (index) must be updated to reflect the new location. Sometimes if the file is very large (novel or screenplay), there is not enough clean space in one location, so the file is split into multiple locations with multiple flags. The old space is now unusable until the next defragmentation utility is run.
Sometimes you will notice that your computer takes a long time to save a document because it is looking for some clean space. This is probably the number one problem associated with computer performance. The defragmentation utility begins by copying all the files from the beginning of your hard drive to another location. Then clean the disk area and copy the current files. It continues with each area / sector or your hard drive until it cleans the entire drive. This process can take up to eight hours, depending on the size of your hard drive and the speed of your computer.
The next utility is called scandisk. It looks like the defrag utility, but it updates only the index / pointer files. Every time a file is updated, the new location is updated in its index file. These files are the most active files on your computer because it tracks the location of everything. The scandisk also removes any corruption issues that have occurred by improperly shutting down your computer or when your computer crashes.
A well-maintained index will also increase the speed and efficiency of your computer.
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