A computer defragging question

[Richard Sherwood]

Sorry for the non-diamond related question, but I can''t get my Dell to defrag. It only makes it up to 1%, and then keeps dropping back.

Someone told me once when it does that to start it up in "safe mode", and then defrag from there. I can''t remember how to put it into "safe mode" though.

Does anybody know? I''ll buy you lunch at your local hot dog stand for an answer.

 

[slmulkey]

Hmm...the only way I know to get your computer into safe mode is by shutting off the power while it is on and then restart

Seriously though, I haven't been able to get my computer to defrag either...it stops at 1% as well.

 

[NewlyEngaged]

Richard... Couple things come to mind when you indicate the problem you are having. First, defragging requires roughly 10% of hard drive space to function, as it needs space to move files from one place to another. That said, if your HD is full or near full, you may want to delete some files or back some up to a CD-ROM or other media.

Second thing that comes to mind is that you have too many other systems running. You want to shut down as much as possible as defrag used a lot of system resources. On the bottom right of your system task bar, by the clock and volume, etc... Right click on all of the systems you are absolutely certain do not need to be open to run your system in general. So close down any virus programs, shat functions, anything you know is not "critical" to the system.

Finally, restarting in safemode I am running XP on a Toshiba Tablet PC, so it may be different, but here is what I found on XP's "Help and Support"...

Good luck!

To run System Restore in safe mode
Access System Restore through Help and Support.
Follow the instructions on your screen.

Notes

-To access the System Restore Wizard, click Start, and then click Help and Support. Click Performance and Maintenance, click Using System Restore to undo changes, and then click Run the System Restore Wizard.
-While the computer is in safe mode, System Restore does not create any restore points. Therefore, you cannot undo a restoration that you performed when the computer was in safe mode.
-You can use System Restore to restore your computer to any restore point while in safe mode. If you cannot start the computer in standard mode, you can use System Restore to restore to a time when you could start the computer without errors.
-To restore to a time when your computer started without errors, select a restore point as close to the time you remember it last started without errors.
-If System Restore is suspended because of insufficient disk space, you cannot enable it by making more disk space available while in safe mode. You must restart the computer in standard mode and make more disk space available.

 

[hoorray]

HI Rich,

Soon is right. You have to have some empty space to defrag. If you do, try restarting your computer and pressing F8 during the restart process. Depending on your OS, that you put you into safe mode. Then, to defrag, NOTHING can be changing on your hard drive during the process, so you can't be using the computer or having any programs that do things automatically running.

good luck...

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Thanks slmulkey (you're so cute), Soon and Hooray (not cute, but smart).

I just love this forum...

 

[Colored Gemstone Nut]

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On 8/4/2003 6

6:31 PM Richard Sherwood wrote:
Thanks slmulkey (you're so cute), Soon and Hooray (not cute, but smart).

I just love this forum...

----------------

Rich,

I don't think you should be making comments on cuteness especially with that device growing out of your head....

hee...heee...

You know Im joking Rich, but have to make up for Trichrome leaving us....

-JOsh

 

[song]

It's likely you have a system running in the background. The easiest way to shut down programs (some run invisibly, so it won't have an icon on the taskbar), is to close each program individually. Hit Control/Alt/Delete ONCE (hitting it twice will simply reboot your system and you don't want that). You will get up a box. Go through each program and hit "Cancel". ****Leave systray and explorer open**** You should be able to use defrag now. ~song

 

[song]

Uh, of course I meant hit "End Task", not "Cancel". Sorry Richard,I just found this post of mine again. I'm just finding my way around this site now and I'm terrible at checking errors prior to submitting. ~song

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Thanks Song, and everybody. I finally will have some time to mess around with it this weekend.

It's crazy how there aren't enough hours in the day. I just was talking with a young 21 year entrepeneur, who is doing well since I last saw him (7 years ago).

When I asked him what his secret was, he said that he gets up at 4:30 every morning...

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Josh, give it up. You don't have half the sand Trichrome did. You've got "nice guy" written all over your forehead.

 

[canadiangrrl]

What's "defragging" ?

*scratches head dumbly, crawls back to cave with the rest of the Luddites*

 

[sylvesterii]

the easy explanation:
let's say your computer has 10 spots for information.(it has about a gazzillion in reality)

1234567891

you use 7 of them for memory and three are open
1234567000

two weeks later you decide you don't need the program that is using space 4.
so you know have a computer that looks like this:

1230567000

repeat this process over and over and over again, and you will have information that is stored in spot 1 and spot 6 that your computer needs to access to run 1 program.

defragmentation is realigning your data for optimal speed. i.e. putting the things back in order. so you know have the program in spot 1 and 2 rather than 6, and it save the time it would have lost moving to 6 rather than 2.

does that make sense???

 

[Kamuelamom]

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On 8/3/2003 11:31

0 PM Richard Sherwood wrote:

Sorry for the non-diamond related question, but I can't get my Dell to defrag. It only makes it up to 1%, and then keeps dropping back.

Someone told me once when it does that to start it up in "safe mode", and then defrag from there. I can't remember how to put it into "safe mode" though.

Does anybody know? I'll buy you lunch at your local hot dog stand for an answer.

----------------

Holy smokes!

I've been having the exact same problem so thanks for bringing this up Richard. And thanks to those who responded. My computer has lots of memory and still have that problem, so I thought it just turned into a dog for some reason. I'll try some of the suggestions here. Hopefully something will do the trick.

Thanks again everyone.

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Okay, I just defragged both my computers. It was having too many systems running in the background which was the problem. I used Song's "ctrl-alt-del" method to shut down the unnecessary systems, and they defragged beautifully.

For those of you that don't defrag your computers, I was told by a computer geek that you should do it at least once a week. It keeps things running smoothly and quickly.

You'll find the defragging program under "start>programs>accessories>system tools>disk defragmenter". Before defragging, use the "disk cleanup" function to get rid of unnecessary temp. files as such.

Thanks guys!

 

[hoorray]

Glad it went well!

BTW...I think it depends what you are doing on your computer for how often you need to do it. I sometimes go to do it, and the analyze program that is part of the defrag utility tells me it doesn't need doing.

But then...you are probably doing much more useful things than I am, and probably do need it more often.

I endup doing it about once every 6 months.

 

[Kamuelamom]

OK, I did it last night, but it took all night. After turning off most of the task bar stuff, I tried and it wouldn't go past 10%. Darn. Tried again, and again, then finally I turned off the anti-virus, and it progressed better, but still very slowly. I ended up going to bed and it was done in the morning.

At the end of this week I will try the ctrl/alt/delete trick. I'm really, really trying to be a computer geek.

 

[Newbie333]

or another solution:

Buy an Apple Macintosh!

They rule!

 

[Kamuelamom]

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On 8/11/2003 3:22:30 AM Newbie333 wrote:



or another solution:

Buy an Apple Macintosh!

They rule!

----------------

Once a Mac fan, always a Mac fan, eh?

 

[shurikt]

Once a week is probably overkill for defragging. Once a month or even more is probably good enough, unless you do an awful lot of audio/video editing or some other hard drive intensive work.

And Dells are notorious for not defragging easily. Safe mode usually works, though.

Ok, ok. I know this isn't the place to kindle a mac/pc flamewar, but...

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On 8/11/2003 3:22:30 AM Newbie333 wrote:

or another solution:

Buy an Apple Macintosh!

They rule!

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Riiiiight. The difference is not that fragmentation is not a problem on a Mac, just that there is no built in tool in the operating system to defrag the drive (although there may be in OSX, I don't know). You need to buy Norton Utilities or some other external tool to defrag the hard drive. But hey, to a Mac user ignorance is bliss, right?

But I'll gladly use a Mac if someone buys me a G5 with Dual 3.0 processors. *drool*

 

[Cushy Cushion]

Richard, you seem to be "the man" and I really need your advice. I posted a message today called "Oops-- Did I Make A Big (And Expensive) Mistake? Can you take a look at it for me? I would GREATLY appreciate it! I have about $38,500 on the line and am having a little buyer's remorse. The stone was for our 10th wedding anniversary and I want to be sure I didn't make a mistake. I am worried that the stone is cut too deeply and want to be sure that I am getting what I paid for. I think my message is on Page 1 and Page 3 by now. THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Did you hear that guys?

She called me "The Man".







Now if I can just perfect that John Wayne swagger...

 

[Richard Sherwood]

I'll pay someone $100 per hour to tell me what Furthermore said.

 

[Kamuelamom]

Rich, LOL!

Furthermore, I think I kind of sorta understand what you said. Just don't ask me to repeat it.