Cannot Defragment

Alistair · Jun 6, 2004, 02:04 AM

My parents computer is having problems defragmenting the hard drive. It gets to about 1% then immediately says its done when I can clearly see red on the display. When I do the analyze it tells me I need to defrag the drive. I have performed a scandisk, which found no errors at all. Is there anything I can attempt short of formatting the drive?

p.s. I am willing to format the drive but would prefer not to do so on the system at the moment.

Dom · Jun 6, 2004, 02:10 AM

How full is the harddisk?

Alistair · Jun 6, 2004, 02:42 AM

Well it WAS at 94% until I went through and cleaned it up to 66% It has 2.24GB left

Dom · Jun 6, 2004, 02:45 AM

Have you tried defragging it since?

Alistair · Jun 6, 2004, 05:21 AM

Yes

Dom · Jun 6, 2004, 05:33 AM

Did you try using Disk Checker to fix any problems that may be on the disk?

Alistair · Jun 6, 2004, 05:55 AM

Yeah :S I'm really thinking the only hope is a format later this week.

**dj_stick** · Jun 6, 2004, 06:04 AM

try using a thirdparty defragger… the windows one has serious problems with the pagefil and other system files

PangingJr · Jun 6, 2004, 06:59 AM

For win XP..

On some win XP system this problem is relatively normal...
becos of there're so many drivers being loaded that interfere with the Windows in-built defrag program.

Try running defrag from the "SAFE MODE"...
Shut the PC down completely, then turn it back on,
during boot up.. keep pressing the F-8 key repeatedly until the startup menu appears....
then run the defrag just like you did in Windows, when done reboot your PC normally.

Alistair · Jun 6, 2004, 04:39 PM

OK I'll try the SAFE MODE thing later this week when I head over there again. Hopefully that works.

@/2ct!< · Jun 6, 2004, 08:55 PM

My windows has been messing up past few months, and most utilities dont seem to work right, including reformat with same things happening as you described.

Alistair · Jun 7, 2004, 11:56 PM

SAFE MODE didn't work

Just got done formatting and reinstalling Windows XP. I think my mom or brother downloaded somethign through their e-mail that messed something up.

Gh0st3d · Jun 8, 2004, 07:57 PM

If this ever happens to you again I would try two things that should fix it (one or the other depending on problems origin). Firt I would boot off of the Windows XP CR and going inot the repair console and typing chkdsk /r into console if this doesn't work then I would try fixmbr since this is where the MFT data is stored and this will force a check on the MFT and recover if damaged. Fix boot will basicaly do the same thing as fix mbr except fixboot will also repair ntfs.sys(MFTZone data is stored her as well as mirrored size).

PangingJr · Jun 9, 2004, 01:02 PM

good advised there on running Chkdsk in the Recovery Console.

more info on the Fixmbr/Fixboot,
Could you please explain abit more on how... that will help the defrag prob?
you mean the defrag won't run becos of there're some prob in the NT file system.
-------------------------

Fixmbr overwrites only the master boot code.
Fixboot writes a new partition boot sector to the system partition (replaces the Boot Sector).
Ntfs.sys is the NT file system driver.

Gh0st3d · Jun 9, 2004, 01:45 PM

The MBR checks the MFT(Master File Table) and will replace if corrupt with the mirrored MFT. The MFT will sometimes casue a system not to defrag if your hard drive wrote data in the MFT Reservation Zone. Replacing the MBR forces a check on the MFT. (long shot but with a really full hard drive it is possible) The fixboot will do nothing for this situation I apologize for the wrong infromation. I would try replacing the ntfs.sys since this holds the reservation size for MFTZone (may not make a difference but I would try as a last resort)

PangingJr · Jun 9, 2004, 02:40 PM

Thanks for explaining.

The_Neon_Cowboy · Jun 9, 2004, 05:46 PM

Also might try the windows checker

goto run type command
at the dos like prompt type: chkdsk c: /f
choose yes by hitting Y

reboot

for my free space you can delete everything in the
C:\windows\temp\
C:\windows\prefetch\

Jun 6, 2004, 02:04 AM	#1
Alistair Spoos Join Date: May 2002 Location: State College, PA, USA Posts: 435 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Cannot Defragment My parents computer is having problems defragmenting the hard drive. It gets to about 1% then immediately says its done when I can clearly see red on the display. When I do the analyze it tells me I need to defrag the drive. I have performed a scandisk, which found no errors at all. Is there anything I can attempt short of formatting the drive? p.s. I am willing to format the drive but would prefer not to do so on the system at the moment. __________________ - Alistair

Jun 6, 2004, 02:42 AM	Thread Starter #3
Alistair Spoos Join Date: May 2002 Location: State College, PA, USA Posts: 435 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Well it WAS at 94% until I went through and cleaned it up to 66% It has 2.24GB left __________________ - Alistair

Jun 6, 2004, 05:21 AM	Thread Starter #5
Alistair Spoos Join Date: May 2002 Location: State College, PA, USA Posts: 435 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Yes __________________ - Alistair

Jun 6, 2004, 05:55 AM	Thread Starter #7
Alistair Spoos Join Date: May 2002 Location: State College, PA, USA Posts: 435 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Yeah :S I'm really thinking the only hope is a format later this week. __________________ - Alistair

Jun 6, 2004, 04:39 PM	Thread Starter #10
Alistair Spoos Join Date: May 2002 Location: State College, PA, USA Posts: 435 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	OK I'll try the SAFE MODE thing later this week when I head over there again. Hopefully that works. __________________ - Alistair

Jun 6, 2004, 02:10 AM	#2
Dom DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 12,940 Rep Power: 0	How full is the harddisk?

Jun 6, 2004, 02:45 AM	#4
Dom DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 12,940 Rep Power: 0	Have you tried defragging it since?

Jun 6, 2004, 05:33 AM	#6
Dom DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 12,940 Rep Power: 0	Did you try using Disk Checker to fix any problems that may be on the disk?

Jun 6, 2004, 06:59 AM	#9
PangingJr Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 5,989 Rep Power: 71	For win XP.. On some win XP system this problem is relatively normal... becos of there're so many drivers being loaded that interfere with the Windows in-built defrag program. Try running defrag from the "SAFE MODE"... Shut the PC down completely, then turn it back on, during boot up.. keep pressing the F-8 key repeatedly until the startup menu appears.... then run the defrag just like you did in Windows, when done reboot your PC normally.

Jun 6, 2004, 08:55 PM	#11
@/2ct!< HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Not Vegas, anymore :( Posts: 1,391 Rep Power: 0	My windows has been messing up past few months, and most utilities dont seem to work right, including reformat with same things happening as you described. __________________

Jun 7, 2004, 11:56 PM	Thread Starter #12
Alistair Spoos Join Date: May 2002 Location: State College, PA, USA Posts: 435 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	SAFE MODE didn't work Just got done formatting and reinstalling Windows XP. I think my mom or brother downloaded somethign through their e-mail that messed something up. __________________ - Alistair

Jun 8, 2004, 07:57 PM	#13
Gh0st3d DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Cyberspace Posts: 18 Rep Power: 0	If this ever happens to you again I would try two things that should fix it (one or the other depending on problems origin). Firt I would boot off of the Windows XP CR and going inot the repair console and typing chkdsk /r into console if this doesn't work then I would try fixmbr since this is where the MFT data is stored and this will force a check on the MFT and recover if damaged. Fix boot will basicaly do the same thing as fix mbr except fixboot will also repair ntfs.sys(MFTZone data is stored her as well as mirrored size). __________________ "Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal." --Albert Einstein

Jun 9, 2004, 01:02 PM	#14
PangingJr Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 5,989 Rep Power: 71	good advised there on running Chkdsk in the Recovery Console. more info on the Fixmbr/Fixboot, Could you please explain abit more on how... that will help the defrag prob? you mean the defrag won't run becos of there're some prob in the NT file system. ------------------------- Fixmbr overwrites only the master boot code. Fixboot writes a new partition boot sector to the system partition (replaces the Boot Sector). Ntfs.sys is the NT file system driver.

Jun 9, 2004, 01:45 PM	#15
Gh0st3d DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Cyberspace Posts: 18 Rep Power: 0	The MBR checks the MFT(Master File Table) and will replace if corrupt with the mirrored MFT. The MFT will sometimes casue a system not to defrag if your hard drive wrote data in the MFT Reservation Zone. Replacing the MBR forces a check on the MFT. (long shot but with a really full hard drive it is possible) The fixboot will do nothing for this situation I apologize for the wrong infromation. I would try replacing the ntfs.sys since this holds the reservation size for MFTZone (may not make a difference but I would try as a last resort) __________________ "Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal." --Albert Einstein

Jun 9, 2004, 02:40 PM	#16
PangingJr Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 5,989 Rep Power: 71	Thanks for explaining.

Jun 9, 2004, 05:46 PM	#17
The_Neon_Cowboy HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 16,009 Rep Power: 92 System Specs	Also might try the windows checker goto run type command at the dos like prompt type: chkdsk c: /f choose yes by hitting Y reboot for my free space you can delete everything in the C:\windows\temp\ C:\windows\prefetch\ __________________