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My computer runs on Windows 98 SE. I can't afford to update just now. I
can't get my hard drives (2) defragmented no matter how long I leave things
running. Any helpful advice would be appreciated. The usual people who
just relpy to show their alleged superiority please don't bother.

Thanks in advance

On Wed, 1 Aug 2007 04:00:07 +0100, "nemesis"
<> wrote:

>My computer runs on Windows 98 SE. I can't afford to update just now. I
>can't get my hard drives (2) defragmented no matter how long I leave things
>running. Any helpful advice would be appreciated. The usual people who
>just relpy to show their alleged superiority please don't bother.

Reboot in Safe mode, and run defrag in safe mode.
--
To reply via e-mail, remove The Obvious from my e-mail address.

"nemesis" <> wrote in
news::

> My computer runs on Windows 98 SE. I can't afford to
> update just now. I can't get my hard drives (2)
> defragmented no matter how long I leave things running. Any
> helpful advice would be appreciated. The usual people who
> just relpy to show their alleged superiority please don't
> bother.
>
> Thanks in advance

Evan's advice may or may not work in your case depending on how
bad things are. I have never had to do anything in Safe Mode and
avoid it like the plague.

The LONG TERM solution is to divide you hard drive into
partitions.
I have 7 on one machine and 16 on the other and it usually takes
less than a minute or two to defrag any one of them. Not to
mention all the other advantages (which no one tells you about
because they're either stupid, or think you are, or just don't
understand the issue)

Here's a great link to convince you:
http://www.theeldergeek.com/hard_drives_02.htm

In your case, (I am assuming, perhaps wrongly that you have one
[or maybe two] huge partitions), the only right thing you can do
(perhaps after Evan's advice works for you), is to copy all the
data onto removable media or whatever you happen to have handy,
and f-disk and reformat your drive into a bunch of partitions. I
have Win98SElite on a 2.5 GB partition along with LOTS of
programs, and I ALWAYS have about 1.5 GB free for working. The
rest of the partitions range from 1.5-4 GB. That's where all the
non-system data goes so no matter what happens to the C drive I
am safe. If you're into 4-CD games or movies, you might want
bigger partitions.


--
"...for the force that circles the earth most times in a second
is not electricity but pain."
- M.P.

nemesis wrote:
>
> My computer runs on Windows 98 SE. I can't afford to update just now. I
> can't get my hard drives (2) defragmented no matter how long I leave things
> running. Any helpful advice would be appreciated. The usual people who
> just relpy to show their alleged superiority please don't bother.

Try using msconfig to temporarily disable all your background apps you
have set running. Rebooot, then try defrag again. First delete all your
temp/tmp files and temporary internet files. It should work after that.

--
http://www.bootdisk.com/

In article <Xns997EE9D6FCF3Ethanexit@66.250.146.158>, thanatoid
<> wrote:

> I have never had to do anything in Safe Mode and
> avoid it like the plague.

You avoid SAFE MODE like the plague?

Why?
Are you confused?

On 2007-08-01, nemesis <> wrote:
> My computer runs on Windows 98 SE. I can't afford to update just now. I
> can't get my hard drives (2) defragmented no matter how long I leave things
> running. Any helpful advice would be appreciated. The usual people who
> just relpy to show their alleged superiority please don't bother.
>
> Thanks in advance

Try deleting all and any stuff you don't need, to make some empty space
for the defrag program to play with.

You can get a legal copy of almost any Linux operating system free of
charge, and install it on as many machines as you like, and give copies
away too. It needn't cost much to upgrade from Windows 98SE )

--
-- ^^^^^^^^^^
-- Whiskers
-- ~~~~~~~~~~

nemesis wrote:
> My computer runs on Windows 98 SE. I can't afford to update just
> now. I can't get my hard drives (2) defragmented no matter how long
> I leave things running. Any helpful advice would be appreciated.
> The usual people who just relpy to show their alleged superiority
> please don't bother.
>
> Thanks in advance

Check to see how much free space you have on your hard drives. If there is
not much (less than 10%,) that could be the problem as Defrag needs around
that much, I think, to do its job.
Disconnect from the Internet, and do a ctrl-alt-del and shut down all
running programs except for explorer and systray.
Now run a Scandisk and let it finish.
Then try to run the defrag program again.
If you get it done, reboot and all the programs that you shut down should
come back on.
You could also try looking in Google for more help on the Win98 system.
A group that is very sharp on Win98SE is :
microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
They have dealt with the above problem many times and have excellent
suggestions.

Mitch <> wrote:

>In article <Xns997EE9D6FCF3Ethanexit@66.250.146.158>, thanatoid
><> wrote:
>
>> I have never had to do anything in Safe Mode and
>> avoid it like the plague.

>You avoid SAFE MODE like the plague?
>
>Why?

Maybe not like the plague, but I have avoided safe mode since Win98,
After safe mode I would have to put all my icons back where they
belonged, and have to reset my background (color not a picture).

I still remember times when it said entering safe mode, and I'd panic
pound the keyboard to stop it

Even now (XP) I avoid safe mode just in case.

But safe mode to defrag is the route to go if you don't dual boot.

From C: root, I would also run ATTRIB -R /S /D before a defrag as a
read only file won't be moved under Win98.
--

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