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How to run Scandisk and Disk Defragmenter under Windows 9x/ME
Author: Eldon Martin
Updated: 12/19/05

Q: I'm having trouble using the ScanDisk and Disk Defragmenter utilities on my computer.  Neither one of them will run.  The process begins, and then stops and starts over.  This happens repeatedly, and hours later, it is still not completed.  How can I fix this?

A: Thanks to some lack of foresight by Microsoft, these two programs can be rather troublesome for those computers running Windows 95, 98, or ME. The problem is usually caused by interference from invisible programs running the background.  Examples of such programs are printer monitors, virus scanning software, and even viruses or spyware.

The easiest way to work around this problem is to start the computer in “safe mode”, which runs Windows without background tasks.  To do this, turn your computer on, and then press and hold the <shift> key on your keyboard just before you see the full screen Windows logo appear.  Keep holding the key down until you see the icons appear.  If you were successful, you will see a message telling you that your computer is running in safe mode.  In most cases, this will allow the utilities to run smoothly. Once you are finished, simply restart your computer to return to normal mode. Another way to start the computer in safe mode is to tap the F8 key repeatedly just before the full-screen Windows logo appears, then select Safe Mode from the menu and press ENTER.  

If you are unable to run scandisk or disk defragmenter even in safe mode, try disabling your screen saver.  To do that, click Start > Settings > Control Panel, and then double-click Display.  Under the Screen Saver tab you'll find an option to change the screen saver to “none”.

If you insist on running scandisk and disk defragmenter in regular mode, it may help to temporary exit or suspend background programs.  Many background programs can be closed or suspended temporarily by right-clicking the corresponding icon in the system tray (the area on the taskbar beside the clock) and looking for an option to exit or disable.  You can also press CTRL+ALT+DELETE and end all tasks except for “Explorer”.  Some tasks will take several seconds to close.

 

Copyright(c) 2005 by Eldon Martin