DEP kills the built-in defragmenter

[Guest]

I'm trying to run the Windows-installed disk defragmenter on an XP SP2
system. I'm getting a Data Execution Prevention pop-up every time. The
processor is several years old and _not_ DEP-aware. I'd just finished a
CHKDSK /R on the drive the first time the DEP error came up, so the drive
should have been clean. Any idea why this is happening or how to prevent it?

Thanks!

 

[cquirke (MVP Windows shell/user)]

On Thu, 19 Jan 2006 11:29:03 -0800, "jjjdavidson"

I'm trying to run the Windows-installed disk defragmenter on an XP SP2
system. I'm getting a Data Execution Prevention pop-up every time. The
processor is several years old and _not_ DEP-aware. I'd just finished a
CHKDSK /R on the drive the first time the DEP error came up, so the drive
should have been clean. Any idea why this is happening or how to prevent it?

Only software DEP is applicable in your case. My guess is you have
this enabled for all programs rather than just the system, and
something (malware or other resident sware) is tripping it up.

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[Treeman]

You can follow these steps to turn off Dep for diagnostics.

To disable DEP, you have to make a change to the BOOT.INI file in th
root of the partition from which the computer boots. Boot into saf
mode, press F8 a few times after the BIOS has finished its booting an
Windows begins to load. Once you have booted into safe mode, use thes
steps:

Right-click on My Computer and select Properties.
Click on the Advanced tab.
Click on the third button—settings for system start options.
Click on the Edit button to edit the boot.ini file.
Carefully edit the /NoExecute=OptIn string and change it to AlwaysOff
This part at the end of the line should now read: /NoExecute=AlwaysOf

Save and close the dialog boxes by clicking on OK.
Best,
Treema

 

[Kerry Brown]

Turning it off will eliminate the symptom but not cure the problem.
Troubleshooting DEP problems can be time consuming and also enlightening as
to how Windows works. Running defrag may invoke extra context menu programs,
anti-malware programs, disk monitoring programs, and how knows what else
when each file is accessed. One of those is causing the problem, not defrag.

Kerry