New and free solution to "Defrag and Scandisk continually restarting"

[BoB]

From the author:

This program _should_ solve the problem of Windows Defrag and Scandisk
continually restarting. This has been a common problem with both
Windows 98 and Windows ME. Most of us have seen the symptoms. You
start a defrag and then about 15 or 20 percent into the process there is
a message that the "Drive Contents Have Changed" and then the process
restarts. There are various reasons why this happens. One of the most
common problems is a lack of available disk space. For example, not a
lot of people know that you must have at least 15 percent free space
before Windows Defrag will completely defragment a partition. However,
it is most frequently caused by anything that attempts to write to the
drive during the process, including applications that try to use your
Internet connection and anything that causes a write to the Virtual
Memory (Swap File).
The general work-arounds in the past have been to:

A) Use Ctrl+Alt+Delete to shut down all running processes.
B) Run Scandisk and Defrag in "Safe Mode"

The problem with (A) is that not all background processes are ended by
C+A+D.

Method (B) brings along it's own set of problems. Most are minor issues
caused by the fact that "Safe Mode" only works with a display resolution
of 640 x 480 and 16 color. These are generally just annoyances like the
desktop icons may shift and have to be re-arranged when you go back to
"Normal Mode" but they are annoyances which can be avoided by properly
shutting down unnecessary background processes in "Normal Mode".
GEODisk does exactly that for you. Please read the "USAGE" section
below for more details of what happens when you use this application.


USAGE
-----
During the setup process GEODisk will check to see what version of
SCANDISKW.EXE and DEFRAG.EXE you currently have installed on your system
and if they are the older versions included with Windows 98 they will be
replaced with the versions that were native to Windows ME. The Win 98
versions were meant to be run on FAT16 drives and did not function well
with FAT32 systems. Your previous version will be backed up should you
care to revert but you won't.

Here is what it will do;
1) Check to be sure there are no incomplete processes.
(installations etc).
2) Shutdown all running processes except those required to keep
Windows alive.
3) Empty the Recycle Bin
4) Delete the contents of the %windir%\Temp folder
5) Run Disk Cleanup to clear Temporary Internet Files.
6) Disable Screensavers
7) (Optionally) Run Windows Scandisk to check for drive errors.
8) Run the Windows Defragmentation program.
9) Restart Windows to reload the applications that were stopped
in step (1)
_________________________________________________

I installed and ran the program without problem.

It uses safe mode but cleans up the icon mess that can happen from
resolution changes. It seems to have everything covered unless you
have a cable connection that needs to be disconnected.

The exe and other files installed are 280k. One reg key added for
uninstalling the program.

It backs up defrag.exe and installs the faster, WinMEdefrag.exe
if you don't have it.

It uses the applog for faster program starts if you have not
deleted the applog folder and shut off taskmon.exe.

Free from GEOSoft. Read about it here:

http://www.it-mate.co.uk/
Click Free Software, then PC Maintenance.

DL here:
http://www.it-mate.co.uk/downloads/GEODisk.zip
DL is 1.3 meg.

BoB

 

[Mick]

Hello BoB,
You wrote on Sun, 14 Sep 2003 16:07:02 -0400:

From the author:

This program _should_ solve the problem of Windows Defrag and Scandisk
continually restarting. This has been a common problem with both
Windows 98 and Windows ME. Most of us have seen the symptoms. You
start a defrag and then about 15 or 20 percent into the process there is
a message that the "Drive Contents Have Changed" and then the process
restarts. There are various reasons why this happens. One of the most

Another way to avoid the "Drive Contents Have Changed" and restart problem
is to create a separate partition for your SWAP file. You can also go one
further and create a separate partition for your temporary files and caches
such as TEMP, TMP, Recent, History, Temporary Internet Files and Cookies
(although this process is a little more involved and requires some minor
changes to the Registry). Currently, on my Windows ME system, I use a 512MB
SWAP partition and a 150 MB TEMP partition although next time I reformat I
think I will increase the TEMP partition to 256MB. And to prove to myself
that this works, I have Scandisk and Defrag running while I am writing this.
Scandisk has finished without a hitch and Defrag is still running - 40 GB
HDD so it will take some time

 

[Mick]

Hello BoB,
You wrote on Sun, 14 Sep 2003 16:07:02 -0400:

From the author:

This program _should_ solve the problem of Windows Defrag and Scandisk
continually restarting. This has been a common problem with both
Windows 98 and Windows ME. Most of us have seen the symptoms. You
start a defrag and then about 15 or 20 percent into the process there is
a message that the "Drive Contents Have Changed" and then the process
restarts. There are various reasons why this happens. One of the most

Another way to avoid the "Drive Contents Have Changed" and restart problem
is to create a separate partition for your SWAP file. You can also go one
further and create a separate partition for your temporary files and caches
such as TEMP, TMP, Recent, History, Temporary Internet Files and Cookies
(although this process is a little more involved and requires some minor
changes to the Registry). Currently, on my Windows ME system, I use a 512MB
SWAP partition and a 150 MB TEMP partition although next time I reformat I
think I will increase the TEMP partition to 256MB. And to prove to myself
that this works, I have Scandisk and Defrag running while I am writing this.
Scandisk has finished without a hitch and Defrag is still running - 40 GB
HDD so it will take some time

 

[ozzy]

From the author:

This program _should_ solve the problem of Windows Defrag and Scandisk
continually restarting. This has been a common problem with both
Windows 98 and Windows ME. Most of us have seen the symptoms. You
start a defrag and then about 15 or 20 percent into the process there is
a message that the "Drive Contents Have Changed" and then the process
restarts. There are various reasons why this happens. One of the most
common problems is a lack of available disk space. For example, not a
lot of people know that you must have at least 15 percent free space
before Windows Defrag will completely defragment a partition. However,
it is most frequently caused by anything that attempts to write to the
drive during the process, including applications that try to use your
Internet connection and anything that causes a write to the Virtual
Memory (Swap File).
The general work-arounds in the past have been to:

A) Use Ctrl+Alt+Delete to shut down all running processes.
B) Run Scandisk and Defrag in "Safe Mode"

The problem with (A) is that not all background processes are ended by
C+A+D.

Method (B) brings along it's own set of problems. Most are minor issues
caused by the fact that "Safe Mode" only works with a display resolution
of 640 x 480 and 16 color. These are generally just annoyances like the
desktop icons may shift and have to be re-arranged when you go back to
"Normal Mode" but they are annoyances which can be avoided by properly
shutting down unnecessary background processes in "Normal Mode".
GEODisk does exactly that for you. Please read the "USAGE" section
below for more details of what happens when you use this application.


USAGE
-----
During the setup process GEODisk will check to see what version of
SCANDISKW.EXE and DEFRAG.EXE you currently have installed on your system
and if they are the older versions included with Windows 98 they will be
replaced with the versions that were native to Windows ME. The Win 98
versions were meant to be run on FAT16 drives and did not function well
with FAT32 systems. Your previous version will be backed up should you
care to revert but you won't.

Here is what it will do;
1) Check to be sure there are no incomplete processes.
(installations etc).
2) Shutdown all running processes except those required to keep
Windows alive.
3) Empty the Recycle Bin
4) Delete the contents of the %windir%\Temp folder
5) Run Disk Cleanup to clear Temporary Internet Files.
6) Disable Screensavers
7) (Optionally) Run Windows Scandisk to check for drive errors.
8) Run the Windows Defragmentation program.
9) Restart Windows to reload the applications that were stopped
in step (1)
_________________________________________________

I installed and ran the program without problem.

It uses safe mode but cleans up the icon mess that can happen from
resolution changes. It seems to have everything covered unless you
have a cable connection that needs to be disconnected.

The exe and other files installed are 280k. One reg key added for
uninstalling the program.

It backs up defrag.exe and installs the faster, WinMEdefrag.exe
if you don't have it.

It uses the applog for faster program starts if you have not
deleted the applog folder and shut off taskmon.exe.

Free from GEOSoft. Read about it here:

http://www.it-mate.co.uk/
Click Free Software, then PC Maintenance.

DL here:
http://www.it-mate.co.uk/downloads/GEODisk.zip
DL is 1.3 meg.

BoB

I wonder what the ramifications (if any?) are for those that already
installed & use the patches from MS for drives >32gb . Would there be
any problems if users run Geosoft & then, at a later date, go back &
re-install their OS or even reformat/fdisk their drives?

I believe it will be soon a moot point though with most users
switching over to WinXP/2K or Linux but I know several die-hard fans
of 9x that hate XP & will never switch.

drives >32gb:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;243450
(scandisk issues)

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;263044
(fdisk issues)

drives >128gb:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;327202
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;291256


Contact me at phantomshroom(at)hotmail{dot}com
to obtain my real email address. Spammers shot
on site

 

[Sami Sihvonen]

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not all background processes are ended by C+A+D.

You can also use normal Unix(tm) commands "ps" and "kill" to terminate
unwanted processes before starting defragmentation. They are available
as source code from GNU Project and several different versions of them
compiled are available from the net.

With those tools you will see _all_ processes running in your computer
and are able to kill them. For example my Win98SE laptop with APM v2.0
power savings has "Battery Meter" running all the time. It's not seen
in CTRL+ALT+DELETE menu, but "ps" shows it and "kill" removes it.

USAGE
-----
During the setup process GEODisk will check to see what version of
SCANDISKW.EXE and DEFRAG.EXE you currently have installed on your system
and if they are the older versions included with Windows 98 they will be
replaced with the versions that were native to Windows ME.

It does not have any mention of having Microsoft permission to
distribute their copyrighted code. Please don't advertise illegal
warez in this newsgroup, we are interested about FREEWARE only...

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[Steven]

Bob, thankyou for posting this. I've used this myself and find it
absolutely brilliant.

For those that would like to contact the author of this program, you
can do so through the Microsoft Newsgroups at: msnews.microsoft.com,
or via google at: microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion (uses the
pseudo: George (Bindar Dundat)).

Regards

Steven Burn
Ur I.T. Mate Group
www.it-mate.co.uk

Keeping it FREE!

 

[BoB]

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You can also use normal Unix(tm) commands "ps" and "kill" to terminate
unwanted processes before starting defragmentation. They are available
as source code from GNU Project and several different versions of them
compiled are available from the net.

With those tools you will see _all_ processes running in your computer
and are able to kill them. For example my Win98SE laptop with APM v2.0
power savings has "Battery Meter" running all the time. It's not seen
in CTRL+ALT+DELETE menu, but "ps" shows it and "kill" removes it.

For Win98SE I prefer PCMag util, DiskAction. It shows only those
processes accessing the HD. Usually 2-3 for me. With only those
programs shut down I never have defrag restarts. Programs NOT
closed cannot be defragged however, so occasionally I shut them
'all' down.

It does not have any mention of having Microsoft permission to
distribute their copyrighted code. Please don't advertise illegal
warez in this newsgroup, we are interested about FREEWARE only...

That depends on each person's definition of warez.

It is too bad Mr. Gates felt he could not afford to provide this
improved version to 98/SE users for free. Were it available for
purchase by itself, I would have paid a reasonable price.

BoB

 

[Roger Hunt]

It is too bad Mr. Gates felt he could not afford to provide this
improved version to 98/SE users for free. Were it available for
purchase by itself, I would have paid a reasonable price.

Yours or Bill Gates'?

I have found that ME Defrag.exe and ME scansdiskw.exe, copied from W98se
partition, both work fine with my Win95b.
Can't understand why the setup isn't written for W95 ("The program
requires Windows version 4.1.1998 or later.") - there must be a good
reason but I'm feeling more than usually dim this evening.

 

[Sami Sihvonen]

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For Win98SE I prefer PCMag util, DiskAction. It shows only those
processes accessing the HD. Usually 2-3 for me. With only those
programs shut down I never have defrag restarts.

Do you really have extra time to monitor all your software, which
one of them does disk writing while defragging? I find it easier
to just close them all and not to worry about it...

Programs NOT closed cannot be defragged however, so occasionally I shut
them 'all' down.

Only FILES that Windows keeps open are left out. For example if
you use software with shell extensions (adds stuff to the menu
that is showed when you right click on your desktop), those are
ALWAYS kept open. For example Eudora, WinZip etc. have parts
that can't be defragged, since those files are always open even
if you are NOT running that application.

That depends on each person's definition of warez.

Author of that software has NO PERMISSION from Microsoft to any
distribution of their copyrighted commercial software. I don't
have any "person's definition" about this issue, it's just a
matter of law that software like that is called warez.

It is too bad Mr. Gates felt he could not afford to provide this
improved version to 98/SE users for free. Were it available for
purchase by itself, I would have paid a reasonable price.

It's called "Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition", available
at your nearest Microsoft authorized seller. Go and buy one,
don't be involved in software piracy.

Here is a tip: There are also better commercial defragmentation
tools, like Diskeeper, that are available with a very reasonable
price. That one even has "Lite" version available as freeware.

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[BoB]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----


Do you really have extra time to monitor all your software, which
one of them does disk writing while defragging? I find it easier
to just close them all and not to worry about it...

I only had to do it once as I always have the same programs in use.
After few minutes, you can look at Disk Action. You only have to
establish one-time what accesses the HD on a repetitive basis.

Only FILES that Windows keeps open are left out. For example if
you use software with shell extensions (adds stuff to the menu
that is showed when you right click on your desktop), those are
ALWAYS kept open. For example Eudora, WinZip etc. have parts
that can't be defragged, since those files are always open even
if you are NOT running that application.

Since Eudora causes more problems with windows than any other
email program, it has been on my s*** list for quite some time.
And since there are better FREE compression programs than WinZip,
I eliminated it long ago also.

Author of that software has NO PERMISSION from Microsoft to any
distribution of their copyrighted commercial software. I don't
have any "person's definition" about this issue, it's just a
matter of law that software like that is called warez.

Warez is software [sometimes purchased with stolen credit cards]
that works through via a crack, keygen, illegal serial#, etc.
Software used continuously without paying the requested fee is
not warez, just poorly written software. Obtaining a registered
copy of a commercial/sharware program from a friend isn't warez.
All of these categories are as common as dirt on the net, but
WinMEdefrag doesn't fit in any of these categories. Until the
site goes away, I will continue to recommend GEODisk.

If speed disk could be separated from NU it would be very popular
with some users, as it is one of the better defraggers around. After
having NU installed for about 2 years I found all I used was Speed
Disk. When someone made WinMEdefrag available on the net, I tried
it, and uninstalled 12 meg of NU.

It's called "Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition", available
at your nearest Microsoft authorized seller. Go and buy one,
don't be involved in software piracy.

You have got to be kidding. Who wants that trouble-making, 1/2
step to a new OS on their computer.

Here is a tip: There are also better commercial defragmentation
tools, like Diskeeper, that are available with a very reasonable
price. That one even has "Lite" version available as freeware.

Download the "lite" version (12 megs down a slow phone line), I
don't think so.

Doesn't matter though as I don't support Scientology in any way
shape or form. The 'Lite' leads some users into the full program
which lines the cult's pockets.

But that is a whole other OT subject dating to around 1986, so I
won't go there. Here's a page that makes fascinating reading for
anyone interested. Dozen's of pages can be found on Goggle using
two words, "Diskeeper Scientology".

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=h...F-8&[email protected]&rnum=3

Have a nice day.

 

[BoB]

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I have no desire of remembering which software accesses disk during
defragmentation. I find it more simple to close everything. I don't
like software running while defragmentation is active, imagine what
happens if one of the apps running crashes the whole Windows during
defragmentation?

Similar to having a power failure, I would think. BAD news!

Those were just two examples, I chose to use those two apps since
they are quite popular (listed in "Top downloads" at many sites).
I bet many of YOUR favorite apps also have shell extensions that
keep files open all the time computer is up and running. If not,
atleast you have Windows Registry, swapfile and Windows components
that are files which are kept open during defragmentation.

GEOdisk and another new one, Scandefrag are recommended in
windows NGs. An MVP was a beta tester for GEOdisk. Check recent
threads in microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion or alt.windows98.

I will DL Scandefrag and see how it compares to GEOdisk. Scandefrag
was written by a team of MVPs because of all the problems users
have with scandisk and defrag. Comments so far have suggested it is
'competition' for GEOdisk, which is denied. I'm guessing it is very
similar to GEOdisk 'without' providing WinMEdefrag, but it is only
a guess at this time since I haven't DL'd it yet. More at 6PM.

For the curious:
http://home.earthlink.net/~bblanton2/scandefrag/main.htm
http://www.blueorbsoft.com/scandefrag/index.html

I use the word "warez" to describe all software distribution which
violates the license of the software and/or copyrights of author.


Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition is a copyrighted product, if
you distribute commercial operating system on the internet I just
don't know a better word than "warez" to describe it. Please feel
free to contact Microsoft Corporation and I bet they are happy to
give you more details about this issue, is it legal to distribute
Microsoft Windows in the internet.


This is not the correct newsgroup for you to recommend people to
get involved in software piracy.

Except for you, I have only noticed "thanks for the heads-up". If it
is the consensus of ACF or frowned on by a few members I consider
leaders for ACF, I will certainly desist from further mention.

Word has been out for well over a year that WinMEdefrag is several
times faster and where it is available so if Scandefrag works as
well as GEODisk, without replacing 98's defrag I will switch my
recommendation. That's my concession for now. OK?

No, I'm not kidding... It's really available when you visit your
local Microsoft authorized seller and it's sold in a box that's
called Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition. Because you already
own Windows 98 license you will get for a VERY reasonable price.


After reading your articles in this thread it is clear that you
wan't it. Actually you only wan't some of the features that it
provides (defrag in this case), but with commercial software you
always need to buy the whole package even if you only use 1% of
the features...


My U.S. Robotics modem (57600bps, V.90, V.FC, V.42bis) transfers
about 18 megs/hour. When I'm in my summer house where DSL is not
available I often use it to download big files in the background
when I'm doing other things with my laptop.

BoB

 

[Sami Sihvonen]

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An MVP was a beta tester for GEOdisk. Check recent threads in
microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion or alt.windows98.

This sounds interesting, MVP beta testing software piracy that
steals software without license from Microsoft Corporation? Ok,
I'll send a e-mail to my friends in Microsoft Finland Oy to
investigate this...

Except for you, I have only noticed "thanks for the heads-up". If it
is the consensus of ACF or frowned on by a few members I consider
leaders for ACF, I will certainly desist from further mention.

I find it very sad, if people in alt.comp.freeware start cheering
for software piracy. Can't you people see that this ain't the
correct newsgroup to do that? It does not matter how many cheers
or downloads you get, it's still illegal software piracy.

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[john p.]

Similar to having a power failure, I would think. BAD news!

Actually, a well written defrag program copies data to a blank spot on
the disk and only overwrites the original data when the defrag of that
section is completed. That's why you need a minimum amount of extra
disk space to defrag. I doubt you would lose data in either of these
situations just because you were defragging at the time.

 

[BoB]

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From my previous msg:
______________________

I will DL Scandefrag and see how it compares to GEOdisk. Scandefrag
was written by a team of MVPs because of all the problems users
have with scandisk and defrag. Comments so far have suggested it is
'competition' for GEOdisk, which is denied. I'm guessing it is very
similar to GEOdisk 'without' providing WinMEdefrag, but it is only
a guess at this time since I haven't DL'd it yet. More at 6PM.
_____________________

I think GEOdisk will be less complicated than Scandefrag, for those
who have problems with defrag. Once Scandefrag is 'configured', I'm
sure the results would be the same as with GEOdisk. Scandefrag will
be my second choice until there is some positive feedback from users.

Each time I buy a new computer, I install replacements for Explorer,
OE, IE, WMP, and defrag. With a few minor changes, windows can be made
into an acceptable OS.

BoB

 

[Anne]

Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition is a copyrighted product, if
you distribute commercial operating system on the internet I just
don't know a better word than "warez" to describe it. Please feel
free to contact Microsoft Corporation and I bet they are happy to
give you more details about this issue, is it legal to distribute
Microsoft Windows in the internet.

Sami, didn't you suggest using WinME-defrag in Win98 in a Finnish
newsgroup? "Google for it or get it from me by e-mail", you wrote. I
started using it, too, but now I fear my judgement failed me. It can't
be legal.

 

[Sami Sihvonen]

Sami, didn't you suggest using WinME-defrag in Win98 in a Finnish
newsgroup? "Google for it or get it from me by e-mail", you wrote.

It was not a _FREEWARE_ newsgroup, that's the issue here...
It ain't freeware, it does NOT belong in this newsgroup.