Laurel said:
The defragmenter told me to run chkdsk.exe or scandisk.exe because
there was some corruption. I can find chkdsk.exe, but it requires
parameters and will only run the first of three steps. I don't have
scandisk.exe on my Windows XP Professional system. I've googled
scandisk everywhich way and searched the microsoft web site for a
download. Please help.
TIA
LAS
Hi Laurel,
What defragmenter told you that? Forget Scandisk, it is not a WinXP program.
Use Windows XP Disk Defragmenter and Windows XP Error Checking. (Chkdsk)
Double click "My Computer" on your desktop.
Right click your drive letter. (Probably C
Click Properties.
Click Tools (tab) at top
There are 3 tools: 1. Error-checking, 2. Defragmentation, 3. Backup.
1. The "Error-checking" section runs Check Disk. (click "Check Now...")
• No checkboxes checked = Read Only mode = Checks without fixing/repairing.
• The 1st checkbox fixes files. (Stage 1, 2 and 3)
• The 2nd checkbox (Stage 4 and 5) attempts to recovery bad sectors
When you click "Start", to check your system drive, this message may appear:
"The disk check could not be performed because the disk check utility needs
exclusive access to some Windows files on the disk. These files can be
accessed only by restarting Windows. Do you want to schedule this disk check
to occur the next time you restart the computer? [Yes][No]" Click Yes, close
all open programs, and restart your computer. After Check Disk completes, it
will restart your computer, and you should be able to logon normally.
You must NOT interrupt CHKDSK while running. Don't start it when there is
possibility of power failure due to lightning or wind downed branches. The
progress indicates percent of tasks completed per stage, not elapsed time.
Some tasks are fast, some are slow. (How many days can you be patient?
2. The "Defragmentation" section runs Disk Defragmenter.
("Defragment Now...")
• Analyze is usually fast and lets you know if you need to defragment.
• Defragment takes longer, according to drive size and % fragmentation.
You CAN interrupt Defragmenter with the Pause button, or even Stop it if a
sudden thunderstorm is approaching and you need to shut down for awhile.
When started again, it will analyze and defragment whatever is left to do.
(The Command Prompt "defrag" can be stopped with Ctrl+C)
Note: You need at least 15 percent free disk space, (working space to
combine file parts,) for Disk Defragmenter to properly defragment the
volume. You may need to use the Windows XP Disk Cleanup first, to free up
space.
(Start> (all)Programs> Accessories> System Tools> Disk Cleanup)
Note: The Windows XP Defragmenter is capable of defragmenting the MFT, and
it is normal for "pagefile.sys" to have 1 fragment.
Tip: Easiest way to defragment Temp files: Delete files you don't need.
HTH. (Hope This Helps.
--Richard
