Defragment doesn't finish job

I posted this on another thread, which I guess was wrong to do so here it is, posted separately:

I'm trying to defrag my brother's stupid computer. It's a 140GB (more like 130), and it is HEAVILY fragmented. I installed diskeeper.... analyzing the volume takes more than 10 minutes, and as for defragmenting, I left diskeeper running overnight and during the day twice (more than 12 hours each time) and the bloody thing doesn't get past 38%!!!! What should I do?

I uninstalled diskeeper and ran the windows defragmenter, and it's analyzing the drive but it's been 10 miuntes and it's stuck at 10% :s

Oh, and there's only 1 drive, c:\. No partitions.

 

It sounds like there are a whole lot of processes running in the background. You could try stopping most of them using Task Manager. Or start the PC in safe mode, then run the defrag. I will assume this is on a XP machine?

 

Yeah, XP. True, lots of processes running in the background. This computer is a freaking garbage can, I swear. It's full of crap, supposed to be fast but it's slow... most probably as a result of the huuuuuuuuuuge amount of porn on it (again, not MY computer).

K, with safe mode, Diskeeper doesn't run. It gives an error, and says to check the windows log event or something to see why it was disrupted. Any ideas why this is the case?

 

do a scan with superantispyware from here www.superantispyware.com
download the free version and do a scan.
also get drweb cure it from my sig and run that as well.
see what rubbish there is on it.
lodore

 

Got a feeling you are on the right track. If that PC has been frequenting the XXX sites then I am sure it has a few issues.

 

Oh no most of the "rubbish" should be gone... but i'm sure they'll come back once the *porn* files are opened (luckily, my brother's not coming back for another week, and by that time, I'll be gone back to uni and will have my own super-clean, super-fast computer I went through a long process of cleaning the drive by running a couple of online scans, a resident scan, then scanning with cwshredder, MS Antispyware, Ewido (I think it's changed to AVG now), Ad-aware, Spybot, About:Buster, etc. in safe mode, then doing the same things in regular boot......... took a looooooooong time. So I shouldn't have any spywares/trojans/etc for now. Just these damn extra processes that don't pose any threats

 

That is the catch. Many anti-malware programs may remove the running instance of the threat but not the exe. that created it. So the next time you reboot, guess what, it`s back. I would run a couple of the scans again. Including Lodores` suggestions. I will be very surprised if they turn up clean. If they do then you really need to trim down the processes that run at start-up. As far as Disk Keeper not running in safe mode, sorry, do not use it so I did not know. The XP defrag will how ever.

 

Hello,
What does porn have to do with slow speed? Porn usually comes in files - .avi or .mpg or something - and they are just big files, like movies. 50GB of porn is equal in size to 50GB of Japanese dolphin hunting documentary.
Mrk

 

Well after every scan I rebooted the computer, and moved on to the next scan. At the end, I posted my hijackthis log on another forum and it seeeeeeeeeeeeeeemed clean. Whatever, not my computer. Just trying to do my stupid brother a favor. How can one take such bad care of his/her baby (by baby I mean computer)?

 

Then we will assume it is clean. If it is your PC and do not care about the porn then delete it. Just freeing up hard drive space will speed up the defrag. Otherwise, you may want to look into trimming down the startup processes.

 

Not my PC, but I deleted some of the big porn files so now it has 17% disk space free instead of 6%! My head might go in the noose though when my brother comes back

 

Before defragmenting:
-use CCleaner.
-use PageDefrag(next boot)
-check startup applications and services.
-stop/unload the resident AV/AM

 

WOW! Only 17% free space out of 130+ gigs. Do not know about Disk Keeper, but I know the XP defragger needs a certain amount of free space to do its` job. That could be part of the problem. I am going to tread softly from here on out sense this is not your PC and we start getting into privacy issues from here on out.

 

Hi, folks: If you think his baby has a clean bill of health(no virus, no malware), I guess he may have too much debris in the system. Enlist the help of registry cleaner and internet tracks cleaner. He has done too much of net surfing, and too much of garbage has blocked vital parts of his baby. Good Luck.

 

diskeeper 10 needs 20percent free space to get a defrag done and diskeeper 2007 needs at least 5percent free space to do a defrag.
perfectdisk needs at least 5percent free space.
lodore

 

i think the answer to your question is a simple one.

you are trying to format a FAT32 harddrive, please take 10 minutes to convert it to NTFS and then run diskkeeper again, im pretty sure this will fix your issue, and de-fragment now should be quick.

 

newb here... what's ntfs, and what are the differences?

 

are you a windows XP user, it is simple if you are.


------------------
The NTFS file system, introduced with first version of Windows NT, is a completely different file system from FAT. It provides for greatly increased security, file–by–file compression, quotas, and even encryption. It is the default file system for new installations of Windows XP, and if you're doing an upgrade from a previous version of Windows, you'll be asked if you want to convert your existing file systems to NTFS. Don't worry. If you've already upgraded to Windows XP and didn't do the conversion then, it's not a problem. You can convert FAT16 or FAT32 volumes to NTFS at any point. Just remember that you can't easily go back to FAT or FAT32 (without reformatting the drive or partition), not that I think you'll want to.

The NTFS file system is generally not compatible with other operating systems installed on the same computer, nor is it available when you've booted a computer from a floppy disk. For this reason, many system administrators, myself included, used to recommend that users format at least a small partition at the beginning of their main hard disk as FAT. This partition provided a place to store emergency recovery tools or special drivers needed for reinstallation, and was a mechanism for digging yourself out of the hole you'd just dug into. But with the enhanced recovery abilities built into Windows XP (more on that in a future column), I don't think it's necessary or desirable to create that initial FAT partition.

---------------------------------------


if you are a user of windows XP, try the following.

To convert a volume to NTFS from the command prompt

1.


Open Command Prompt. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.

2.


In the command prompt window, type: convert drive_letter: /fs:ntfs

For example, typing convert D: /fs:ntfs would format drive D: with the ntfs format. You can convert FAT or FAT32 volumes to NTFS with this command.

Important Once you convert a drive or partition to NTFS, you cannot simply convert it back to FAT or FAT32. You will need to reformat the drive or partition which will erase all data, including programs and personal files, on the partition.

 

1 questions:

1) How did you know I have a FAT32 drive? You are right, I checked it (just clicked on the drive) and it says File SYstem: FAT 32.

2) Once I enter the command in DOS, how long will it take for the conversion to be complete?

Thanks

 

about 10 minutes, just follow it as i mentioned and let it do it for you

then re-try your diskkeeper,

good luck

 

a 130gb drive with fat32 file system whoa lol.
no wonder the defrag was slow.
lodore

 

yes, when i first read his post i thought i knew of the problem and posted the solution, now he has confirmed it is fat32, if he follows the steps, within 10 minutes his issue could be fixed,

its an easy process, and defrag will no longer stop at 38%, and defragmentation should be x10 faster than it previously took to get to that 38%

keep us posted sepand,

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if your still have a fat32 HD, id suggest perfectdisk 8 instead of diskkeeper as it will be more 'pc-friendly'

 

fat32 is slow at defragging
i have to use fat32 for my mp3 player else it wont work.
it takes alot longer to defrag
lodore

 

K all the signs are pointing at the right direction. Thanks everyone. I'll keep you posted on the progress... for now I have to go back and write my essay on methodological and ontological issues in the field of international relations <yaaaaaaaaaaawn>

 

Converting FAT32 to NTFS @ aumha

not quite as straight forward as it would seem if the objective is to get the most space efficiency as possible. Depends on what formatted the drive. If it was natively formatted in XP this likely wouldnt apply, but if its an upgrade from a legacy Win9X or formatted with a Win98 startup disk...

Too late in this case, but something to be aware of, people still format with Win9X startup disks occasionally.
an old issue becoming less of a concern every day

Personally, Id convince your "client" to get rid (read back up) some of his data to free up space to 20% or so.
And consider the advantages of partitioning in future.

I doubt the issue described above is involved here
and you are far far better off with NTFS