When I try to defrag my hard drive,it starts out quite normal but at
3% complete it reverts back to zero and starts over.  It will do this
for hours if I let it.  I have done this many, many times in the past
without any problems and usually only need about 20 minutes or so to
complete the process.  I do not know what to try differently.  Any
suggerstions?

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Request for Question Clarification by feilong-ga on 15 Mar 2003 13:01 PST

What OS are you using?

What programs are running in the background? Press control+alt+delete
once so you can see.

What antivirus software do you have installed (if any)?

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Request for Question Clarification by sublime1-ga on 15 Mar 2003 13:06 PST

instanswer...

This usually occurs as a result of a program running in the
background, such as an anti-virus program, which is changing
the contents of the drive, causing defrag to have to start 
over. You don't say which OS you're using, but there are
various ways to close all the programs loaded in the background
when the OS starts, or to prevent them from loading at all.
You might try booting in Safe Mode and running defrag, if you're
not sure what programs might be loading in normal mode, or how
to shut them down before defragging. See if this helps.

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Clarification of Question by instanswer-ga on 15 Mar 2003 17:56 PST

I am using Windows 98.  I have a Norton AntiVirus 2003 installed but
it has not been "running" any of the times I have tried to defrag
which I have tried to do every couple of hours over the last eight
hours or so.  I do not know of any prorams I have running in the
background.  I am assuming that running means active and in use as
opposed to just being installed and idle.  I have rebooted several
times to no avail.  I am not sure what safe mode is and none of the
reference books I have acknowledge that terminology.

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Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 15 Mar 2003 18:05 PST

A running screensaver will also cause this and may not show up using
CTRL-ALT-DEL. Make sure your screensaver is set to NONE or OFF and
give it another try. Also, may cure you are not online when you try to
defrag. An autoloading page can have this same effect.

Regards;
tutuzdad-ga

Hello instanswer-ga,

Below you will find two solutions which should fix your problem. I
recommend using the first one, because it is less intrusive.

I am fairly confident that your problem is that there is a program
writing to your hard drive, and that this is causing the defragmenter
to restart. To fix this problem, we need to configure your computer in
such a way so that there are no programs running that will interfere
with the Defragmenter.

Solution #1
-Use Safe-Mode

1. Restart your computer.
2. While your computer restarts, press and hold the CTRL key until the
Windows 98 Startup menu is displayed. (If the CTRL key does not give
you the Startup menu, reboot your computer again and try pressing F8.
3. Select the Safe Mode menu option from the Startup menu, and then
press ENTER.

Now that you are in Safe Mode, try running Scandisk again and see if
the problem is fixed.

There are a few other ways to boot your computer into Safe Mode. If
you are having a problem with the above instructions, please see this
URL for some others ways of getting into Safe Mode:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;180902

Solution #2
-Change your Windows 98 Configuration so that you are running with
minimum baggage.

Detailed instructions for this can be found here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;186978

If you have any problems with these instructions, please let me know
and I will do my best to further assist you. Good luck!

tisme-ga


Search Strategy:

Used http://support.microsoft.com and searched for ‘defrag restart’
under Windows 98.

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Clarification of Answer by tisme-ga on 15 Mar 2003 19:52 PST

Hello instanswer-ga, 

Thanks for the 5 star rating,

Safe Mode can be useful in a number of situations. Suppose you install
a wrong video card driver in the "normal" mode of Windows. Your screen
starts flickering and becomes out of control. You are unable to
uninstall this driver because you cannot see what is going on... All
you have to do is reboot into Safe Mode (which uses a standard no
frills Video Card driver) and uninstall the bad driver, and you are up
and running again.

Here are some links about Safe-Mode:
http://www.newbie.org/firstaid/crash05.html
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/question575.htm
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci212935,00.html

All the best,

tisme-ga

Solution 1 proved successful.  Thank you.  I have all I need but if
you would not mind, could you tell me what "Safe Mode" is and what it
is maily for?