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Scandisk dosn't want to run ???
I have windows ME and need to run scandisk so that I can run defrag. I've tried several times and it keeps saying close all running programs. I have closed all the ones that show up in the lower right hand corner of the screen, what am I missing? I did shut down norton antivirus, my cammedia. I have a Dell computer.
Thanks :confused: :confused:
Julie
Sometimes an anti-virus program will interfer with scan disk. Do a control-alt-delete key combination to bring up the "end program" window. Shut down everything except systray and explorer. Then try to run scan disk.
Good luck
Jay
Julie,
Scandisk and defrag are both best run from the 'safe' mode in Windoze.
Reboot your computer, and as soon as the first screen shows, begin repeatedly tapping the F8 key. After a few seconds you should get a menu asking you if you want to boot in safe mode, boot log, etc...
Choose safe mode and it will continue to boot, but without loading any other programs or drivers. Then, choose Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-Scandisk, just like you've been trying to do in the 'regular' Windows.
It should then run. After that, do the same with Defrag.
After defragging, re-boot back to 'normal' mode. Note that, after returning to the normal mode, you might (or might not) have to rearrange the icons on your desktop.
Hope this helps...
you know what! It is the singularly worst excuse for an operating system ever foisted off on the unsuspecting public. :mad:
Run, do not walk, to your nearest software vendor and buy a copy of Windows XP, home edition. I had naively installed ME on my wife's computer and was always having some type of hang or foul up. As soon as XP home edition was hit the market, I installed it and all the problems ended then and there.
A side benefit of XP is that you can buy Diskeeper by Executive Software(it only runs on NT based systems of which XP is one) and get a defrag program that knows its posterior from its elbow and doesn't take a light-year to run. :)
If you want, I can tell you what I really think. ;)
Ok, I've closed all programs listed except systray and explorer, tried to run scandisk , it keeps restarting and telling me to close all running programs.
Rebooted in SafeMode, still keeps restarting.
I've been told that XP is no good. I do have a copy to load, but was afraid of the problems. Maybe thats(ME edition) why my computer hangs a lot. I thought I was having a memory problem.
How would I run a mem check? I knew how to in the DOS days.
Thanks again for all your help.
We'll get this puppy running yet... :)
First, I whole-heartedly agree with Ken. I won't even say what "ME" stands for in the techie circles! Having said that, I try to stay away from ME as much as possible, but I believe what you may have happening is the Windoze "swap file" keeps getting recognized as a running app. It's tricky, but can be overcome. Rather than try to go through the whole procedure here, try this link, which has a nice explanation about said swap file, how to work around it and reset for optimum use. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,887795,00.asp
BUT, you're *still* better off with XP. The caveat with that is, there are certain limitations for noticeable improvement. You need to have a decent machine to start with. Some machines running ME don't have enough "horsepower" to run XP, which is quite a bit more resource intense. Secondly, I would not consider running XP on anything less than 256MB of memory. Lastly, I would *never* recommend doing an "upgrade" over the top of 98 or ME. It may work at first, but ultimately, the "registry" starts to trip over old 98/ME garbage and bad things happen. A "clean" install is paramount for a solid and dependable XP installation. This, BTW, is NOT just MHO! Space doesn't allow me to give you the many, many examples of folks trying the "shortcut" way of doing it! NOT pretty! :cool:
Ken - how do you REALLY feel about ME? And I mean the Microsoft OS, not 'me'... Don't hold back... :)
Can't add much more than the previous posts. XP is actually pretty good. It uses a TON of memory but memory is cheap. There seems to be a lot of security issues, but Microsoft is trying hard to keep the fingers in the dike...and doing a reasonable job. For reliability, it does a pretty good job. When companies start moving off of Windows 2000 to XP/XP Server, then you know it's doing OK. (And in the last year or so a lot of the big companies are making that move...)
W/ ME you could boot to DOS w/ the recovery floppy. This should have a DOS scandisk utility on the floppy. If that fails, then save everything you think is important to another media b/c you're in for a major failure soon.
But I'd consider moving off of ME soon anyway. Frequent hangs, can't scandisk...it will just get worse and worse til you lose your system. So make sure you have what you consider important backed up very soon.
Then if it was me, buy memory (if necessary) and do the clean install to XP. (And who said you need 256M?? 512M!! XP is a huge memory hog!! I actually don't know how well it runs under 256M - I went right to 512M before installing XP. Given memory is so cheap now-a-days, get a lot of memory and you'll think you've got a new computer.)
Hope that helps.
Perry
Well, It hung up again last night, tried to let scandisk run over night, got up only to find it was hung up. At this point I am looking for the tallest bridge (The Cooper River Bridge) and am gonna throw this POS over board. I disabled virt mem, and tried to run under safe mode, still NO GO. It wouldn't run at all without going to safemode.....
Well, I guess any toy money will now have to go to fix this POS... :mad: :mad: :mad:
Folks, Thanks for all your help and information... :)
Julie
Disabling VM is almost always a bad idea, and isn't going to buy you anything (IMHO, IME, std disclaimers apply). Agree with previous sentiments on WinME - real piece of crap (but every piece of Windows code I've ever touched is just that). End rant.
Based on your earlier description of the problem, it is also entirely possible that you can't run scandisk because you have a virus. They can cloak and continue to run in spite of "shutting down everything else" (and the 3-finger salute on pre-2000 boxes is next to useless).
How big is your machine? (CPU type, mem, disk size)
Do you have copies of all your layered software?
Do you have the ability to copy your personal files off to secondary media for later restore?
Knowing the answers would help me 2nd earlier recommendations of "bare iron install" ... because if it *is* big enough, and if the answers to 2& 3 are affirmative, I'd jump on a reinstall like a duck on a june bug.
Much luck,
b
Julie, I used to have the same problem. I also run Wiundows ME and find it very stable for what I need to do. It works fine as long as you don't try to network it. In my opinion there is no need to upgrade your software at all. You probably don't have a virus either.
To get scan disk to run, turn off your screen saver. It writes a file to the hard drive as it runs and as such will make scan disk start over and over and over...... well you get the picture. Just disable your screen saver when you want to run scan disk or defrag and everything should work fine.
I uninstalled any unnessary software, incredimail, adware, spybot, closed all running programs that I could find. It was running when I left for work. It also seems to be running faster, but it has restarted a couple time too. TIme will tell.
256mg mem
Pentimum 4
20 gig disk
what is layered sorftware?
I think I can save my files to cd.
Ok DONT SHOOT ME!! I have never been able to make Backup work, so I have no backup copy.
thanks
Julie
Perry, no argument that 512 (or more) is good, but if the box has sufficient horsepower to begin with, 256 is typically fine and a good starting point. Just for grins and giggles, I installed it on a "crash & burn" machine when it was still in Beta. The box: An old HP Vectra with a P233 and ....are you ready for this?....96MB of RAM! It actually installed and ran. Ran like a dog, but it ran! :rolleyes: I also have it running on my daughter's machine (P700 oc'd to 933) with 384MB and it cruises right along, even while running quite a bit of multimedia stuff, which she likes.
Brad, the VM thing...I agree that it's not a great idea to disable VM, but for the sake of scan-disk & defrag, it typically helps speed up or get the process going, as that's where the swap file will reside. W2K & XP have made significant improvements in memory management, so it's even less of an issue today, but with the old NT4 boxes, we've had extremely great results in setting the file manually. This, of course, is pretty much a non-issue today, as we have very few NT boxes left.
Lee, how can I put this nicely? Hmmmm....OK. I'm really glad Me runs well for you! You are truly blessed and/or I would seriously consider running (don't walk) to the nearest Lotto vendor and buy a fistful of tickets! :D
Julie, if you already have a copy of XP, do like the other guys have said; Backup important data and do a clean install. If you have the software in-hand to upgrade, it shouldn't cost you anything, unless you need to improve on your memory. Good luck and keep us posted! :cool:
Julie - a P4 256M 20G oughta run XP just fine. I've got a P3 (450MHz) with 256 and 12G drive running W2K with a ton of stuff, and it's great. I also have W2K running on an old P100 with 80MB. XP isn't that much more piggish than W2K ... you would be fine doing an upgrade.
Layered products would be software programs you use/bought that aren't part of ME. Examples would include MS Office products (Word, Excel), Outlook, (updated) Internet Explorer, Netscape, etc. Sometimes things come bundled with a machine - the software's installed, but you have no kits to reinstall the software in the event of a crash.
John M - VM putzing isn't something I would recommend to a non-geek (no offense intended, Julie). The biggest win there is that *all* disk space can be forced thru the defrag process - then you don't have "system files" that are untouchable. Agree hands down with everything else you've written (in this thread, anyway :D ) ...
Ken - the defrag built into Windows products is a Diskkeeper code snarf. For what it's worth ...
Lee - screensaver is one of those overlooked things ... but not all of 'em write files after being launched. Depends on the software. Good catch.
Good luck, Julie.
b (not really a Windows geek)
I do have the XP upgrade software. XP wasn't out when I first bought my computer.
Thanks again for all your help and information
So, I went home for lunch only to find that the scandisk had stopped and was waiting for me to answer a question. Scandisk has restarted 10 times do you want to keep getting this message? I think not!!!
and I also found that Norton anitvirus had run. I thought I closed it when I hit the ctrl alt and del key and closed all but the 2 necessary progs.
Anyway, I went back to the drawing board. rebooted, closed all unnecessary progs, made sure screen saver was off and then tried to run scandisk. It kept starting over and over, so I restarted it in the standard mode, through mode was in a start over loop.
well, the standard mode ran and then I ran defrag and it worked too.
I guess I'll give up on the through mode.
All involved, THanks again for all your help :D :) :D :)