Windows XP defrag/ Norton Speed Disk don't work

[heruns]

<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif" border="0"> <BR>The error message I get in MS Defragmenter is, "the defragmenter cannot start". The message I get with Norton SpeedDisk is "Speed Disk is unable to access drive C:. Please check to see if another application has the drive locked". I get the same response in trying to defrag Drive D: (which is the drive the OS is NOT on).<BR> <BR> When I try to run Norton Disk Doctor (with FIX ERRORS checked), I get the following message "The OS, or another process, currently has exclusive access to this drive, or some of its files. NDD cannot continue with a repair under these conditions. A repair can be scheduled to occur the next time you restart the system. NDD can still diagnose this drive if FIX ERRORS is unchecked. Would you like to schedule a repair?" The same thing happens with drive D:. When I ran NDD with FIX ERRORS unchecked, it ran fine and no errors were detected. When I ran Norton WIin Doctor and One Button Checkup, it detected no problems.<BR> <BR> When I ran CHKDSK C: (from the command prompt), there were no problems (yesterday I ran it and it did save some corrupted files). When I shut everthing I could down in task manager and tried to run the defragmenter, it didn't make any difference. When I went to STARTUP (in MSCONFIG) and disabled everything and restarted the computer and tried to defrag, it wouldn't work.<BR>As you can tell. I've tried a number of different things and that's why I'm at a loss for a solution. I might add that I wasn't having this problem with the defragmenters before (even though I've the problem with NDD for as long as I can remember). In addition, I've been downloading quite a bit of software online (eg. utilities [Diskeeper Lite - which is a defragmenter]). By the way, they were all checked by Norton Antivirus and nothing was detected. I had been using this ( Diskeeper Lite) and it was working fine for a couple of weeks. At some point, I started to have some problems when I tried to upgrade to the full version of Diskeeper (not necessarily defaging - I don't think I even tried to do this at first). I tried uninstalling and reinstalling a number of times, but couldn't quite get it to function properly. <BR> <BR> I believe that when I tried to defrag using Diskeeper, I found that it wouldn't work. When I tried the other defragmenters, they wouldn't work either. I just reinstalled Diskeeper RIGHT NOW and tried to use it, but it stated that it couldn't initialize.<BR><BR> I looked in the event viewer (in administrative tools) and when I looked under "Application" and clicked on the Norton Speed Disk error message, it stated: "Optimization terminated: C: is not a valid drive." ( I started to get these messages on 1/1/03).This was in the Programs section of Event Viewer. Prior to this I was consistently getting a a message for Diskeeper (a defrag utility I had been using - it wasn't an error message): "The description for Event ID (2) [it also used other numbers like 7, 26, 28] in Source {Diskeeper) cannot be found. The local computer may not have the necessary registry information ormessage DLL filesto display messages from a remote computer. You may be able to use the /AUXSOURCE=flag to retrieve this information; see Help and Support for details. The following is part of the event: DIskeeper service started". The defragmenter works in Safe Mode/ Command Prompt.<BR><BR> That's all the information I have to this point. I hope some can help me out there. By the way.

[DeanLowe]

Just a guess but I think there might be corrupted Windows files. Use the "File Signature Verification Utility" or try to do a "Repair" install of XP. I assume you've checked your drives with the appropriate diagnostic tools for hardware problems.

[heruns]

I wasn't sure what a File Signature Verification Utility is (I tried <BR>looking it up in Windows Help, but it didn't give me anything), why it would <BR>be used or where one gets the utility. So I tried running setup for Windows XP <BR>again. When I tried doing it in Normal Mode, I kept getting a message about a <BR>missing or corrupt HAL.DLL file in the System32 DIrectory. I did a search and <BR>the file was there so I assumed it was corrupt and that reinstalling XP would fix that <BR>problem. I did a web search on this missing DLL file and there were a number of <BR>links, but rather than take some tangetial direction, I booted into Safe Mode <BR>and was able to run the entire setup for XP. I had my fingers crossed when I <BR>tried the defragmenters again, but everything was exactly the same. I hope <BR>someone has some further suggestions. Thanks. Heruns

[danny16866]

Try and Find a defragmenter that you can scedule a defrag before windows actually finishes booting................Because win xp defrag cant defrag all of the system files that are currently in use, so if you defrag before bootup there shouldnt be any system files in use.

[heruns]

I tried scheduling Norton Speed Disk to defrag whenever the computer bootedup, but nothing happened when I shut down and booted up. I looked to see if MS defrag had a schedule option, but it does not. Do you have any specific programs that you were thinking of that would defrag before Windows kicked in. I'm kind of assuming that Norton Speed Disk would have only tried to run the defrager in Windows and maybe that's why it didn't work. I can defrag fom Safe Mode/ Command Prompt, but that's a pain and it seems to take longer (maybe only my perception). I would just as soon find out what the problem is and fix it. More suggestions, please.<BR>Heruns

[Athanasopolous]

I have never tried Norton Speed Disk.
Is it better than other Defrag software?
Which one is your favorite Defrag Software?

[yahooadam]

Diskeeper (15 chars)

[Phoenix64d]

On that note yahooadam, I was out looking for an update for Diskeeper Lite and it would seem that they have removed their Lite version, and replaced it with a trial version. I guess that Lite became an obstacle to their profits :)

@Athan
I used to use Speed Disk 2002 when I had Win98 -- it was much faster than the default defrag and seemed to do the job well. I also liked the drive map, where you could actually select any single sector and see what file was on it, and thus determine how SD was arranging each file on your drive. You could also instruct it to put certain files at the beginning of the drive for faster access.

It was a little querkier with WinXP...for some reason, after Speed Disk would arrange my drive, the Default Windows Defragmenter would report a horribly fragmented drive, and vice versa. Granted though, the version I used on XP was pretty old and I couldn't really say how a current version of speed disk works.

[jdrom17]

I've found PerfectDisk to be good too.