Q:  My computer won't defrag the C: drive or scandisk.  It says that
something is running when you defrag.  Can you tell me an easy way to fix this?
Thanks.

A1:  Many times the defragging process is restarted when a program is running in the background and has written something to the harddrive. One way to get around this is to use a utility program, such as End-It-All (http://home.ptd.net/~don5408/toolbox/enditall/), to kill unneeded background processes. This program is also useful if your PC is not shutting down properly. The only downside is that  End-It-All will not work with Windows ME, 2000, or XP. Once you have killed all of the unneeded background processes, the defragging should work fine.

J. P. Durbin
jpdurbn@jpdurbin.net

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A2:  Reboot your computer and immediately start holding down your control key until you see a menu that says "Windows 98 or Millennium Startup menu"... select option #3 (safe mode) and hit enter.  Once into Windows, you will be faced with a 16-color mode and a dialogue... hit ok.

Run Defrag as you normally would.  This will run it in safe mode free of any interference.

If you are a Windows 95 user instead of 98 or ME, you should substitute the CTRL key with hitting the F8 key when your computer says "Starting Windows 95" (this is very brief and you have to have fast fingers) :O)

Andy Lytle

 tech2@microdome.net