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Windows 98 > Troubleshooting Windows 98


Problems running ScanDisk and Defrag

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Many people have problems running ScanDisk and/or Defrag, with the program running 10% or 30% and then stalling. Often with a message that Windows is trying to write to the drive. To run ScanDisk/Defrag successfully:

  1. Go to Start > Run and type msconfig in the Open: box
  2. On the General tab, uncheck all items listed under Selective startup (make sure that Selective startup is selected)
  3. Hit apply and OK and restart Windows
  4. This starts Windows with only the basics running; Insures nothing will interfere with ScanDisk and Defrag
  5. Run ScanDisk and Defrag, when ready go into msconfig and select Normal startup and restart Windows

(If you use Windows 95, restart your system, when you see the Starting Windows 95... text on your screen, quickly press the F8 key. From the menu that follows, choose Safe mode, and run ScanDisk & Defrag. When ready, reboot.)


Defrag Error Message: ID No:DEFRAG005 / DEFRAG006

If you get an error message:


Error Defragmenting Drive <drive>. Windows could not access part
of the drive. Click Help and carry out the instructions for
running ScanDisk. IMPORTANT: To fix this problem, you must run
ScanDisk and choose the Thorough option.
ID No: DEFRAG005

Note that the ID No: DEFRAG005 portion of the error message may be replaced by ID No: DEFRAG006.

See Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 160043 for a solution.


Defrag Error Message: ID No:DEFRAG009

If you get an error message:


Your computer does not have enough free memory to defrag the drive.
Quit one or more programs.
ID# Defrag009

or:


ScanDisk could not continue because your computer does not
have enough available memory.

See Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 258838 for a solution.


Defrag Error Message: ID No:DEFRAG0026

If you get an error message:


Windows cannot defragment this drive. Make sure the disk is
formatted and free of errors. Then try defragmenting the drive
again.
ID No: DEFRAG0026

See Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 155404 for a solution.


Defrag Error Message: ID No:DEFRAG00205

This error can occur if the Applog file in the hidden \Windows\Applog folder is damaged.

To fix this:

  1. First make sure that you are able to see hidden files on your system. See Show all files to see how to show hidden files/folders.
  2. Select Start > Find, and then click Files or Folders
  3. In the Named box, type applog, select C: in the Look in box, click to select the Include sub folders check box, and then click Find Now
  4. Double-click the Applog folder to open it
  5. On the Edit menu, click Select all
  6. On the File menu, click Delete, and then click Yes when you are prompted to confirm the deletion.


Add a value for DEFRAG.EXE /ALL to the RunServicesOnce key

The Disk Defragmenter for Windows 98 (DEFRAG.EXE) may start and not complete its task. If repeated attempts to defragment the drive are unsuccessful, it may be because an application is writing to the disk. The Disk Defragementer cannot share access to a drive with other tasks.

An application loading automatically at startup may interfere with DEFRAG. Run DEFRAG before applications load at startup by adding a value for DEFRAG.EXE /ALL to the RunServicesOnce key in the registry.

Note: You can use your computer while Disk Defragmenter is running, however, Disk Defragmenter restarts if the contents of the drive you are defragmenting change.

  1. Select defrag.inf found in the \tools\mtsutil folder on the Windows 98 CD
  2. Right-click defrag.inf, and choose Install from the menu

The next time you start your computer, Windows will defragment your drive(s) automatically.


Disk Defragmenter Causes General Protection Fault in User.exe

When you try to run Disk Defragmenter from System Agent or Windows Task Scheduler, you may receive a general-protection fault in module User.exe.

This can happen if the task information for Disk Defragmenter has become damaged.

To resolve this error, delete the Disk Defragmenter task from System Agent or Task Scheduler and then re-create the task to run defrag.


Scandisk and Disk Defragmenter Processes Are Not Completed

When you attempt to run Disk Defragmenter or Scandisk, they may not run to completion; the process may stop when it is anywhere from one percent to 50 percent complete. These symptoms may also occur when you attempt to run Disk Defragmenter or Scandisk from Safe mode.

This could mean that your computer has been infected with the Fun Love virus.


ScanDisk Errors on IDE Hard Disks larger than 32GB

If your computer uses a Phoenix BIOS and uses the Phoenix BitShift translation algorithm to report the geometry of large IDE hard disks, the Windows protected-mode IDE disk driver (Esdi_506.pdr) may not correctly recognize the translation mode for the drive, resulting in an inability to access areas of the drive beyond the first 32GB.

In such cases, if you use the protected-mode (graphical) version of ScanDisk to perform a thorough scan (which includes a surface scan) on an integrated device electronics (IDE) hard disk that is larger than 32GB in size, ScanDisk may report errors on every cluster after approximately cluster number 967,393.

Microsoft has released an updated Esdi_506.pdr driver for Windows 98 and Windows 98 Second Edition. The file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center, and is also available from the Microsoft Windows Update Web site. The Microsoft Windows Update site contains localized versions of this fix.


ScanDisk may run on restart, although Windows may seem to shut down correctly

This can be caused by the fact that during the shutdown process, the contents of the virtual cache are written to the destination device. If the destination device is an IDE hard disk, data may be written to the hard disk's onboard cache but not to the disk itself. When this occurs, the data is lost from the cache when the computer turns off.

To resolve this issue, you need to obtain the necessary update:

  • Select Start, and then click Windows Update
  • When the page displays, click Product Updates to create the catalogue of available updates for your computer
  • Select the box next to Window IDE Hard Drive Cache Package, after the catalogue is created, to select this package to download
  • Select all of the items you want to obtain for your computer, click Download, and then follow the rest of the directions to complete the download process

Note: For the updated Ifsmgr.vxd driver to add the necessary delay during shutdown, it may be necessary to update the registry key. The CacheWriteDelay value specifies the number of milliseconds of required delay.

  1. Start the Registry Editor
  2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion
  3. On the Edit menu, click Add Value, and then add the following registry value:

    Value Name: CacheWriteDelay
    Data Type: REG_DWORD
    Radix: Decimal
    Value: 2000

  4. Exit RegEdit and restart Windows


Computer Hangs Running ScanDisk with McAfee VirusScan 5.1 Installed

When you are running the McAfee VirusScan version 5.1, and you run ScanDisk using the Thorough option, Windows may stop responding (hang). This issue may also occur when ScanDisk runs automatically after you shut down your computer incorrectly.

To work around this issue, choose the Standard option when you run ScanDisk, or use the System Configuration Utility (Msconfig.exe) to disable the McAfee shortcuts in the StartUp folder:

  1. Select Start > Run, in the Open box, type msconfig.exe, click OK
  2. Select the Startup tab
  3. Click to clear the check boxes that refer to McAfee VirusScan 5.1, and then click OK
  4. Click Yes when you are prompted to restart your computer

Note: If ScanDisk stops responding (hangs) when your computer restarts after you shut down your computer incorrectly, you may need to restart your computer in Safe mode before you can use the System Configuration Utility to disable the McAfee shortcuts in the StartUp folder. After you do so, restart your computer.