Don Schlesinger: Freezing question

[Don Schlesinger]

Recently, without my having added any new software or hardware to my computer that I can think of, I've been beginnig to have problems doing routine things such as clicking on a Word file that has been downloaded and having it open in Word, or simply performing my routine backup (My Documents, etc.) onto my zip desk.

Commands freeze, and they take as much as a minute or two to unfreeze. I've never had this problem before, and, obviously, it's quite annoying.

Does anyone have any idea as to what may be causing this?

I've looked at my system resources and disk space, and there is plenty of room and memory available.

I'm running Windows 98 (first version).

Thanks for any help.

Don

[AsZehn]

> Recently, without my having added any new
> software or hardware to my computer that I
> can think of, I've been beginnig to have
> problems doing routine things such as
> clicking on a Word file that has been
> downloaded and having it open in Word, or
> simply performing my routine backup (My
> Documents, etc.) onto my zip desk.

> Commands freeze, and they take as much as a
> minute or two to unfreeze. I've never had
> this problem before, and, obviously, it's
> quite annoying.

> Does anyone have any idea as to what may be
> causing this?

> I've looked at my system resources and disk
> space, and there is plenty of room and
> memory available.

> I'm running Windows 98 (first version).

> Thanks for any help.

> Don

I had many problems with my hard drive freezing with the original version of W98. How frequently do you defragment your hard drive? Unfortunately, the solution I came up with was to upgrade computers and go with Windows XP.

AZ

[Don Schlesinger]

> How frequently do you defragment your hard
> drive?

Never. Have no idea how to do that. Have never been told it was necessary.

> Unfortunately, the solution I came up
> with was to upgrade computers and go with
> Windows XP.

I was afraid you'd say that! :-)

Don

[Wildcard]

Defrag is a process that defragments the files scattered throughout sectors on your hard drive. This may well be causing your problem.

Try this:

click my computer
click control panel
right click C drive icon
click properties
click tools tab
click defrag now

It will probably take your computer at least 15-30 minutes to complete this task, however, it is vital to the efficient processing of data contained on your hard drive. BTW, this process should be done at least once a month.

The little percentile gauge will tell you how you are progressing with this task. Just gotta believe your box will run better when you have finished this process. Your computer is huffing and puffing to get up the hill you are assigning it...once this is done, it oughta run like a Lance Armstrong. Actually, it is going from sector to sector to get all the pieces of the files to do what you want it to do.

You can also set up Task Scheduler to have this done while you are asleep. Computer has to be on though, Scan Disk is another task that should be done periodically, but don't want to ruin your Saturday night. :-)

Others more computer savy will chime in I'm sure.

Computers...you gotta hate 'em. :-)

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Wildcard

[Norm Wattenberger]

One comment is that the process can take several hours on some machines. Also, if you don't have at least 15% free space - it doesn't work very well. Monthly is also overkill for most people.

[Wildcard]

> One comment is that the process can take
> several hours on some machines. Also, if you
> don't have at least 15% free space - it
> doesn't work very well. Monthly is also
> overkill for most people.

What would your recommendations be for frequency of defrag and scan disk (short or long version) done in Task Scheduler? I have mine set to run at 3 AM, there is no remote chance I'll need the box at that hour.

I think I have them both set for a monthly run. I'll reset based upon your advice.

Thanks,
Wildcard

[Don Schlesinger]

> One comment is that the process can take
> several hours on some machines. Also, if you
> don't have at least 15% free space - it
> doesn't work very well. Monthly is also
> overkill for most people.

Naturally, I'd be scared to death to do this without understanding just what is taking place. I've had this computer for 3-4 years and never once done what you're suggesting. Nor have I ever heard that it's "supposed" to be done.

However, if you feel it may solve my problem or make the computer work more efficiently -- without any other negative ramifications -- I'll be glad to do it.

Thanks for any further clarifications you might add.

Don

[Norm Wattenberger]

The process was invented by a guy that worked for me 28 years ago. For mainframes. Tell you the truth it always made me a bit nervous. (Terribly nervous first time it was ever done.) But, I've never seen a problem. It may not solve your problem. But, it should be performed now and again depending on usage. Computers tend to degrade over time if ignored.

[Parker]

> Naturally, I'd be scared to death to do this
> without understanding just what is taking
> place. I've had this computer for 3-4 years
> and never once done what you're suggesting.
> Nor have I ever heard that it's
> "supposed" to be done.

> However, if you feel it may solve my problem
> or make the computer work more efficiently
> -- without any other negative ramifications
> -- I'll be glad to do it.

> Thanks for any further clarifications you
> might add.

Suppose that every time you generated paperwork on different projects, you simply stuck it in whatever cubbyhole was convenient. If you had a big project, and didn't have room for it all in one spot, you broke it down and had parts of it all over the room.

This is essentially how Windows stores data on your hard drive.

Now suppose that you did a massive housecleaning one day, putting all the related material on each project together in files in your filing cabinet.

In a nutshell, that is what defrag does.

Data fragmentation may not be the cause of all your problems, but if you have not defragged in four years, you will almost certainly see better performance after doing so.

Defrag will tell you if it needs doing. When you first start the program, it will tell you, "Your drive is xx% fragmented. If it is more than 10% it needs doing; if it is more than 20% you should see a perceptable performance gain.

Of course, if Windows had an efficient file system you would not need to run defrag. I don't think my Linux system even has a defrag program installed.

Here is another depressing thought: As you use Windows over the years, installing and removing various programs, your system registry gradually gets cluttered and corrupted, and performance suffers accordingly.

The "cure" is to save all your data files to another media (ZIP disks or CDR's), re-format your hard drive, and do a complete re-install of Windows.

Obviously, this is a good time to upgrade to a larger hard drive and/or a newer version of Windows.

Your system is four years old?

Maybe a whole new system.

[Norm Wattenberger]

Never heard of anyone claiming that it will hurt doing it too often. Although it certainly bangs the disk hard and disk failures are the most painful of events. OTOH, if you do it regularly, it doesn't bang the disk as hard. No problem with your current setting. I don't defrag nearly that often. But I'm paranoid. I back up my disk constantly and send sensitive changed files to two underground sites on the opposite coast every night. Comes from being an old mainframe guy.

[Wildcard]

Should you decide to degrag your hard drive, my steps posted above need to have one item eliminated. There is no need to "click control panel", as your C drive icon is already showing on the "my computer" page.

When you right click the C drive icon, it will give you a pie chart indicating how much free space you have available on your C drive.

Doing defrag is just like turning on a dishwasher. It is simply a house cleaning tool, nothing wild or elaborate.

Like Parker said, if you haven't defragged in 4 years, this is a tune-up process you really need to do to improve the efficiency of your box.

Let us know how it comes out.

BTW, you can always stop or pause the defrag process...but again, it's really no big deal.

[Don Schlesinger]

> BTW, you can always stop or pause the defrag
> process...but again, it's really no big
> deal.

Thanks for your help and suggestions, everyone.

While I was out today, my son attempted to do it for me. After THREE hours, only 10% was done, so he abondoned it and we'll probably try again overnight.

Tedious process!! Is he right that what was done is lost and that it has to be done in one shot?

Don

[Wildcard]

> Thanks for your help and suggestions,
> everyone.

> While I was out today, my son attempted to
> do it for me. After THREE hours, only 10%
> was done, so he abondoned it and we'll
> probably try again overnight.

> Tedious process!! Is he right that what was
> done is lost and that it has to be done in
> one shot?

Yes, one shot. I am amazed that after 3 hours you only got 10% defragged. WOW, your system must have pieces of files all over the place!

My only suggestion would be to fire it up before going to bed and hopefully all is completed without the loss of your box.

Gotta do it!

> Don