[sue.words]

Background I have had a Disk Defragment problem so long that I cannot remember much about how it all started. I DO remember doing defrags a LONG time ago and can recall what the process looked like, but ages ago - several years back - I stopped being able to do it. I *think* that I used to get at the process by doing Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools and one day Disk Defragmenter just wasn't there. Again I *think* that I downloaded a program called something like 'Smart Defrag' and attempted to overcome the problem by using that. To be truthful, although I have often done things to try to make my computers (successive ones over about 15 years) run faster, I have never had a 'housekeeping' routine - I suppose because I don't have a clear understanding of what each of the procedures is intended to do. Where I am now Anyhow, though I've done lots of what you might call computer-hygiene tasks in the last few years, I don't think I've done disk defragmentation. I can't remember why I stopped using Smart Defrag, but what I can say definitely is that for quite a long time - months? even years? - the problem has no longer been that Disk Defragmenter wasn't there when I did Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools. Now the problem is that it doesn't do anything. Sometimes I can select the C drive but, whether I click Analyze or Defragment, either way nothing happens. I've tried clicking and R-clicking all over the place and once provoked this notice: 'This version of Disk Defragmenter does not support running more than one instance.' and just now I did get an error message (though it definitely doesn't regularly display or I would have put it in the Topic Title). How can I make the Windows defragging tool work, please?

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[Advertisements]

Go to Start then to Run
Type in compmgmt.msc and click Enter
On left side click on Disk Management
On right side you will see you hard drive.
Now I need you to take a screenshot and attach it to your next reply. Do the following to take a screenshot while the above is open and showing on your desktop.

To do a screenshot please have click on your Print Screen on your keyboard. It is normally the key above your number pad between the F12 key and the Scroll Lock key
Now go to Start and then to All Programs
Scroll to Accessories and then click on Paint
In the Empty White Area click and hold the CTRL key and then click the V
Go to the File option at the top and click on Save as
Save as file type JPEG and save it to your Desktop


Attach it to your next reply






Download TFC by OldTimer to your desktop

• Please double-click TFC.exe to run it. (Note: If you are running on Vista, right-click on the file and choose Run As Administrator).
• It will close all programs when run, so make sure you have saved all your work before you begin.
• Click the Start button to begin the process. Depending on how often you clean temp files, execution time should be anywhere from a few seconds to a minute or two. Let it run uninterrupted to completion.
• Once it's finished it should reboot your machine. If it does not, please manually reboot the machine yourself to ensure a complete clean.

Background info courtesy of DonnaB Thank you

As for TFC, this is a tidbit of an article I found a while back by a MicroSoft MVP.

TFC (Temp File Cleaner) will clear out all temp folders for all user accounts (temp, IE temp, java, FF, Opera, Chrome, Safari), including Administrator, All Users, LocalService, NetworkService, and any other accounts in the user folder. It also cleans out the %systemroot%\temp folder and checks for .tmp files in the %systemdrive% root folder, %systemroot%, and the system32 folder (both 32bit and 64bit on 64bit OSs). It shows the amount removed for each location found (in bytes) and the total removed (in MB).

Before running, it will stop Explorer and all other running applications. When finished, if a reboot is required the user must reboot to finish clearing any in-use temp files.
-- TFC only cleans temp folders.
-- TFC will not clean URL history, prefetch, or cookies. Depending on how often someone cleans their temp folders, their system hardware, and how many accounts are present, it can take anywhere from a few seconds to a minute or more. TFC will completely clear all temp files where other temp file cleaners may fail.

Download Auslogics Defrag from the link in my signature below. Auslogics Defrag in my opinion is better because:

It does a more comprehensive job at Defragging
It will actually show you what it is doing
At the end of working it will show you how much speed you picked up
You can view a online log of the files that Auslogics defragged
Please do not run any other Auslogics programs other then this one as they may cause unwanted results.
http://auslogics.com...defrag/download

[rshaffer61]

Go to Start then to Run
Type in compmgmt.msc and click Enter
On left side click on Disk Management
On right side you will see you hard drive.
Now I need you to take a screenshot and attach it to your next reply. Do the following to take a screenshot while the above is open and showing on your desktop.

To do a screenshot please have click on your Print Screen on your keyboard. It is normally the key above your number pad between the F12 key and the Scroll Lock key
Now go to Start and then to All Programs
Scroll to Accessories and then click on Paint
In the Empty White Area click and hold the CTRL key and then click the V
Go to the File option at the top and click on Save as
Save as file type JPEG and save it to your Desktop


Attach it to your next reply






Download TFC by OldTimer to your desktop

• Please double-click TFC.exe to run it. (Note: If you are running on Vista, right-click on the file and choose Run As Administrator).
• It will close all programs when run, so make sure you have saved all your work before you begin.
• Click the Start button to begin the process. Depending on how often you clean temp files, execution time should be anywhere from a few seconds to a minute or two. Let it run uninterrupted to completion.
• Once it's finished it should reboot your machine. If it does not, please manually reboot the machine yourself to ensure a complete clean.

Background info courtesy of DonnaB Thank you

As for TFC, this is a tidbit of an article I found a while back by a MicroSoft MVP.

TFC (Temp File Cleaner) will clear out all temp folders for all user accounts (temp, IE temp, java, FF, Opera, Chrome, Safari), including Administrator, All Users, LocalService, NetworkService, and any other accounts in the user folder. It also cleans out the %systemroot%\temp folder and checks for .tmp files in the %systemdrive% root folder, %systemroot%, and the system32 folder (both 32bit and 64bit on 64bit OSs). It shows the amount removed for each location found (in bytes) and the total removed (in MB).

Before running, it will stop Explorer and all other running applications. When finished, if a reboot is required the user must reboot to finish clearing any in-use temp files.
-- TFC only cleans temp folders.
-- TFC will not clean URL history, prefetch, or cookies. Depending on how often someone cleans their temp folders, their system hardware, and how many accounts are present, it can take anywhere from a few seconds to a minute or more. TFC will completely clear all temp files where other temp file cleaners may fail.

Download Auslogics Defrag from the link in my signature below. Auslogics Defrag in my opinion is better because:

It does a more comprehensive job at Defragging
It will actually show you what it is doing
At the end of working it will show you how much speed you picked up
You can view a online log of the files that Auslogics defragged
Please do not run any other Auslogics programs other then this one as they may cause unwanted results.
http://auslogics.com...defrag/download

[sue.words]

rshaffer61

Thank you so much for responding to my post.

Here is the screenshot you asked for.

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[rshaffer61]

Can you stretch the window to the right so I can see everything please?

[sue.words]

Sorry about that. Is this better?

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[rshaffer61]

Yes much better and thank you. Is this after you have run the two programs I suggested or do you need to run them now?

[sue.words]

I will run them now.

[sue.words]

I have now downloaded and run the two programs you suggested. (The Disk Defrag one suggested that I exclude the D drive so I unticked its box. I hope I did the right thing.)

I have taken two screenshots as before, one showing the left-hand extreme and one the right-hand extreme of the window, and will see if I can attach both.

Attached Thumbnails

• 
• 

[rshaffer61]

Did the Auslogics Defrag run to finish and if so how is the system running now?

[sue.words]

Yes, it did (and I took a screenshot of the report).

It's hard to say how well the computer is running as I haven't been doing anything except following your instructions, reading your posts and posting replies!

Do you have a housekeeping routine that you recommend? As I hinted in my introduction, I have never felt confident that I was totally in control. Instead I just seem to find myself reacting to problems as they arise.

[rshaffer61]

The two programs I suggested will do the job for you to keep your files in order and to get rid of all the space eating files. You can run them once a week if you like with no problems.

[sue.words]

Thanks very much, rshaffer61. It sounds a good simple routine and I'll give it a go for my desktop and my laptop.

thanks again

Sue

[rshaffer61]

You are welcome and please let me know if there is more I can help you with.