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Defrag, scandisk and system resources

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I can close all programs using ctrl + alt + del, so that only explorer is running. I then check system resources and only 80 % are free max. I have 128 MB DDR RAM. I should have around 85 % free by my estimates. I tried to defrag thinking, maybethat would free up some ram, but disk defrag says there are disk errors. I then tried to run scan disk to fix the errors, but it came up with a dialog box that said it had to restart 10 times because some other program is running and changing the hard drive (or something to that effect). All programs but Explorer are supposedly closed!

I have a number of questions.

1.) How can I free up RAM?
2.) Why is defrag not working?
3.) Why is scandisk not working?
4.) Is there a way I can monitor what my computer is doing (see what programs are running)?

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Defrag, scandisk and system resources

In reply to Defrag, scandisk and system resources

a) Stop all running programs

b) Because there are errors. Try to stop them from scanning in the advanced tab

c) Something is changing the system state – therefore it cannot get full access to the hard disk drive

d) If you are running an NTsystem, then you can monitior all open programs

Defrag, scandisk and system resources

In reply to Defrag, scandisk and system resources

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Defrag, scandisk and system resources

In reply to Defrag, scandisk and system resources

ctrl+alt+del doesn’t show all programs running.
to see all,go to start+run type MSCONFIG, click on startup tab.this shows all your running programs, if you see some that shouldn’t be on, go to that program & check it’s settings for a way to disableit’s starting at boot.
make sure your screensaver is disabled before running defrag & scandisk also.
go to this site for memory program
http://www.sover.net/~whoi/Sofffffffware.html

click on pricelessware,then system,in the list that comes upchoose the that says memory utility.
don’t forget to include your OS if you need more help.

Defrag, scandisk and system resources

In reply to Defrag, scandisk and system resources

Norton system works will cause scandisk & defrag to not work, if you have disk doctor on.

Defrag, scandisk and system resources

In reply to Defrag, scandisk and system resources

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Defrag, scandisk and system resources

In reply to Defrag, scandisk and system resources

System resources are not directly related to RAM or ?free space?. It?s changed with the new OS, but in the old days
The System Resources were two fixed-size heaps. USER.EXE and GDI.EXE. There was only 64K available in Win 3.1; that was doubled to 128K in W98.
Programs are supposed to use a little bit of this resource and then return it. They don?t always do that.
80 plus percent of resources is a goodly amount. Machines do not normally maintain that high a percentage during the day.
Here are a couple of articles that may help. Type the Q number in the search box of technet.microsoft.com.
The last article will give you hints about how to run scandisk and defrag. (run defrag in Safe mode is one suggestion)

How to Use System ResourceMeter

Q300059

Description of Microsoft System Information (Msinfo32.exe) Tool

Q184075

“Drive’s Contents Have Changed: Restarting…” Defragmenting

Q186978

Defrag, scandisk and system resources

In reply to Defrag, scandisk and system resources

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Defrag, scandisk and system resources

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