Defraging

Usually the cause of this is your antivirus program running in the background. Disable it before defraging and that will probably solve your problem. If it doesn't then some other program is running in the background and you have to shut down thingswith Control - Alt - Delete one at a time until you get the right one.

Defragging is very sensitive to disk activity from other programs running at the same time.
If you find you can't stop all other programs running you could try running defrag from safe mode.
I don't know if there are andy DOS (command line) defragprograms that will defrag FAT32, NTFS, etc. disks but it would be nice if there were (in case anybody wants to develop one).

Another good way to bypass applications that are interfering is to reboot in safemode. Whn you reboot the system start tapping the F8 key. Right after the system beeps (depends if it is enabled) you'll get a menu where you can select Safe Mode from.Then run defrag and once finished restart the system.
In safe mode minimal drivers are loaded and programs that are usually running in the background are not started.

Before you even try to run the defrag or scandisk these days you need to remove the SpyWare. Get AdAware from www.lavasoft.com (It's Free!!!). Run AdAware, select my computer to scan, Scan and remove everything it finds! Then reboot and hit the F5 key when it restarts, this will take you into Safemode. Disable the Screensaver and check Taskmon t(Ctrl Alt Del) to see if anything is running. End everything except Explorer.
If Defrag or Scndisk doesn't run now, you have a hidden trojan or worm. Get Ants (Anti Trojam Software from Germany, the best Trojan Killer) or a good virus/trojan scanner with the latest dat file from wilders.com or someone similar.

All running programs should have End Task or Disable applied to avoid interference with Scan-Clean-Defrag. To do this:
Put screen to Desktop. Press Ctrl+Alt keys and tap Delete key once. (C-A-D). A Close box opens. Highlight program, then click the End Task button. Explorer and Systray are to remain untouched. Close box will disappear. Now C-A-D again, highlighting next program, and click End Task. At times a program will require clicking End Task twice, or a second box appears with an End Task button that you click on. After Ending all programs, except Explorer and Systray, go to your System Tray (lower right, by clock) and click on any Icons to Disable or close their features. Then, on Desktop right click open space>properties>Screen Saver tab, place Screen Saver on none, click Apply /OK. On same tab click Settings button for Power Mgt and place settings on Always on, Never, Never, Never, click Apply/OK. Do S-C-D. Reboot and reset Screen Saver and Power Mgt.
See http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q222/4/69.asp
There is a Program called Enditall that aids the Ending of most of your Programs. See www.zdnet.com. In Zdnet?s search box, type in Enditall (one word).
Another method is Start>Run, type msconfig , click OK. In System Config. Utility box dot Selective Startup. Uncheck all items listed under Selective Startup. Grayed-out items are empty or missing. Click Apply/OK. Now Reboot. Windows will start with only basics running. Disable Systray Icons. After Reboot run S-C-D. When S-C-D is complete go back to SCUbox and dot Normal startup and reboot. Reset Screen saver and Power Mgt.
Or, from the menu choose Safe Mode. Then run S-C-D. When complete Reboot, set Screen Saver and Power Mgt. Some WN98?s require holding Ctrl key during startup.
For WNMe the same End Task/Disable navigation applies prior to S-C-D

There are many fixes for W95/98 defrag , but the best is to install
Windows ME defrag ( free ) , very fast . I don't need to close
( ctrl/alt/delete ) anything down to run defrag , no restarts .
Get it from here .

W9X-Me-Defrag
http://members.home.net/scotterpops/enhancements/enhancements9c.html
http://surecool.com/download.htm

Download it right into your Windows directory. Rename your
current version of DEFRAG.EXE to DEFRAG.OLD, then rename
winme_DEFRAG.EXE to DEFRAG.EXE ( or whatever the old defrag
was named )

=================================

Also , to make W98 Defrag even Faster for it's 1st run , from
Explorer , Delete all the files ( except the read only file )
in Windows / Applog .
Taskmon will rebuild the Applog file .

=================================

To put the defrag in it's correct place .
Open Windows explorer , go down to Windows , left click on the yellow
folder , this opens the right hand panel .
Scroll down to defrag & write down the exact name . Next , right
click on defrag , scroll down to rename & click on it . Now left
click at the end of defrag & add the word old . So if you had the
word defrag , it now becomes defragold .
Now rename MEdefrag to whatever you wrote down , drag & drop it on
the yellow Windows folder or anywhere in the right hand side .
Both achive the same thing & Windows will after you close , put it
alphabetically . That's it .

You could try control+alt+delete and end all tasks except systray and explorer. . . . or you can also go into msconfig from the run line (only if you are using 98 or ME) and choose selective startup with nothing checked. Rebooting then trying it again. . . and then going back in after it is done and then checking normail startup.

use safe mode to do the defrag.

When you start boot up your computer, before the windows logo, press F8 3 or 4 times and choose safe mode..

Hope this solve the problem.

I'M SURE WITH ALL THE ANSWERS GIVEN, IT WILL TAKE SOME TIME TO DO EVERY THING THAT IS SUGGESTED.ONE THING TO DO IS WHEN YOU GO TO DEFRAG,MAKE SURE THAT THE CHECK MARK IS IN THE RIGHT BOX FOR ENABLE,DISABLE DEFRAG.HAD THIS HAPPEN TO MY STEP DAUGHTER A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO.STARTED DEFRAG,WENT TO SCHOOL FOR 6 HRS,CAME HOME AND WAS STILL AT 0 PERCENT.HOPE I WAS OF HELP.

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