Hard drive does not stay defragged!

"Gerry Cornell" wrote:

> To increase your free space on your C partition select Start, All Programs,
Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp, More Options, System Restore and
remove all but the latest System Restore points? Restore points can be quite
large.

> How much RAM memory?

> Please check Event Viewer for Warning / Error Report in the System and
Application for the 48 hours and post copies. No Information Reports please.

***Gerry, thank you so much for your detiled reply. I have run the Disk
Cleanup and deleted the System Restore Points. This netted me almost 2 GB of
space! I tried to start the computer in safe mode using F8 on startup but
the thing loads so fast, I can't quite read when to do it. I ran System
Defrag three times in regular mode and it "looks" better; now to see if it
stays that way.

I have 512 MB of RAM

I have found the warnings and errors in the Event Viewer and I see the copy
feature; however, are you actually asking me to copy and paste these reports
here in this thread? If so, I will be glad to do so.

Thanks again,
Rain
 >> Stay informed about: Hard drive does not stay defragged! 

"Quaoar" wrote:

> Use the search function to find the location of the dll file and move it
> to the system32 folder. For all of your drives run chkdsk C: /f to
> verify the drive properties (replace c: with d:, e:, etc.). Then start
> the cleaning process for malware.

Wow, Quaoar! I found the file and moved it to sys32 and now WinDoctor says
all is well. Thank you, thank you. And now I'll try your other
recommendations.

Rain
 >> Stay informed about: Hard drive does not stay defragged! 

Rain

Yes.


--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



"Rain" <Rain RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8524EA0C-3284-4432-82FD-0E032A597507@microsoft.com...
> "Gerry Cornell" wrote:
>
>> To increase your free space on your C partition select Start, All
>> Programs,
> Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp, More Options, System Restore and
> remove all but the latest System Restore points? Restore points can be
> quite
> large.
>
>> How much RAM memory?
>
>> Please check Event Viewer for Warning / Error Report in the System and
> Application for the 48 hours and post copies. No Information Reports
> please.
>
> ***Gerry, thank you so much for your detiled reply. I have run the Disk
> Cleanup and deleted the System Restore Points. This netted me almost 2 GB
> of
> space! I tried to start the computer in safe mode using F8 on startup but
> the thing loads so fast, I can't quite read when to do it. I ran System
> Defrag three times in regular mode and it "looks" better; now to see if it
> stays that way.
>
> I have 512 MB of RAM
>
> I have found the warnings and errors in the Event Viewer and I see the
> copy
> feature; however, are you actually asking me to copy and paste these
> reports
> here in this thread? If so, I will be glad to do so.
>
> Thanks again,
> Rain
>
 >> Stay informed about: Hard drive does not stay defragged! 

From HD Tune:

Info:

HD Tune: WDC WD400JB-00FMA0 Information

Firmware version : 13.03G13
Serial number : WD-WCAJA2161801
Capacity : 37.3 GB (~40.0 GB)
Buffer size : 8192 KB
Standard : ATA/ATAPI-6
Supported mode : UDMA Mode 5 (Ultra ATA/100)
Current mode : UDMA Mode 5 (Ultra ATA/100)

S.M.A.R.T : yes
48-bit Address : no
Read Look-Ahead : yes
Write Cache : yes
Host Protected Area : yes
Device Configuration Overlay : yes
Automatic Acoustic Management: yes
Power Management : yes
Advanced Power Management : no
Power-up in Standby : no
Security Mode : yes
Firmware Upgradable : yes

Partition : 1
Drive letter : C:\
Label : PROGRAMS
Capacity : 20002 MB
Usage : 68.29%
Type : NTFS
Bootable : Yes

Partition : 2
Drive letter : D:\
Label : DIGITAL
Capacity : 10001 MB
Usage : 0.11%
Type : FAT32
Bootable : No

Partition : 3
Drive letter : E:\
Label : IMAGE
Capacity : 8157 MB
Usage : 86.50%
Type : NTFS
Bootable : No


Health:

HD Tune: WDC WD400JB-00FMA0 Health

ID Current Worst ThresholdData Status
(01) Raw Read Error Rate 200 200 51 0 Ok
(03) Spin Up Time 101 101 21 2300 Ok
(04) Start/Stop Count 100 100 40 61 Ok
(05) Reallocated Sector Count 200 200 140 0 Ok
(07) Seek Error Rate 200 200 51 0 Ok
(09) Power On Hours Count 87 87 0 9601 Ok
(0A) Spin Retry Count 100 253 51 0 Ok
(0B) Calibration Retry Count 100 253 51 0 Ok
(0C) Power Cycle Count 100 100 0 60 Ok
(C2) Temperature 108 10 0 35 Ok
(C4) Reallocated Event Count 200 200 0 0 Ok
(C5) Current Pending Sector 200 200 0 0 Ok
(C6) Offline Uncorrectable 200 200 0 0 Ok
(C7) Ultra DMA CRC Error Count 200 200 0 0 Ok
(C Write Error Rate 200 200 51 0 Ok

Power On Time : 9601
Health Status : Ok

With thanks,
Rain
 >> Stay informed about: Hard drive does not stay defragged! 

From the Error Scan:

HD Tune: WDC WD400JB-00FMA0 Error Scan

Scanned data : 38151 MB
Damaged Blocks : 0.0 %
Elapsed Time : 13:56

Gerry, what does Benchmark do?

With thanks,
Rain
 >> Stay informed about: Hard drive does not stay defragged! 

Gerry,

I followed the instructions for turning off the System Restore in the D and
E drives; however it did not increase the amont of free space. I notice
there is an option to compress the drive to save disk space. Do you think
that is a good idea?

With thanks,
Rain
 >> Stay informed about: Hard drive does not stay defragged! 

Rain

As Shenan says compressing drives is not generally recommended.
However, there are almost certainly some files on your C partition
which can be individually compressed.

If your hard drive is formatted as NTFS another potential gain arises with
your operating system on your C drive. In the Windows Directory of your
C partition you will have some Uninstall folders in your Windows folder
typically: $NtServicePackUninstall$ and $NtUninstallKB282010$ etc.

These files may be compressed or not compressed. If compressed the text
of the folder name appears in blue characters. If not compressed you can
compress them. Right click on each folder and select Properties, General,
Advanced and check the box before Compress contents to save Disk Space.
On the General Tab you can see the amount gained by deducting the size
on disk from the size. Folder compression is only an option on a NTFS
formatted drive / partition.

The reason why it does no harm to compress these files is that they are
virtually never accessed. They are there if you ever need to uninstall
updates. For this reason some users delete these files.

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"Rain" <Rain RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F2A4358A-EEF2-4A71-B14C-624DA40208D7@microsoft.com...
> Gerry,
>
> I followed the instructions for turning off the System Restore in the D
> and
> E drives; however it did not increase the amont of free space. I notice
> there is an option to compress the drive to save disk space. Do you think
> that is a good idea?
>
> With thanks,
> Rain
>
 >> Stay informed about: Hard drive does not stay defragged! 

Gerry, I don't actually know how to get to the Windows Directory of the C
partition.

Rain
 >> Stay informed about: Hard drive does not stay defragged! 

On Sat, 21 Jan 2006 21:42:06 -0000, "Gerry Cornell"

>In the Windows Directory of your C partition you will have some
>Uninstall folders in your Windows folder
> typically: $NtServicePackUninstall$ and $NtUninstallKB282010$ etc.

Also:
- SoftwareDistribution
- ServicePackFiles
- RegisteredPackages

>These files may be compressed or not compressed. If compressed the text
>of the folder name appears in blue characters.

Assuming that features is enabled in Windows Explorer, Tools, Folder
Options, View tab, "Show encrypted or compressed..."

>If not compressed you can compress them. Right click on each folder and
>select Properties, General, Advanced and check the box before Compress
>contents to save Disk Space.

>The reason why it does no harm to compress these files is that they are
>virtually never accessed. They are there if you ever need to uninstall
>updates. For this reason some users delete these files.

Better is to get this bloated junk out of the engine room, and onto
some other volume. Best way is to right-drag, then click Move, as
that way the registry references are more likely to be updated.

Here's a typical case of the impact of this junk...
- C:\XPHome = 2.34G (2 514 038 783)
- inert storage = 1.29G (1 395 434 186)
$*. = 328M
RegisteredPackages = 42M
ServicePackFiles = 420M
SoftwareDistribution = 591M
Rt-dragged all save SoftwareDistribution to E:\XPStore
- 920M (965 449 672) 5506 / 248 files / folders

IOW, for every 1 active file or Meg in the Windows subtree, there's
another file or Meg that is just getting in the way, forcing extra
head travel, taking longer to "fix errors" after a bad exit, taking
longer to defrag, etc. Gross.

The reason I didn't relocate SoftwareDistribution is that some file
there was "in use" - I didn't tshoot this to see if there was a fix.

It's hard to see how even a 120M SP can gnerate 1G of bloat (this is a
natively SP1a system with SP2 added, AFAICR).

Bear in mind that pre-install material may already be compressed, as
are some live code files - so on efficacy of compression, YMMV. Best
is to get this junk out of C: altogether.

MS has the glimmerings of clue here; some MS Office installation
processes automatically seek outand use the largest local volume with
the most free space, and a manual SP2 install prompts you to relocate
the backup material in one of the wizard's dialogs. Kudos! Please
spread the clue to the remaining endarkened teams!



>---------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - -
Don't pay malware vendors - boycott Sony
>---------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - -
 >> Stay informed about: Hard drive does not stay defragged! 

cquirke, we are now getting into territory which is a bit beyond my
understanding and ability to perform myself, but thank you for your reply.

Rain
 >> Stay informed about: Hard drive does not stay defragged! 

Rain

To investigate how you are using hard disk space you need to make sure that
you can see all files. Go to Start, Control Panel, Folder Options, View,
Advanced Settings and verify that the box before "Show hidden files and
folders" is checked and "Hide protected operating system files " is
unchecked. You may need to scroll down to see the second item. You should
also make certain that the box before "Hide extensions for known file types"
is not checked.

There are various ways to access Windows Explorer. The simplest is to
double click the My Computer icon on your Desktop. I would then click
on the Folders button on the Toolbar. You will then see Folders / Drives
in the left side of the window and sub-folders and files in the right side.
Next
in Windows Explorer make sure View, Details is selected and then select
View, Choose Details and check before Name, Type, Total Size, and Free
Space. Then select Tools, Folder Options, View tab and click on Apply to all
folders.

As stated the left column will display Folders / Drives if you have
previously
clicked on the Folders button. In front of each Folder / Drive you will see
a +
or - sign. If you click on a + sign it expands the folder tree to display
sub-folders and files. A - sign means the folder or sub-folder is expanded
and what you see is what you get. The Windows folder is usually a sub-folder
of Local Drive:C.

Window Explorer is the Windows File Manager and an extremely useful tool.
I have mentioned the Folders button but there is lots more to learn about if
you
are to make the most of Windows Explorer. Take time to look at the Toolbar
buttons and Menu bar. Also do not forget the right button on your mouse. It
will
keep you occupied for months if you have not seen it before. Experienced
users of many years standing still discover something new from time to time.

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"Rain" <Rain RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:FDB3F593-2706-4931-A378-86338295450D@microsoft.com...
> Gerry, I don't actually know how to get to the Windows Directory of the C
> partition.
>
> Rain
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: Hard drive does not stay defragged! 

Hi Quaoar ....
I am also having defrag problems....but I am wondering, does the moving of
msvcp80.dll to System32 only pertain to the use of Norton Windoctor? And what
does it do exactly?
My problem is that I have 17% free space on my 20 gig C Drive...running alot
of programs. I have deleted a few but I need the rest, pretty much.
I have an Asus M/B/ 28.1 Celeron CPU/ 512 DDR system , running WinXP Home SP2.
I also have Nod32 AV... BitDefender 8... Registry Repair 2006...
SpywareDoctor 4.0.0.2618... Dustbuster XP... MS Office 2007 Beta.. IE7... &
Windows Desktop Search 3.0 [which I think is slowing the system down a bit,
not sure]
The Defrag seems to get to about 15%, then it ends, telling me it had
completed. But there are still alot of fragmented files, in particular a
large clump of it at what seems to be the end of the drive. What do you think
that is? And how do I resolve this issue?

Thanks in advance )

Regards..........Shazza



"Quaoar" wrote:

> Rain wrote:
> > I have Norton System Works with System Doctor monitoring the fragmentation of
> > my hard drive. For months now, I get a warning every two or three days that
> > the drive is too fragmented. I run the Windows Defrag and then System Doctor
> > says it is back to 100%, but two days later I get a warning again. It's not
> > just the warning that concerns me because I can see that the system is
> > slowing down considerably.
> >
> > It is not a virus or spyware or adware issue. I run NAV, Ad-Aware and Spy
> > Sweeper all the time. Win Doctor keeps telling me that
> > C:\Windows\system32\icardagt.exe cannot access a missing file "msvcp80.dll."
> > I downloaded this file from some site recommended by an MVP here but my
> > computer can't seem to find it.
> >
> > My HD is a year old, 40 GB, partitoned into three drives. The C drive is
> > about 20 GB with 4.5 GB free space. I have 512 MB RAM.
> >
> > I cannot defrag the E drive at all and I get a message telling me that there
> > isn't enough free space to perform the defrag. It has 8 GB with 1 GB free
> > space. The D drive has 9 GB, all free space.
> >
> > By the way, Norton System Works comes with a defrag program called Speed
> > Disk. All of a sudden it won't work and Norton's explanation is that my
> > software is out of date (it's 2003) and I need to buy 2006! WHAT??!
> >
> > So... is the amount of free space the problem? Are there other reasons why
> > a HD would not stay defragmented? Is it a good idea to buy a defrag program?
> > If free space is the problem, I do not know how to rearrange the partiton of
> > the HD and would need detailed instructions. I need to do it myself as I
> > have paid my friendly tech guy too much money and have to learn to be
> > self-sufficient.
> >
> > Thanks for your time and help,
> >
> > Rain
>
> Use the search function to find the location of the dll file and move it
> to the system32 folder. For all of your drives run chkdsk C: /f to
> verify the drive properties (replace c: with d:, e:, etc.). Then start
> the cleaning process for malware.
>
> Q
>
 >> Stay informed about: Hard drive does not stay defragged! 

Hi Quaoar ....
I am also having defrag problems....but I am wondering, does the moving of
msvcp80.dll to System32 only pertain to the use of Norton Windoctor? And what
does it do exactly?
My problem is that I have 17% free space on my 20 gig C Drive...running alot
of programs. I have deleted a few but I need the rest, pretty much.
I have an Asus M/B/ 28.1 Celeron CPU/ 512 DDR system , running WinXP Home SP2.
I also have Nod32 AV... BitDefender 8... Registry Repair 2006...
SpywareDoctor 4.0.0.2618... Dustbuster XP... MS Office 2007 Beta.. IE7... &
Windows Desktop Search 3.0 [which I think is slowing the system down a bit,
not sure]
The Defrag seems to get to about 15%, then it ends, telling me it had
completed. But there are still alot of fragmented files, in particular a
large clump of it at what seems to be the end of the drive. What do you think
that is? And how do I resolve this issue?

Thanks in advance )

Regards..........Shazza



"Quaoar" wrote:

> Rain wrote:
> > I have Norton System Works with System Doctor monitoring the fragmentation of
> > my hard drive. For months now, I get a warning every two or three days that
> > the drive is too fragmented. I run the Windows Defrag and then System Doctor
> > says it is back to 100%, but two days later I get a warning again. It's not
> > just the warning that concerns me because I can see that the system is
> > slowing down considerably.
> >
> > It is not a virus or spyware or adware issue. I run NAV, Ad-Aware and Spy
> > Sweeper all the time. Win Doctor keeps telling me that
> > C:\Windows\system32\icardagt.exe cannot access a missing file "msvcp80.dll."
> > I downloaded this file from some site recommended by an MVP here but my
> > computer can't seem to find it.
> >
> > My HD is a year old, 40 GB, partitoned into three drives. The C drive is
> > about 20 GB with 4.5 GB free space. I have 512 MB RAM.
> >
> > I cannot defrag the E drive at all and I get a message telling me that there
> > isn't enough free space to perform the defrag. It has 8 GB with 1 GB free
> > space. The D drive has 9 GB, all free space.
> >
> > By the way, Norton System Works comes with a defrag program called Speed
> > Disk. All of a sudden it won't work and Norton's explanation is that my
> > software is out of date (it's 2003) and I need to buy 2006! WHAT??!
> >
> > So... is the amount of free space the problem? Are there other reasons why
> > a HD would not stay defragmented? Is it a good idea to buy a defrag program?
> > If free space is the problem, I do not know how to rearrange the partiton of
> > the HD and would need detailed instructions. I need to do it myself as I
> > have paid my friendly tech guy too much money and have to learn to be
> > self-sufficient.
> >
> > Thanks for your time and help,
> >
> > Rain
>
> Use the search function to find the location of the dll file and move it
> to the system32 folder. For all of your drives run chkdsk C: /f to
> verify the drive properties (replace c: with d:, e:, etc.). Then start
> the cleaning process for malware.
>
> Q
>
 >> Stay informed about: Hard drive does not stay defragged!