How to fix Windows disk defragmenter if it stalls

Question: I keep trying to defragment my hard drive and as yet have not been able to do so. I get a box coming up saying “defrag in operation” and the little box with tiny bricks falling into the box, but it never leaves zero per cent. I have tried to setting my screen saver to a 60-minute interval but still no joy. Someone suggested that I disable anti-virus programs on computer. If this is the case how do I do that? –R.P.

Answer: This is probably one of the most common problems people encounter with the disk defragmenter utility in Windows.

For those not familiar with the defragmenter, it is a utility that comes with Windows. It sorts the data on a hard drive so that the computer can find information more efficiently. It can be activated by going to the Start menu and selecting Programs, then Accessories, then System Tools, and then Disk Defragmenter. If you don’t see System Tools in the Accessories menu, click the double arrows at the bottom of the menu to expand it and reveal all your options.

A hard drive that is badly fragmented is analogous to a bookstore run by a disorganized proprietor. The books are stocked on the shelves as they come in the door without any rhyme or reason and, as books are sold, he slots in new books in their place because they fit the space, not because they are next to similar books.

Likewise, a computer will slot a new piece of data into an empty area of the hard drive as well. If the file is too big for the slot, the computer will break it up and put one piece in one area of the hard drive and other pieces into other available areas. The next time you ask the computer to open that file, it has to move the hard drive multiple times to grab all the pieces of the file, which takes more time.

The defragmenter acts as an organized employee of our bookstore would. The employee would sort through all the books and organize them into categories on the shelves so that customers could find them more readily. On a computer, when the disk defragmenter is run, it sorts the data on the hard drive so that files are each in one piece and therefore easier and quicker for the system to find.

To do this efficiently in the bookstore, the employee needs to close the store, so there are no interruptions during the re-sorting procedure. If customer a keeps coming into the store and buying books, that would create holes in the shelves or leave books where they are not supposed to be, which would disrupt (and even defeat) the employee’s efforts.

So it is when you defragment a hard drive — you need to let it go about its business without other tasks interrupting it. In other words, close the store and lock the door first. A program running in the background, such an anti-virus program, has a tendency to interrupt the process because it is always keeping track of changes made on the hard drive.

So, before you defrag your hard drive, you need to make sure that all potentially interfering programs are off. This is quite easily done. Anti-virus programs normally run from the System Tray. That’s the little cluster of icons in the bottom right hand corner of the Windows screen. To figure out what does what, roll your mouse over an icon and a little message box will appear telling you what the icon does. Once you have identified the anti-virus icon, right-click on it to display a menu.

In the case of Norton Anti-Virus, you’ll see an option to Disable Auto-Protect. If you click on that, it will turn Norton Anti-Virus off. In the case of Norton SystemWorks, which is a suite of tools that includes Norton Anti-Virus, you need to roll your mouse over the “N” icon in the System Tray, and another set of icons appears. Then you need to roll your mouse over those icons to discover which one is the Norton Anti-Virus program. McAfee VirusScan and other brands of anti-virus utilities have similar disable functions.

There may be other applications that also get in the way of a successful defrag. You can turn any suspected program off in a similar way outlined above.

Also, be sure to turn your screensaver off. Go to Start, then Settings, then Control Panel, and double-click on Display, then the Screen Saver tab. In the pull-down box, select None and click OK. Note that, when your defrag has finished, you’ll need to re-set your screensaver because, unlike most anti-virus programs, it will automatically re-set itself on the next boot-up.

If the defragment still doesn’t work, some problematic program may have loaded a something into memory which it then didn’t release properly. If you are comfortable with the Close Program box that appears when you hit the Ctrl-Alt-Del keys, you can use that to terminate the offending program. This is a technique for advanced users. The running programs listed in this box have odd names, so it is not always easy to figure out which one is which, so if you’re not confident using it, best to leave it alone.

Another way to improve your odds of a successful defrag is to run it in Windows “safe” mode, which loads only the most vital elements, ignoring many things that may normally load for you at start-up – remember, this is what we want if defrag is still giving you trouble. Here’s how to run Windows in safe mode:

1. Restart your computer. While your computer restarts, press and hold the Ctrl (“Control”) key until the Windows startup menu is displayed, probably gray or white letters on a black background.
2. Select the Safe Mode menu option, and then press the Enter key. Windows will start in safe mode and only load programs critical for the system’s operation.
3. Simply run the Disk Defragmenter as you normally would, and all should go well.

Note that, if you are using the EZDrive tool, press F8 instead of the Ctrl key on boot-up. EZDrive is a utility sometimes used on older computers to override the BIOS (a part of the computer that controls hardware settings) so that you can use larger hard drives than the system was originally designed for.