Did a 'stop' during defrag, Now system is unstable!

KillaKilla

Senior member
Oct 22, 2003
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Why would MS include the stop button on the defrag if it destabalizes the system? Albiet, I am mad at him, but I'm more mad at microsoft. Especially for a monkey-proof OS, why would they allow this? The computer boots, but crashes often when running apps. Does the system re build (the NTFS version of the File Allocation Table, the data that holds where what data is where) on pressing stop, or does the power have to be cut for this to happen?

According to him, he didn't turn off the machine. He didn't do end process or alt-F4. . Is this posible? or is he BSing me? He's pretty trustworthy, so I think its true.
 

dkozloski

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
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If your system is unstable, it isn't because anyone stopped a defrag. As long as he didn't stop it by yanking the power cord out of the wall the operating system is smart enough to neat everything up gracefully before stopping the operation. It looks like you are a victim of fixating on the proximate cause rather than a step by step analysis of the real source of the problem.
 

mindwreck

Golden Member
May 25, 2003
1,585
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I've stop my defrag plenty of times without it going nuts on me. Maybe he stopped it when the defrager was moving an important app file. (random guess)
 

EeyoreX

Platinum Member
Oct 27, 2002
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You should be mad neither at him nor Microsoft. I have stopped defrags dozens and dozens of times with no ill effect. Your instability is due to something else and it's timing is coincidental. I agree that you should actually try to pin down the cause, as a properly stopped (ie, with the "Stop" button) defrag didn't cause your instability.

\Dan
 

Cerb

Elite Member
Aug 26, 2000
17,484
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I also, have done it quite often, and never a problem. Diskkeeper Lite is a nice little app.
 

John

Moderator Emeritus<br>Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
33,944
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If you have 2K or XP check the event viewer for problems.
 
Mar 11, 2004
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Not necessarily related to this topic exactly, but I've been having problems defragging. I have an 80GB SATA drive and it will not defrag. I've run the Windows defragger and also DiskKeeper Lite and it either freezes, causes the screen to go black (like it went into hibernation, but won't wake out of it), or other problem that forces a restart. Any clue what could cause this?
 

John

Moderator Emeritus<br>Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
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Originally posted by: darkswordsman17
Not necessarily related to this topic exactly, but I've been having problems defragging. I have an 80GB SATA drive and it will not defrag. I've run the Windows defragger and also DiskKeeper Lite and it either freezes, causes the screen to go black (like it went into hibernation, but won't wake out of it), or other problem that forces a restart. Any clue what could cause this?

Try running defrag in safe mode.
 

Bucksnort

Golden Member
Aug 17, 2001
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Originally posted by: John
Originally posted by: darkswordsman17
Not necessarily related to this topic exactly, but I've been having problems defragging. I have an 80GB SATA drive and it will not defrag. I've run the Windows defragger and also DiskKeeper Lite and it either freezes, causes the screen to go black (like it went into hibernation, but won't wake out of it), or other problem that forces a restart. Any clue what could cause this?

Try running defrag in safe mode.

Defrag should always be done in safemode.
 

dkozloski

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
3,005
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76
DeFrag and Norton Speed Disk are essentially bulletproof programs that are meant to run at a vey low priority as background operations. As I said before, if you are having stability problems it's coming from somewhere else. My experience is that memory errors cause the most problems.
 

Mem

Lifer
Apr 23, 2000
21,476
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Defrag should always be done in safemode.

I don`t think you need too,I always run it while surfing the web or set it to run in screensaver mode,I`ve yet to have any problems,btw I`m talking years and years of doing this.

The most important thing is you should always have all your important data backed up in case of any kind of failure or serious system crash regardless of the cause.
 

EeyoreX

Platinum Member
Oct 27, 2002
2,864
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Defrag should always be done in safemode.
I am curious to hear why you think that? If that were actually the case defraggers available would require it. There is no benefit to running a defreg in Safe Mode, unless it is to troubleshoot a potential problem.

\Dan