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 It's not only
Scandisk that can be affected by this problem - you'll find that it happens
if you try defragmenting your Hard drive (C) , too. To answer your final
question first, it's not that there's anything physically wrong with your
hard drive, so you can stop worrying. What's happening is that something is
insisting on writing data to your hard drive as Scandisk is trying to check
it. The normal offenders in cases like this are anti-virus suites or
screensavers. To be absolutely sure that there's nothing at all left running
that could write to the hard drive and interrupt the disk checking process,
you need to be ruthless. Make sure you quit all normal Windows programs.
Next, check the icons in your System Tray. Right-click each one of them in
turn - if they have an option to quit the program, use this. Once you've done
this, hit the [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [DEL] keys simultaneously to access the Close
Program dialog box. Here you'll probably find even more applications and
small pieces of software still running. Quo:p>
Click on Accessories (in Win98, Start -
Programs - Accessories - System Tools)
Click on Disk Defragmenter
Select the drive to defragment.
If you receive a screen telling you that your drive is only
1% fragmented, select to proceed anyway.
This process could take anywhere from a few
minutes to an hour or more, depending on the size of the drive being
defragmented and the amount of defragmenting to do. You can not use your computer while this
process is taking place.
Deleting Temporary Files
A simple and effective way to rid
yourself of temporary files, in addition to clearing
your CACHE, is to follow these few steps:
- Click on Start
- Click on Find
- Click on Files or Folders
- Under the Name and Location tab, in the Name field,
type in *.tmp
- Make sure there is a check mark in the Include Subfolders
box and that the drive you want to search is in the Look In
field.
- Click on Find Now
- The Find window will expand and show you all the files
with the extension of .tmp. Click ONE time
on the first file showing, then using the scroll bar at the right, scroll
down to the last file. Hold down your shift key
with one hand, and click on the last file with the mouse. All files
should now be highlighted.
- Hit the DEL key on your keyboard.
- A confirmation window will pop up asking you to confirm a multiple
file delete. Click on Yes
- Repeat the above procedure using *.~mp
NOTE: If you receive a message
that says Cannot Delete
"file name" Access is denied. Make sure the disk is not full or
write-protected and that the file is not currently in use; it means that one of your recently used programs is
still using the temporary file. Restart your computer and do the above
procedure prior to using any other programs.
Win98 Tip
Run
Disk Cleanup from Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools.
Low
on RAM?
Free
System Resources -
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Do one or more of the following as necessary
to free system resources:
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Quit any applications not
in use, and minimize all other applications.
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Close multiple windows
within open applications.
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Either empty the
Clipboard, or decrease the size of the Clipboard contents:
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NOTE: If the information
in the Clipboard has not yet been used, then paste the information into the
desired document before emptying the Clipboard.
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(a) If you have
'Clipboard Viewer' on your 'Accessories' menu, then you can do the
following to empty the Clipboard:
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1] Click the 'Start'
menu to display the Windows 'Start' menu.
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2] Select 'Programs'
and select 'Accessories'.
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3] Select 'Clipboard
Viewer'. (Clipboard Viewer opens.)
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4] Select the 'Edit'
menu and select 'Delete'. (A message appears to confirm the deletion of
the Clipboard contents.)
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5] Click 'Yes'. (The
contents of the Clipboard are deleted.)
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6] Select the 'File'
menu and select 'Exit'.
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(b) If you do not have
'Clipboard Viewer' on your 'Accessories' menu, then do the following to
decrease the size of the Clipboard contents:
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1] In the application
you have open, type a single letter.
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2] Select the letter.
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3] Press CTRL+C. (The
letter is copied to the Clipboard, overwriting the previous Clipboard
contents.)
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4) Empty the Recycle
Bin:
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a) Double-click the
'Recycle Bin' icon on the Windows Desktop. (The 'Recycle Bin' window
appears.)
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NOTE: To get to the
Desktop, minimize all open applications.
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b) Select the 'File'
menu and select 'Empty Recycle Bin'. (A message appears to confirm the
permanent deletion.)
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c) Click 'Yes'.
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d) To close the 'Recycle
Bin' window, select the 'File' menu, and select 'Close'.
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5] If using a large bitmap
file as the screen background (the wallpaper), change the wallpaper to
'None':
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a) Click the 'Start'
button to display the Windows 'Start' menu.
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b) Select 'Settings' and
select 'Control Panel'. (The 'Control Panel' window appears.)
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c) Double-click the
'Display' icon. (The 'Display Properties' dialog box appears.)
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d) Click the 'Background'
tab.
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e) Select '(None)' from
the 'Wallpaper' list box.
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f) Click 'OK'.
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g) Select the 'File' menu
and select 'Close' to close the 'Control Panel' window.
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6) Make sure you are using the Windows
recommended swap file settings:
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NOTE 1: If using a
temporary swap file, convert it into a permanent swap file. If using a
permanent swap file, free hard disk space and make it larger:
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NOTE 2: Before changing
the swap file, save and close all open applications.
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a) Click the 'Start'
button to display the Windows 'Start' menu.
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b) Select 'Settings' and
select 'Control Panel'. (The 'Control Panel' window appears.)
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c) Double-click the
'System' icon. (The 'System Properties' dialog box appears.)
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d) Click the 'Performance'
tab.
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e) Click 'Virtual
Memory...'. (The 'Virtual Memory' dialog box appears with the current swap
file settings.)
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f) Select the 'Let Windows
manage my virtual memory settings (recommended)' radio button.
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NOTE: Windows uses the
default settings that work with the amount of free hard disk space. The swap
file shrinks and grows as the actual memory increases and decreases during
usage. With this option, the minimum size is zero, and the maximum size is up
to the space available on the hard disk at the time.
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g) Click 'OK'. (The
'System Properties' dialog box reappears.)
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h) Click 'OK'. (The
'Control Panel' window reappears.)
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i) Select the 'File' menu
and select 'Close' to close the 'Control Panel' window.
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j) Restart Windows so the
changes will take effect.
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NOTE: Make sure you save
any unsaved files before restarting.
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7) Restart the computer.
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NOTE: Make sure you save
any unsaved files before restarting.
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8) If low system resources continue to be a
problem, consider installing more RAM.
Back to Top
Clearing CACHE
Clearing your CACHE occasionally is
necessary to keep your computer running optimally. CACHE are temporary
Internet files that are stored on your computer and these files can add up to a
massive amount over time.
Internet Explorer
Netscape
Make CDROM work off of Bootable Floppy
How can I make my CD-ROM work so I can
install Windows 95?
because any Emergency Boot disk will Not Enable the CD- player\Rom !!
A: You can either prepare a bootable floppy
with the CD-ROM drivers on it and boot from the floppy, or you can create an
autoexec.bat and config.sys file on the hard drive and boot from the hard
drive. Your CD will end up working in either case. Usually you create the
bootable floppy before you reformat the hard drive.
Here are some instructions for either the bootable floppy or the hard drive,
although most CD-ROMs come with a floppy that will do all of this for you.
You must first install the CD-ROM driver into the config.sys file. You'll add a
line similar to:
device=C:\ideoem.SYS /D:MSCD001
where you substitute the path to your CD driver for the C:\ideoem.SYS.
Then you must add a line to your autoexec.bat file to run the MSCDEX.EXE
program:
MSCDEX.EXE /D:MSCD001 where the /D:MSCD001 must match the /D:MSCD001 in the
config.sys file.
Finally, you must have the two CD-ROM driver file and the MSCDEX.EXE file
available in the root directory, so the computer can find them when the
computer boots. When all of this is in place, restart your computer.
You'll end up at a DOS prompt with your CD-ROM working.
I want to add something to this page
If you want to add a link or a "help"
item on this page's subject, send me email.
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By
Kenny Hunt
