Ive been trying to update my sons PC, Hes running Windows 98 & ive downloaded all the updaes, run Norton, run disc cleanup & all OK but when I go to defragment the disc it just sits on 0%, its slowly clicking away but it refuses to budge past zero, I even left it for 7 hours today & when I got in its still at zero

Any thoughts ?? & in simple non techy terms PLEASE !!!

Ive been trying to update my sons PC' date=' Hes running Windows 98 & ive downloaded all the updaes, run Norton, run disc cleanup & all OK but when I go to defragment the disc it just sits on 0%, its slowly clicking away but it refuses to budge past zero, I even left it for 7 hours today & when I got in its still at zero

Any thoughts ?? & in simple non techy terms PLEASE !!![/quote']

frmat it start again with xp... 98 is crap with big disks... and is generally past it.. a bit like Denis:D

Ive been trying to update my sons PC' date=' Hes running Windows 98 & ive downloaded all the updaes, run Norton, run disc cleanup & all OK but when I go to defragment the disc it just sits on 0%, its slowly clicking away but it refuses to budge past zero, I even left it for 7 hours today & when I got in its still at zero

Any thoughts ?? & in simple non techy terms PLEASE !!![/quote']

Start the PC in Safe Mode and then run defrag while still in Safe Mode. Check the help files as to how to get in to Safe mode on start up. You usually have to hold down f8 while the machine boots up.

I agree with Paul, 98 is well past its sell by date. Microsoft is about to end support on this O/S, it cant handle large drives properly or files > 2GB in size (I know sounds huge but try DV editing). I would get a copy of XP home edition and use that, Skip Windows ME it was as bad, if not worse than 98. Dont forget its a 7 year old O/S, Back then a 4GB hard disk was huge.

.. and is generally past it.. a bit like Denis

:grumpy:

I agree with Paul, 98 is well past its sell by date. Microsoft is about to end support on this O/S, it cant handle large drives properly or files > 2GB in size (I know sounds huge but try DV editing). I would get a copy of XP home edition and use that, Skip Windows ME it was as bad, if not worse than 98. Dont forget its a 7 year old O/S, Back then a 4GB hard disk was huge.

It has finished all support for Win 98 last year.

Andy - thought they extended support for win98 in an attempt to stop people migrating to Linux?

Stuart - try safe mode as has been suggested, and make sure no other processes are running (anything like virus checkers may be accessing the hard drive - sometimes defrag doesn't like that...)

Andy - thought they extended support for win98 in an attempt to stop people migrating to Linux?

Stuart - try safe mode as has been suggested' date=' and make sure no other processes are running (anything like virus checkers may be accessing the hard drive - sometimes defrag doesn't like that...)[/quote']

Must confess I hadnt heard that. I read that Win98 support was stoppinig in June/July of last year which is purely the reason I swapped to XP Home, as I was running Win98SE.

98 support was extended.

Stuart

You don't necessarly have to be in safe mode to do a defrag, but you DO need to turn off everything non essential. Before you start disable your antivirus, firewall etc. etc. make sure you are not connected to the internet or a LAN, and most important, turn OFF your screen saver. Start de-frag, make sure it gets past 2-3% then turn the monitor off and go to bed!!!

If you do decide to go Win XP (good choice), even though Win98 is still supported for now, go to www.ebuyer.com for Win XP Home Edition OEM disk at less than

Saw original XP Home full instal disks (not the upgrade or recovery only disks) at a recent puter fair for

Check that you have enough free disk space to allow defrag to do its job - it can be very slow if there is not enough free space to shuffle stuff around in. Delete some junk to make more space before defragging.

If you go to XP you will need 256Mb minimum or it will run like a dog with two legs.

Thanks Guys, I will give it a try. This is an old PC my 12 year old is using & as I need a new PC for work he will get the old one with 200 professional & a lot quicker. I was just giving the old one a tidy up for another couple of months.

We worry about car depreciation, My work PC is just over 2 years old & is now too slow for the latest software, Im told I now need a min of a Pentium 4 - 3.2 & a Giga of Ram, sounds all very fancy to a non techie, thank god cars dont become obsolete so quickly, Still with the end of the Tax year approaching I suppose its time to part with the hard earned

Work needs a new PC

My work PC is just over 2 years old & is now too slow for the latest software, Im told I now need a min of a Pentium 4 - 3.2 & a Giga of Ram, sounds all very fancy to a non techie

Yeah, lots of people get told the same, but at least 90% of the time it's just not true...

Rob.

Yeah' date=' lots of people get told the same, but at least 90% of the time it's just not true...

Rob.[/quote']

rubbish... buy a new one... you know you need it!

rubbish... buy a new one... you know you need it!

Well, I wasn't necessarily saying don't buy a new one...was just saying, the most expensive spec currently available is usually not the best buy...

Rob.

New one its got to be, just looked at the task manager, it was reading 809 on a 512 machine.

New one its got to be, just looked at the task manager, it was reading 809 on a 512 machine.

And a memory upgrade wouldn't do?

Actually, it wouldn't - basically, Windows will use more than you've got anyway...the machine I'm using here as 256Mb RAM, and I had it pushing just over 950Mb memory usage yesterday...

Rob.

With 98SE anything over 512 mb is a waste anyway, support for more than that amount of ram was not built in by Mr. Gates and his croanies when it was programed. I'm running a 2000 XP AMD processor and it seems to do ok, even with cheap memory, runs BattleField 1942 really well. Speaking of that, does anyone play BF1942 online? (Probably should start another tread for this!)

Matt