How do I defrag efficiently?
When I defrag, it often stops and restarts because the 'drive contents are changing'. When I run Scandisk, it starts and stops because other programmes are interfering with it. Now, I've learned that to solve this problem, I need to temporarily disable my startup programmes and my screen saver. How do I go about this and make sure that my startup programmes are enabled properly after I run defrag and ScanDisk?
iVillager AnitaGrainger
You can close down the programmes that are running in several ways. You can press Ctrl+Alt+Delete, which displays the Close Programme box. If you take this route, you select each programme from the box one at a time, then click End Task to end it.
The trouble with this method is that Windows lists its own programmes there, and if you shut them down, you may accidentally shut down Windows as well, so I wouldn’t recommend that method. But if you use it your Startup programmes will automatically restart when your reboot your computer – what you’re doing in the Close Programme box is simply closing the programme for now – nothing permanent.
Another method is to right-click on each programme shown on your taskbar, and choose Close. If you’ve got something to save, the programme should prompt you, so this method is OK. The exceptions to this are a few programmes that might still be running, but which don’t show up as buttons on the taskbar, so you might forget to shut them down as well.
Two programmes that come to mind are anti-virus programmes (such as McAffee or Norton Anti-Virus), which usually appear as just an icon in the lower right corner of the taskbar. I use McAffee and it appears as a red V on a white shield. To identify each icon, just rest your mouse pointer on it.
When you find the one for your anti-virus programme (assuming you have one, which you probably should), then right-click, and select Disable, or Close, or something like that. This is only temporary as when you finish running Defrag or ScanDisk, you can reboot your PC and your anti-virus programme will restart.
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