Some help please. I ran chkdsk/f with Defraggler on my c:\. It has marker all the free space as bad. I know that can't be the case, anyway I now only have 1% of the drive free. How can I reverse this?

Thank you for your ideas.

David

I think you will need to run most of it again. And then some. This is what I would have done. I assume you run XP Home:

1. Run CCleaner and reboot. The last download link on this page: http://www.ccleaner.com/download/builds
2. Run the free Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware quick scan. Link: http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php
3. Run chkdsk again. Copy and paste this into "Run": CHKDSK C: /f/r
4. Run scannow. Copy and paste this into "Run": sfc /scannow. Reboot when the little progress bar disappears.
5. Run the free Windows Live OneCare online scanner. Full scan. (Note that there's a special link for Vista users.) Link: http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm?mkt=en-us. Reboot.
6. Visit Microsoft Update. Make sure to click the Custom button. NOT Express. Install whatever updates recommended
7. Install and run Secunia PSI - remember to activate Advanced. Install recommended updates. Reboot. Link: http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/
8. Open Defraggler -> Help -> About. Check that you have the latest version 1.14.159. Update Defraggler if not. Link: http://www.piriform.com/defraggler
9. Defrag freespace. Open Defraggler -> Action -> Advanced -> Defrag Freespace
10. Run Defraggler's analyze and post back here. Tell us the result.

I know this is a lot. But all systems need a "spring cleaning" at least twice a year anyway.

On that basis he might just as well back everything up, reformat his hard disk and reinstall the operating system!

No. Microsoft recommends that scannow and chkdsk be run several times a year. And updating the system should be done anyway. The antimalware quick scan wont hurt.

I edited the Live OneCare Online scanner link above. Hazelnut pointed out that there's a problem finding the scanner via the main site.

Reference?

You can find these recommandations in several Microsoft articles. Here one for chkdsk. Quote:

If you use your PC daily, we recommend running Check Disk weekly.

Source: http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/article/chkdskhowto.htm

To be honest I don't think I would run chkdsk or scannow unless I thought something was wrong.

But that's just me

No, you're quite right, hazelnut. Once a week is too much.

I run chkdsk /f every few months or so, I don't think there's anything wrong with this. Most of the time it will detect several problems that need to be corrected. Ounce of prevention, pound of cure . . .

Much the same as most people, then, if they run it at any time when there are no obvious disk problems!

The snag is that it can take a variable amount of time - but usually hours. The bigger your hard disk is, usually the longer it will take. But 15-20 years ago, under NT 3.5, we would wonder whether a CHKDSK we set off on a server's Storageworks drives on a Friday evening would finish before start of work on Monday morning! Nail-biting stuff...

I run chkdsk /f every now and then. chkdsk /r may however fix some severe issues.


Before running sfc /scannow there should be purge ran first, in this order:


Note:
sfc /scannow will require the Windows install disc to copy the files from. A reboot is necessary even if not prompted to do so!

sfc /purgecache followed by sfc /scannow really only needs to be ran after dealing with a malware infection or corruption.

More commands here if anyone's in the mood for experimenting:

SFC [/SCANNOW] [/SCANONCE] [/SCANBOOT] [/CANCEL] [/QUIET] [/PURGECACHE] [/CACHESIZE=x]

/SCANNOW Scans all protected system files immediately.

/SCANONCE Scans all protected system files once.

/SCANBOOT Scans all protected system files at every boot.

/CANCEL Cancels all pending scans of protected system files.

/QUIET Replaces all incorrect file versions without prompting the user.

/PURGECACHE Purges the file cache and scans all protected system files immediately.

/CACHESIZE=x Sets the file cache size (in megabytes).

Source: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/archive/wfp.mspx

Thank you ePost. Guess how I spent most of my weekend?

Everything is now done and dusted and I think that I am back to where I started. I did have a problem after loading/running Live OneCare. Whenever I went tried to go on the net the computer froze. I removed ZoneAlarm and the resolved the issue. Obviously a conflict.

To avoid a reoccurrence, can you say why on running defraggler my hard disk was marked as virtually totally used?

Again thank you for your help.

david

No, frankly, I can't and I am truly sorry to hear it took so much of your time. But we're not clairvoyants inhere, unfortunately. But it sure would be nice if we could always pin point the exact diagnose very time.

I also hope your PC is fine now.

I just wanted to know if I had done some obviously stupid. This goes to confirm my belief that despite what may have been said to the contrary, working with computers is an art and not a science.

Alls well that ends well, and again thank you.

David

Might be system restore. I heard that it uses Volume Shadow Copy and tracks changes made to the disk. When data gets moved around during defrag it'll try to keep track of the changes, using up lots of space. Try turning off System Restore (which will delete all the restore points though) before defrag.

Personally I think System Restore is useless. It works well when you are restoring for fun, but when I really needed it it didn't work

Oh, yes: Murphy's law! Haven't we heard about that one. Precisely computers are under it's strict jurisdiction! Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy's_law

http://www.hdtune.com/

Do an error scan with this... if you get red blocks its time for a new HD...