scan disk interruption

[ejames81]

sometimes when i run scan disk, i get a pop up window that says scan disk has restarted 10 times would you like to continue or cancel. do any of you know of any way to prevent this window from popping up in the first place? it's a window 98 that i want to milk/baby til july when microsoft updates are no longer available. thanks, Ed James

[bigjack]

Several options here.

1) Boot into Safe Mode. Keep pressing F8 during POST till screen appears with several choices. Choose Safe Mode (usually Option 3) Run ScanDisk from Safe Mode.

2) Download End It All from www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1935,00.asp Use this to shut down all non-essential procceses.

3) Use CTRL+ALT+ Delete and 'End Task' everything except Explorer and Systray.

Any of these will let ScanDisk run okay. It keeps restarting because other procceses are writing to disk.

[ejames81]

bigjack,
i visited the link that you have given me and i am going to read it over and over again. sorry i forgot to mention that i know how to get into safe mode and i have been using it during scan disk. about a third of the time i would get the pop up window. Thank you very much. Ed James

[bobfromphilly]

You most likely have a screensaver running in the background, remove the screen saver or backgrounds and it should work, good luck

[ejames81]

bob,
i don't think i do. how do i check? thanks for your reply, Ed James

[bobfromphilly]

Ed, i think you must have something running in the background, its either a screensaver or spybot or norton anti-virus, if any of these are running you have to turn them off for the sandisk utility to run.

[ejames81]

bob,
it had just occured to me after i replied to you that i have spy sweeper and mcafee firewall and AV. i also have lavasoft and spyboy, but those are inactive unless i am actually using them, i think. but the spy sweeper and mcafee will have to be disabled. i will give it a whirl tonight. thanks again, Ed

[bobfromphilly]

[/COLOR]Okay EJ, were you able to run your scandisk? :p

[ejames81]

bob,
nothing has changed. i have always been able to run the scan disk utility, but i still get the pop-up window. i have also learned something of significance recently. i was watching the system monitor and the usage level spikes when i have the mcafee enabled. then the mcagent error message appears. which is their error message. but when i disable the mcafee it stays almost consistent. i think the underlying problem is that they didn't remove all of the old version AV when they updated me to the new version AV.
soon i will be taking a break from the computer scene because my special introductory offer from road runner is ready to expire and i can't afford $45 a month. i may still log on daniweb with my sisters computer if i am able.
oh, i forgot to mention that i did try the end-it-all program, but it wouldn't load properly. the load window kept flashing, and i was lucky to shut down the computer without having to unplug the computer from the wall. i'm not sure whether i disabled the mcafee or not, but i do need the mcafee, it's my real-time AV.
thanks for the hollar, Ed

[Sebastian42]

I have found the most effective way to prevent interruptions is to run scandisk from a boot floppy, instead of from within Windows.