Defrag Won't Complete...Computer Freezes

J

joezapp

New Member
Hopefully someone has experienced this and has a solution. I recently performed computer maintenance. It was a long time in between...5 months. It went well, except for the final step...defrag. Windows defragmenter would freeze my computer without completing the defrag. I tried Defraggler. Same thing. I tried Auslogics. Same thing. I get from 4-48% through before the computer freezes. Each freeze requires a hard reboot. :eek:

Chkdsk shows nothing horrible and nothing to fix ("Windows has checked the file system and found no problems") There IS 12k in bad sectors. sfc /scannow shows some items that cannot be repaired, but the same can be said of my other 2 computers, and they still defrag. The defragmenters indicate that my hard drive health is good. HD Tune couldn't complete the long version, but the quick version turned up "all green". I tried disabling screensaver, antivirus, startup programs. I tried safe mode. All to no avail. I'm really stumped. The computer functions very well and I'd like to keep it that way. :o

Has anyone ever experienced this and managed to resolve it? Thanks for any insights... :)
 
The problem you have is with the bad sectors. The drive is failing and you need to get it replaced soon. The amount of bad sectors will only increase.
 
Thank you, John. When I used to defrag my XP, the defragmenter would sort of quarantine the bad sectors. Now I have Vista. With this computer, defragmenter will not be able to complete if bad sectors exist?
 
Depends on where the bad sectors are. In your case, it seems the bad sectors are causing your defragging issues.
 
Likely so, John. Is there a way to repair the bad sectors manually? I'm thinking that there is, but that it's not worth the time...

And if it's indeed not worth the time, what is the best way to copy all the files to my new hard drive to ensure that I get everything?

Thanks so much!
 
There is no way to repair bad sectors. Buy a new drive and copy your data over. I wouldn't suggest cloning the old to the new. I would fresh install windows and copy your personal data over. Do not have the old drive connected while installing windows on the new drive.
 
Good advice, John. I bought this computer with Vista already installed. I don't have Vista disks. What do you suggest? Thanks...
 
What type of computer is this?

You could download the OEM Vista ISO, burn to DVD and use the product code on the side of your computer to activate on a new hard drive.

You can somewhat repair bad sectors with HDD Regenerator. But that is only a temp solution just to be able to access data and then swap drives to a new one. I've used HDD Regenerator before and it will require several passes. If you don't have data to be retrieved or if a clone works, then you don't need HDD Regenerator.

HDD Regenerator is a way to be able to get your data on a drive with bad clusters, etc.

Now would be a good time to upgrade to a SSD.
 
Thanks for the tips, Agent Smith!

My computer is a Toshiba Satellite L305-S5955

I don't think I will need HDD Regenerator, as I am not recognizing lost data, and I have everything backed up. I will keep it in mind, however.

I would like to upgrade to a SSD and download the OEM Vista ISO as you suggested. How can I be certain to get the correct SSD for my system? Thanks for your help!
 
joezapp said:
I would like to upgrade to a SSD and download the OEM Vista ISO as you suggested. How can I be certain to get the correct SSD for my system? Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...


Do you have a clone of your computer or did you just back up files?

I'm not sure if this has Vista. It's a recovery disk. It says Vista though. http://www.ebay.com/itm/TOSHIBA-SAT...perating_Systems_Software&hash=item4ae20d2576

Unfortunately, you can't download Vista anymore because Microsoft took down the links. I thought perhaps you could.
 
Thanks for the update, as well as the link, Agent Smith! And thanks, John, for the SSD compatibility info.

I don't have a clone of the system, but I have all my important files saved. My plan is to move all my files to the new SSD.

I will ask the seller of the recovery disk if it will serve my purpose.

Also, it is my understanding that it is best not to attempt defrag on an SSD. Supposedly it does more harm than good, and it's not necessary. Do you agree?
 
You can still download the iso for Vista, just use the key to activate that is on the sticker attached to your system.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/301852-vista-iso-download-create-installation-dvd-usb.html

Link to download the files are here. But follow the guide in that link to actually create the install dvd.

http://www.heidoc.net/joomla/technology-science/microsoft/57-windows-vista-direct-download-links#

Do not defrag an SSD drive. You can actually go into defrag settings and disable auto defrag.
 
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