scandisk and defrag cease hard drive just quits spinning 1

[halifax545]

Cross linked files may be the culprit of stopping of defrag and scandisk. I found that crosslinked files on my hard drive caused it even to cease completely until I rebooted the pc and started over. IN scandisk>advanced> option CROSSLINKED FILES it says delete/make copies/ignore. SELECT DELETE CROSSLINKED FILES. but do it at your own risk. I tried this and I think I saved my hard drive. Funny, I have not seen anything important missing from windows just yet.

 

[Garyeag]

As an afternote to this, Halifax, or anyone else, you can use SFC (System File Checker) to check if anything important is missing from windows, or if any files have been altered.
It is a valuable tool if used regularly, but can be overwhelming if run for the first time and you haven't used it since first installing windows.
It's under Accessories, System Tools, System Information:
A whole Pandora Box which has "Internet Explorer Tool" (has saved my bacon more than once); DR Watson (Windows Technicians own tool) nad Direct X diagnostic (which has never revealed faults to me but does inform you of unsigned files/drivers which are often the cause of future faults).

Remember: Back up, Back Up, Back Up.

 

[reghakr]

System File Check can be a dangerous tool. Unless the PC owner has used it on a regular basis, I would only use it to extract a single file from the indstallation disk. Here's why:

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System File Checker Tool Extracts Incorrect File Versions


The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows 98


SYMPTOMS
When you use the System File Checker (Sfc.exe) tool to restore a Windows 98 system file (for example, the User.exe, Gdi.exe, or Krnl386.exe file) from a Windows 98 cabinet (.cab) file, the wrong version of the file may be extracted from the Mini.cab cabinet file. This can result in the inability to start Windows 98 (for example, your computer may stop responding) or "Windows Protection Error" error messages in normal and Safe mode.

NOTE: This symptom can occur when the System File Checker tool prompts you to restore a corrupt system file during a scan or when you extract and replace a system file using the System File Checker tool.

CAUSE
This behavior occurs because the System File Checker tool baseline file (Default.sfc) contains incorrect information about the source cabinet file locations for some Windows 98 system files. As a result, the System File Checker tool searches for the system file in the specified folder (if it is not in a cabinet file) and then in all cabinet files in the specified folder. The System File Checker tool searches cabinet files using their MS-DOS folder order and extracts the first instance found. If the Mini.cab cabinet file appears in an MS-DOS folder listing before the correct Windows 98 cabinet file (for example, the correct cabinet file for the User.exe file is the Win98_42.cab cabinet file.), the System File Checker tool may find the mini-Windows mode version of the system file in the Mini.cab cabinet file first.

NOTE: The Mini.cab cabinet file contains mini-Windows mode files used only by Windows 98 Setup and DriveSpace.

RESOLUTION
To work around this behavior, restart your computer using the Windows 98 Startup disk, choose Start Computer With CD-ROM Support from the Windows 98 Startup menu, and then re-extract the file at a command prompt using the Extract.exe tool. For information about how to extract a file, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q129605 How to Extract Original Compressed Windows Files
NOTE: The Extract.exe tool does not search the Mini.cab cabinet file by default.

STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

This problem has been addressed in the Default.sfc file included with Windows 98 Second Edition.


MORE INFORMATION
For more information about the System File Checker tool, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q185836 Description of the System File Checker Tool (Sfc.exe)
Q188186 How the System File Checker Baseline Is Determined
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Error Message: System File Checker Identified that the Following File may Be Corrupted. File: EXTRAC32.EXE...

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The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows 98
Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 5, 5.01 for Windows 98
Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.01 for Windows 98 Second Edition

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SYMPTOMS
When you use the scan for altered files feature in System File Checker after you install Internet Explorer version 5.0 or 5.01, you may receive the following error message:

System File Checker identified that the following file may be corrupted.

File: EXTRAC32.EXE
Location: C:\WINDOWS
Also, you may receive one or more error messages that indicate one or more of the following files are damaged:
Internet Explorer 5.0
Advpack.dll
Internet Explorer 5.01
Rnaph.dll
Advapi32.dll
Wlda32.dll
Mscat32.dll
Mssip32.dll
Mssign32.dll
Softpub.dll
Cryptui.dll
Cryptnet.dll
Cryptext.dll
Msoss.dll

CAUSE
This problem can occur if System File Checker does not recognize files that are installed by Internet Explorer version 5.0 or 5.01.

RESOLUTION
To resolve this problem, click Update verification information under What do you want to do?, and then click OK.

STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

reghakr