[MarshallO]

I have just discovered that I have both "keyboard lag" and "video lag," and--when searching the web, I discovered that a thorough defragmentation of my hard drive would likely be of help.

However, there seems to be something very wrong with my hard drive, since--after trying three different defragmentation programs in order to try to defrag my hard drive--the used space on my "C" drive remains 34% fragmented, and the used space on my "D" drive remains 80% fragmented! Strangely, Windows own defragmenter says that no defragmentation is necessary!

It seems to me that something is horribly wrong, but I don't know what to do about it--except to have a new hard drive installed (by a computer specialist, as I would not know how to transfer data, etc.), run my computer over with my car, or buy a new computer with Windows 7 (I have Windows Vista Home Edition, for which there is no Windows "upgrade") and have somebody who knows how transfer my files.

Does anyone know of a relatively east fix to my problem--or am I shafted?

Thank you!

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P.S. I just downloaded a trial edition of a fourth defragmenter called Diskeeper 2010 (which I believe the Windows Defragmenter is based upon), and it claims that my hard drive is fully defragmented! What the . . . ? How can one achieve such different results with it than with the other three defragmenters I tried (Auslogics, Defraggler, and SmartDefrag--which all showed problems!)?

[MarshallO]

P.S. I just downloaded a trial edition of a fourth defragmenter called Diskeeper 2010 (which I believe the Windows Defragmenter is based upon), and it claims that my hard drive is fully defragmented! What the . . . ? How can one achieve such different results with it than with the other three defragmenters I tried (Auslogics, Defraggler, and SmartDefrag--which all showed problems!)?

[rshaffer61]

Hello Marshall0.... Welcome to GeeksToGo,

I'm sorry to hear about your issue. We will try to help you resolve this as soon as possible.
Please understand we are all volunteers and we are not here all the time. Sometimes it may be a extended amount of time to get back to you. If it has been more then 3 days please shoot me a PM and I will try to get back to you quickly then.

I need to see the hard drive first before we do anything so please do the following.

Go to Start then to Run
Type in compmgmt.msc and click Enter
On left side click on Disk Management
On right side you will see you hard drive.
Now I need you to take a screenshot and attach it to your next reply. Do the following to take a screenshot while the above is open and showing on your desktop.

To do a screenshot please have click on your Print Screen on your keyboard. It is normally the key above your number pad between the F12 key and the Scroll Lock key
Now go to Start and then to All Programs
Scroll to Accessories and then click on Paint
In the Empty White Area click and hold the CTRL key and then click the V
Go to the File option at the top and click on Save as
Save as file type JPEG and save it to your Desktop


Attach it to your next reply

[MarshallO]

I couldn't figure-out how to save it to my desktop (it somehow went into Windows Photos). In any event, I think that I figured a way to show it to you, so here goes!

Thanks for any help!

[rshaffer61]

Have you tried to boot into Safe Mode and try to defrag?

[MarshallO]

No. Did my screenshot show that something is wrong? I've also run ChkDsk, and both it and Diskeeper don't seem to think that anything is wrong with the hard drive, or that it is defragmented. Then again, I'm not that computer literate!

My brother, who is a software engineer for NASA, thinks that defragmenting is an unnecessary thing to do in any case (except for maybe checking once a year). Is he right?

Thanks!

[rshaffer61]

Nope everything looks good with the screenshot.
I think defragging is good for a system.
I explain it this way
Say you get up in the morning to get dressed. Your clothes are all in one place and therefor you get dressed in a couple of minutes.
Now without defragging and in the same scenario and your clothes are now scattered over 3 rooms. You now have to hunt them down and a couple of minutes to get dressed now becomes 5 minutes.
Does that make sense?
A lot of techs will tell you just like your brother says but I myself think why take the chance.
We will check the hard drive now and make sure it is in good working order.

Go to
Start and then to Run
Type in Chkdsk /r Note the space between k and /
Click Enter ...It will probably ask if you want to do this on the next reboot...click Y
If the window doesn't shutdown on its own then reboot the system manually. On reboot the system will start the chkdsk operation
This one will take longer then chkdsk /f

Note... there are 5 stages...
It may appear to hang at a certain percent for a hour or more or even back up and go over the same area...this is normal...
DO NOT SHUT YOUR COMPUTER DOWN WHILE CHKDSK IS RUNNING OR YOU CAN HAVE SEVERE PROBLEMS
This can take several hours to complete.
When completed it will boot the system back into windows.

Let me know if this fixes the problem

[MarshallO]

I've always felt the way that you do about defragmenting, but my brother thinks I am an idiot. Since it was the only one to show good results after defragging, Diskeeper 2010 is probably a "keeper" (for $39.95). Since all of this defragging business started due to a keyboard and video "lag" problem (which most people seem to think is caused by a "spike" in CPU usage and not enough
RAM), he also thinks that Diskeeper is too much of a CPU "hog" (it will also defrag in the background, if wanted).

I got the following results using the Windows Error Checker earlier today, and chkdsk on C showed the following (which had to be done on a reboot), and D seemed okay.

The C results from that check are below. Is this same as the kind of chkdsk you wanted me to run, or is it not as complete?

Thanks!

Log Name: Application
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Wininit
Date: 1/16/2010 1:36:25 PM
Event ID: 1001
Task Category: None
Level: Information
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: Marshall-PC
Description:


Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is OS.


A disk check has been scheduled.
Windows will now check the disk.
119744 file records processed.

712 large file records processed.

0 bad file records processed.

0 EA records processed.

57 reparse records processed.

161816 index entries processed.

0 unindexed files processed.

119744 security descriptors processed.

Cleaning up 274 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 274 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 274 unused security descriptors.
21037 data files processed.

CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
34334104 USN bytes processed.

Usn Journal verification completed.
CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the
master file table (MFT) bitmap.
CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the volume bitmap.
Windows has made corrections to the file system.

145721343 KB total disk space.
40422804 KB in 94771 files.
54864 KB in 21038 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
230575 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
105013100 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
36430335 total allocation units on disk.
26253275 allocation units available on disk.

Internal Info:
c0 d3 01 00 6c c4 01 00 ac 1e 03 00 00 00 00 00 ....l...........
85 01 00 00 39 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ....9...........
42 00 00 00 12 75 40 77 a8 85 25 00 a8 7d 25 00 B....u@w..%..}%.

Windows has finished checking your disk.
Please wait while your computer restarts.

Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.micro.../events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-Wininit" Guid="{206f6dea-d3c5-4d10-bc72-989f03c8b84b}" EventSourceName="Wininit" />
<EventID Qualifiers="16384">1001</EventID>
<Version>0</Version>
<Level>4</Level>
<Task>0</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2010-01-16T21:36:25.000Z" />
<EventRecordID>65924</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID="0" ThreadID="0" />
<Channel>Application</Channel>
<Computer>Marshall-PC</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>

Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is OS.


A disk check has been scheduled.
Windows will now check the disk.
119744 file records processed.

712 large file records processed.

0 bad file records processed.

0 EA records processed.

57 reparse records processed.

161816 index entries processed.

0 unindexed files processed.

119744 security descriptors processed.

Cleaning up 274 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 274 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 274 unused security descriptors.
21037 data files processed.

CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
34334104 USN bytes processed.

Usn Journal verification completed.
CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the
master file table (MFT) bitmap.
CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the volume bitmap.
Windows has made corrections to the file system.

145721343 KB total disk space.
40422804 KB in 94771 files.
54864 KB in 21038 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
230575 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
105013100 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
36430335 total allocation units on disk.
26253275 allocation units available on disk.

Internal Info:
c0 d3 01 00 6c c4 01 00 ac 1e 03 00 00 00 00 00 ....l...........
85 01 00 00 39 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ....9...........
42 00 00 00 12 75 40 77 a8 85 25 00 a8 7d 25 00 B....u@w..%..}%.

Windows has finished checking your disk.
Please wait while your computer restarts.
</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>

Edited by MarshallO, 16 January 2010 - 05:17 PM.

[rshaffer61]

oK looks good. Now the next step you will probably need oyur XP disk but i am going to include the instructions for with and without the disk.
Is the main issue that the system is slow and lagging or is the defrag the issue?
We can pursue the slowness also during this topic if you would like.

Go Start and then to Run ("Start Search" in Vista),
Type in: sfc /scannow
Click OK (Enter in Vista).
Have Windows CD/DVD handy.
If System File Checker (sfc) finds any errors, it may ask you for the CD/DVD.
If sfc does not find any errors in Windows XP, it will simply quit, without any message.
In Vista you will receive the following message: "Windows resource protection did not find any integrity violations".

For Vista users ONLY: Navigate to C:\Windows\Logs\CBS folder. You'll see CBS.log file.
Usually, it's pretty big file, so upload it to Flyupload, and post download link.


If you don't have Windows CD....
This applies mostly to Windows XP, since Vista rarely requires use of its DVD while running "sfc"
Note This method will not necessarily work as well, as when using Windows CD, because not always ALL system files are backed up on your hard drive. Also, backed up files may be corrupted as well.

Go Start and then Run
type in regedit and click OK


Navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup

You will see various entries Values on the right hand side.

The one we want is called: SourcePath

It probably has an entry pointing to your CD-ROM drive, usually D and that is why it is asking for the XP CD.
All we need to do is change it to: C:
Now, double click the SourcePatch setting and a new box will pop up.
Change the drive letter from your CD drive to your root drive, usually C:
Close Registry Editor.

Now restart your computer and try sfc /scannow again!


Thanks to Broni for the instructions



Revised and Simplified:


Do you have a valid XP CD?

If so, place it in your CD ROM drive and follow the instructions below:

• Click on Start and select Run... type sfc /scannow (note the space) (Let this run undisturbed until the window with the blue progress bar goes away)

SFC - Which stands for System File Checker,
retrieves the correct version of the file from %Systemroot%\System32\Dllcache or the Windows installation source files, and then replaces the incorrect file.
If you want to see what was replaced, right-click My Computer and click on Manage. In the new window that appears, expand the Event Viewer (by clicking on the + symbol next to it) and then click on System.

[MarshallO]

I have Windows Vista Home Edition, so I don't have an XP disk. However, your instructions seem clear enough.

I really don't have a "slow" system. I just get occasional "lags" while typing, or short stops in videos.

Like you, it may be a while before I get back with my results, because I've already spent too much time on my computer today.

I'll see you soon, and thank you!

[MarshallO]

Final statement before shutting down. I had originally thought that the defragging problems and keyboard and video "lag" problems were separate entities, until someone suggested that defragging my disk might help stop the "lag" problems (which it seemed to to some degree, once I found the right defragger [Diskeeper 2010]). Nonetheless, I still get an occasional "lag"--at least while typing. Sometimes, I wonder if the problem really isn't severe enough to worry about, and go through all this effort. Unfortunately, I have OCD, and "obsess" over problems!

Again, thanks for your help, and see you soon!

[rshaffer61]

The instructions are subbed for Vista also. Normally Vista does not need the disk for SFC /Scannow to work

Edited by rshaffer61, 16 January 2010 - 05:39 PM.

[MarshallO]

I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to reply, but my area has been undergoing power outages.

I just tried the sfc /scannow and it didn't seem to function properly! After going through a "verification phase," it just went dead! I have Vista Home Edition, which some people have told me is basically XP, so maybe that was that! However, since it said it was going through that one "phase," I would have assumed that there would have been MORE "phases!"

Was that ALL that it was supposed to do?

People have been doing all sorts of things to help me with my occasional keyboard and video lags, too, all to no avail. I've tried a "clean boot," and Heavens knows what else (I'm not that computer literate), but I still have that lag!

I'm so frustrated, I'm just about to run this computer over with my car!

[MarshallO]

"Flyupload" is now called "Enterupload." I don't know if I did it right, but, hopefully, here is my CBS file, with today's results near the end.

CBS.log - 2.8 Mb

I haven't a clue as to what I am doing!

Thanks,

MARSHALL

[MarshallO]

Well--that didn't work. They wanted somebody to PAY for it! I'll try again.

http://www.enteruplo...yh/CBS.log.html