In almost all cases, the chunks of data at the beginning of the hard disk are unmovable areas belonging to the swap file associated with Windows 98’s Virtual Memory management scheme. My research and the success of my solution leads me to believe that the cause of the “Drive contents changed: restarting…” message is a combination of Disk Defragmenter itself and Windows 98’s Dynamic Virtual Memory management scheme.
When Disk Defragmenter encounters the swap file, it will bump into a very large chunk of the hard disk marked as unmovable and will have to begin moving large chunks of data all around it in order to place files that fall before and after the swap file in contiguous order. As this occurs, Disk Defragmenter seems to depend on the swap file to assist the utility in the data move operation. If the swap file itself is heavily fragmented, then Windows 98, with its Dynamic Virtual Memory management scheme, must make adjustments to the size of the swap file. When this occurs, there is obviously hard disk activity that causes the drive contents to change and thus causes Disk Defragmenter to start all over.
Configuring Disk Defragmenter to automatically disable screen saver
If you want to ensure that the screen saver does not launch while you
are defragmenting your hard disk, you can configure Disk Defragmenter
to automatically disable the screen saver when it is running by adding
a little setting to the registry. To begin, you’ll launch the Registry
Editor by typing Regedit.exe in the Run dialog box. Once the Registry Editor is up and running, navigate through the following subkeys:
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER
- Software
- Microsoft
- Windows
- CurrentVersion
- Applets
The solution: An overview
Working with this theory in mind, I discovered this solution to the problem of the never-ending defrag operation. To begin, disable virtual memory completely. Then use the hidden tool to configure Windows 98 to automatically run Disk Defragmenter on startup, but before the operating system is completely initialized. Once Disk Defragmenter completely defragments the hard disk, all the empty space is at the end of the disk. You then reenable virtual memory, which forces Windows to put the swap file at the very end of the hard disk. Here are directions on all of these steps.
Disabling virtual memory
Disabling virtual memory is a relatively simple operation. To begin, open Control Panel and double-click on the System icon. Then, select the Performance tab and click the Virtual Memory button near the bottom of the tab. At this point, you’ll see the Virtual Memory dialog box shown in Figure B.
Figure B: The Virtual Memory dialog box allows you to alter the swap file.
Next, select the Let Me Specify My Own Virtual Memory Settings option. When you do, you’ll see that the settings below it become active, as shown in Figure C.
Figure C: When you select the Let Me Specify My Own Virtual Memory Settings option, the settings are enabled.
Now, select the Disable Virtual Memory check box. To complete the operation, click OK to close the Virtual Memory dialog box. As soon as you do, you’ll see the Confirm Virtual Memory Settings dialog box, as shown in Figure D.
Figure D: You’ll be prompted to confirm the change you made to the virtual memory settings.
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Any suggestions on where I can go to download defrag.inf? I am unable to locate the CD that you speck of...and I have been unable to find a downloadable version. Regardless, thanks for your article.
Posted by anonymous on Monday, April 11 2005 03:30 AM