You’ll notice that this confirmation dialog box carries a stern warning about completely disabling virtual memory. In addition to the warning that computer performance may decrease significantly, the message also warns that you may be unable to restart your computer.
As far as the performance warning is concerned, yes, your system will not be performing optimally. However, since for this technique it's only a temporary change, that isn’t a big concern. As to the warning about not being able to restart your computer, I can tell you that I’ve never encountered this situation. However, that’s not to say that it won’t happen. Just in case, you should be prepared to work through this scenario. Having a Windows 98 Startup Disk on hand should be all you need to get the system back up and running.
Once you click Yes to confirm that you do indeed want to continue, you’ll return to the System Properties dialog box. To continue, click Close. You’ll then be prompted to restart your computer. However, you need to click No.
Installing the hidden tool
In order to install the hidden tool, you’ll need to have on hand a Windows 98 CD. Once you insert the CD in the drive, you’ll see the Windows 98 CD-ROM menu. Select the Browse This CD option. When you see Windows Explorer, drill down to the Tools\Mtsutil folder. At this point, locate and right-click the Defrag.inf file. Then, select the Install command from the shortcut menu. When you do, you won’t notice anything happening. However, in the background, the install operation adds the special command, Defrag/All, to the RunServicesOnce key in the Registry.
It’s a one-time deal
Keep in mind that, as the name implies, the change to the registry implemented by the Defrag.inf tool will only be effective once. It will be automatically removed after the command is launched.
To continue, close Windows Explorer, the Windows 98 CD-ROM menu, and any other open windows. Then, restart Windows 98. When you do, Windows 98 will begin to start normally, but then before the operating system is completely initialized, Disk Defragmenter will launch before anything else loads from the registry, the StartUp folder, or the Win.ini file. It will then be able to complete the defragmentation operation uninterrupted. Once Disk Defragmenter completes its job, close it down and let the system start normally. You’ll then need to reenable virtual memory.
Reenabling virtual memory
To reenable virtual memory, return to the Virtual Memory dialog box, as described earlier. Then, select the Let Me Specify My Own Virtual Memory Settings option and click OK. When you do, you’ll see the Confirm Virtual Memory Settings dialog box and will want to click Yes. To complete the operation, close the System Properties dialog box, and click Yes when you’re prompted to restart your system.
Copy the shortcut
If you’d like to be able to defragment your hard drive regularly using this technique, you can copy the Defrag.inf file to a folder on your hard drive. That way you can access it quickly and easily the next time you want to perform a defragmentation operation.
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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