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Help with disabling certain background items, prior to running ScanDisk or Disk Defragmenter

The following is based on Windows 98SE - use the equivalent steps if you have Windows 95 or Me.

To disable a Screen Saver

Right-click on a blank part of the desktop > Properties > Screen Saver tab > at the Screen Saver field, choose None.

To disable Power Management

While still at the Screen Saver dialog, at Energy Saving Features, click the Settings button > at 'Power schemes', choose Always On > at System Standby, choose Never > at 'Turn off hard disks', choose Never > at 'Turn off monitor' (if available), choose Never > Apply > OK.

To disable TaskMonitor (Win98, 98SE, and Me only)

Windows TaskMonitor (taskmon.exe) is NOT the same thing as Task Scheduler or Task Manager (taskman.exe).  TaskMonitor is a special utility provided only with Win98/Me.  Its purpose is to enable Disk Defragmenter to give most priority to optimising the programs you use the most, at the sensible expense of those you use the least, so that your key programs will open faster.  However, TaskMonitor can also be one of the main and generally unrecognized culprits behind the not-uncommon failure of ScanDisk or Disk Defragmenter to complete their operations (in Win98 or Me).  People who have taken every other documented precaution to try to ensure ScanDisk and Defrag will run, without interruption, can still get caught out by TaskMonitor because it runs secretly, from the Windows' registry, and is invisible when you look in the End Tasks' window via Ctrl+Alt+Del.  TaskMonitor can only be disabled via the registry but, fortunately, this can be done remotely and, therefore, safely, by anybody.  To do so, click Start > Run > type in msconfig > OK > at the System Configuration Utility window, click the Startup tab > look for an item in there called TaskMonitor and, if there is a tick against it, remove the tick > Apply > OK.  The PC will need to restart for the new setting to take effect.  After the computer has booted, restart it again, but this time into Safe Mode, and you will be ready to run ScanDisk without, all being well, any interruption.  Although you are disabling TaskMonitor before running ScanDisk and Disk Defragmenter, TaskMonitor's latest program-usage profile will still be updated and made available to Defrag when you later open Defrag's window to run the defrag.

TaskMonitor does not need to be reticked after the defrag.  This is because it has already built up a schedule of your most-used programs.  To have TaskMonitor running ad infinitum, building up an ever-growing, ever more complex schedule, can lead to unreliability in Windows.  For more info, go to our main Menu page, later, and look up our separate article on using TaskMonitor with maximum effectiveness.

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