Following the execution of Disk Defragmenter (which I repeated three times in a row) the fragmentation graphic display shows red segments (i.e. fragmented files). However, the defragmentation report states there are no remaining fragmented files. This seems inconsistent. Also, Disk Cleanup takes forever to complete the ‘Scanning: Compress old files’ stage. Meanwhile, the CPU is working at full steam. How can I resolve these issues? The computer is running Windows XP.

The Disk Defragmenter may appear to be displaying inconsistent results between the ‘Estimated disk usage after defragmentation’ graphical display and the defragmentation report. Since the defragmentation report states there are no fragmented files following the execution of Disk Defragmenter and no files failed the defragmentation process, I am unsure why the graphical display still shows some red lines indicating fragmentation. An article on Microsoft TechNet explaining the Disk Defragmenter window comments that the graphical displays are less detailed descriptions of the process compared with the reports and some discrepancies may exist between these two results. The article comments ‘for precise, numerical figures, see analysis and defragmentation reports’. Therefore, if the report states there are no fragmented files on the hard drive following the defragmentation process, this is probably a more reliable measure than the graphical display of fragmentation.

Regarding the second problem of the Disk Cleanup utility hanging on the ‘Scanning: Compress old files’ stage, this is a known issue with Disk Cleanup. It can be caused when there is a registry error preventing Disk Cleanup from properly locating compressed files. To fix this issue, you will need to edit the Windows registry to amend the incorrect entry. Full instructions on performing this procedure are available at Microsoft Knowledge Base: support.microsoft.com/kb/812248 .