Topic: My Hard Drive Cannot Be Defragged

Question:

I run Windows XP Pro and am experiencing a couple of problems with my computer. I use Windows Update regularly. After doing an update, I usually defrag the hard drive. However, I now receive a message saying that the hard drive cannot be
defragged. What is the cause of this, and how can I solve the problem?

Answer:

Defrag issues:

The defrag problem can have numerous possible causes. Also, there's more than one issue going on here (and a lot of the answer depends on how your system was built to begin with). So, we’ll tackle these problems one at a time. A couple of scenarios could cause you to be unable to defrag your hard drive, and each of them is very specific.