Unable to run Windows Disk Defrag Utility

I've recently been clearing space off my HD and using registry cleaners. Everything is working fine, except I just realised I cannot run Disk Defrag. My old System Restore points have now been removed as well, so I can't go back to whenever it was that it worked.

If I try to run dfrag.msc I get a message saying that Windows cannot open the file and needs to know what program created it. So it seems not to recognise the .msc extension.

How could I go about restoring this utility on Xp Home and Pro? I don't have any Windows XP CDs as the OS was pre-installed.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Swishsticks

Ahh, one letter too many. Try dfrg.msc.

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Actually, it was a typo. I did run dfrg.msc.

If only it were that easy!

Swishsticks

Type this in the run box: %SystemRoot%\System32\dfrg.msc

If it does not come up, it must of gotten deleted. Do you have SP2 installed? If not, I'd have to find a machine with SP1.

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Hello James, thanks for your reply.

In System 32 I do have dfrg.msc, and three .exe files: defrag.exe, dfrgfat.exe and dfrgntfs.exe.

When I do Start/Run on dfrg.msc I get the message that Windows cannot open the file, and it asks to find the program that created it, either by looking on the web or by selecting a program from a list.

Do I need to associate one of the .exe files with the .msc file, and if so which one? Is it maybe a registry problem, since I definitely did not delete anything from the system 32 folder.

I am running XP Pro with Sp2 installed. My file system is NTFS. Any suggestions welcome.

Thanks.

Swishsticks

Try to run the defrag.exe and see what happans.

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Associate it with defrag.exe. That should work for you.

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It's now working. Actually, it turned out to be quite simple. When I clicked on the "Choose a program from a list", one of the titles was Microsoft Management Console. I associated it with that and the defrag utility worked fine. Well, we live and learn.

Had the same problem on my laptop without a recommended program being given, which stumped me for a while. However, I discovered that in the system32 folder there is a file called mmc.exe. Any snap-ins like Disk Defrag need to be associated with this file to work. Disk Defrag is just one of the items that work from within the Managment Console. There are some help topics available for the Console and for troubleshooting it.

I downloaded a trial of Perfect Disk while the Microsoft utility had gone AWOL, and it is such a good program that I might just buy it and use it instead. I particularly like the boot time defrag, which I think the in-house defrag does not do.

Thanks for your help everyone. I hope you don't mind if I post a couple more queries here over the next few days? I would describe myself as an intermediate+ user, which means I am learning how things fit together and am prepared to carefully tweak with my system, but occasionally (well, perhaps quite often) I have no idea what I'm doing. Your support forum looks like a great place to fill in a few gaps. Good work!

Swishsticks

Hm, I would of suggested MMC.exe next. Good job on figuring it out. When I installed SP2 on my mothers PC, I had to reassociate IE with iexplore.exe. You can create a lot of custom consoles in the MMC snap-in.

Feel free to ask as many questions as you like.

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GOTO c:\windows\system32

double click MMC

"Add" snap-ins

enjoy :-)

P.S. haven't figured out how to "save" the new console but it will allow use of Defrag, Computer Management, etc...

Will continue to work on this.

God bless,

Christoph