BAC Software Consulting Blog

How To Fix Disk Defragmenter Failing to Start in Windows

Have you encountered when you Click on the Disk Defragmenter tool, nothing happened? Or when you Right Click on the Disk Defragmenter tool and choose Open, or “Run as Administrator” nothing happened? If you did, then this tutorial might help you with a solution.

I am using Windows Vista Ultimate (64-bit) Operating System, and I am sure that the Disk Defragmenter problem has to do with an ongoing error on my computer as I described in a previous tutorial: How To Fix ´Failed to Connect to a Windows Service´ Error.

My Solution To the Disk Defragmenter Not Starting

My solution to the Disk Defragmenter Not opening is to make sure that the Task Scheduler has started. The Task Scheduler enables users to configure and schedule automated tasks on their computer. If this service has somehow stopped, these tasks will not be run at their scheduled times and also any services that explicitly depend on it, like Disk Defragmenter, will fail to start.

Here is my solution:

  1. Click the Start button.
  2. Click on Administrative Tools.
  3. Scroll down and Click on Services.
  4. Once the Services Console has opened, scroll down and double click the Task Scheduler to open the dialog box.
  5. In the General tab, if you notice that all buttons are greyed out (inactive), and more specifically the “Startup type”, and the “Start”, “Stop”, “Pause” and “Resume” buttons are greyed-out then STOP RIGHT HERE, it seems that you have a different problem and this tutorial will not help you. Check out the Reference section below for help.
  6. Otherwise, In the General tab of the Services Console make sure the the Startup type is set to Automatic, and in the Service status: click the Start button then press OK.
  7. Go ahead and click on the Disk Defragmenter, and see if it opens now.

A second method to get to the Services Console is by clicking on the Start button , then type services.msc at the search box and hit enter.

A Third method to get to the Services Console is by pressing the shortcut keys: Winkey + R, then type at the command line services.msc and press enter or click OK.

Did you know that the Task Scheduler is also responsible to run Windows Automatic Backup feature, in Backup and Restore Center tool for Windows Vista. This tool is called Backup and Restore for Windows 7.

Where is Disk Defragmenter? {Windows Vista/7}

There are several ways you can get to the Disk Defragmenter in Windows Vista or Windows 7. You could either:

  1. Click the Start button, and then double click on to expand All Programs, then click on Accessories, then System Tools, and finally click on Disk Defragmenter.
  2. OR: Click on the Start button, then type dfrgui at the search box and hit enter.
  3. OR: Press the shortcut keys: Winkey + R, then type at the command line dfrgui and press enter or click OK.

Your Turn to Talk

In this tutorial, I showed you the steps I took to resolve the issue of the Disk Defragmenter Failing to Start for Windows operating system.

26 Best Free Content Management Systems (CMS)

And you thought there are only three. This is my Twelfth post in this series. It is a convenient list, a one stop shop if you like, of the best free self-hosted Content Management Systems available these days.

What is a Content Management System?

A CMS or more specifically a Web Content Management System is a software system that provides Website authoring, collaboration, and administration tools designed to allow users with little knowledge of Web programming languages or markup languages to create and manage Website content with relative ease. A robust WCMS provides the foundation for collaboration, offering users the ability to manage documents and for multiple author editing and participation. Most systems use a database to store page content, metadata, and other information.

Which CMS to choose?

That is up to you, your needs and what programming languages your Web server support. I personally use Joomla and WordPress. But I can´t discount any of the others, that´s why they are listed here for you to choose from. To help you better make an informed decision to narrow your choices, try this CMS Comparison tool, and also try the CMS demos listed here. And most importantly, before you install your CMS software, make sure that your Web server meets the technical requirement.

For this post, I followed three criteria for choosing the best Content Management Systems.

  1. Free.
  2. In active development: still being updated and maintained (at least since 2010).
  3. In my opinion, the best.

Place your cursor over each image and link for a short description. Also try out the CMS software demos before you install. All links are External. Good Luck!

1. PHP based

The following Content Management Systems are mainly written in PHP scripting language. Your Web server must be capable of running PHP among other technical requirements.

  1. Joomla
  2. SPIP
  3. WordPress
  4. Drupal
  5. CMS Made Simple
  6. Typo3
  7. Concrete5
  8. Textpattern
  9. e107
  10. SilverStripe
  11. GetSimple
  12. Symphony
  13. sNews
  14. Contao
  15. Kajona
  16. Wolf CMS
  17. Pligg

Really Unique CMS Groupware

Tiki is one of the most feature-rich CMS packages. In fact, Tiki is the Open Source Web Application with the most built-in features. Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware, has all the integrated features you need “out-of-the-box”, like:

  • Wikis (like Wikipedia)
  • Forums (like phpBB)
  • Blogs (like WordPress)
  • Articles (like Yahoo News)
  • Image Gallery (like Flickr)
  • Map Server (like Google Maps)
  • Link Directory (like DMOZ)
  • Multilingual (like Babel Fish)
  • Bug Tracker (like Bugzilla)
  • RSS Feeds (like Digg)
  • Free Open Source software (LGPL)

2. Java based

The following CMS is written in Java programming language.

  1. OpenCms

3. ASP.NET based

The following 2 Content Management Systems are based on the ASP.NET framework.

  1. DotNetNuke
  2. MonoX

4. Python based

Plone CMS is mainly written in Python programming language. There are also other languages used within the project.

  1. Plone

5. Ruby based

The following 3 Content Management Systems are written in Ruby programming language as a Ruby on Rails Web application

  1. Radiant
  2. Refinery
  3. BrowserCMS

6. Perl based

Movable Type is mainly written in Perl programming language. PHP scripting language is also used for dynamic publishing.

  1. Movable Type

Your Turn to Talk

There are many more free Content Management Systems that did not make the list. Which CMS do you use? Do you have any others you think I should add? or anything else to say?