Disk Defragmenter & Not Responding(s)

I have tried numerous times over the last couple of weeks (maybe longer) to run Disk Defragmenter and each time it freezes up. I get no farther than choosing to defragment and there is no response from the program. It says Not Responding at the top and when I do Ctrl + Alt + Delete and do end task there it does not end the task.

Another problem I have been having is difficulty in shutting down my computer and starting it up. I get different "not responding" messages. Sometimes it is ccApp not responding. Other times it is explorer.exe and most recently mmc.exe (that could be to do with disk defragmenter?). There was another one but I didn't write it down I think it was DefAlert_... Then when I try to restart the computer the start menu bar at the bottom is nowhere to be seen and I seem to have no other choice then to turn the computer off via the button.

Can anyone please give me any idea what the problem is and how I can fix it? Please keep in mind I am a sort of computer repair novice. Is there any hope for me or should I contact a professional?

Thank you!!

The apps you point out are all Norton.

What Norton software do you use?

You can go to start Run... msconfig | Startup

Here you can uncheck Norton apps from starting. Most are in the vein of ccApp.

This is just a diagnostic test to see if Norton is your problem which it very well may be. Norton software is very troublesome.

If you do this then try Defrag again. Or try it in Safe Mode ( F8 ) prior to XP starting.

If you have Norton System Works they have their own defrag which might be complicating matters.

Hello, and thank you for your reply.

The Norton that I have is the Internet Security with the AntiVirus but I have not purchased a subscription for it since it expired.. I wouldn't have thought that would have anything to do with it because it has been expired now for nearly 1 1/2 years.

I did what you said and unchecked ccAApp from the startup list in msconfig. I restarted and tried to run the defragmenter and it froze up (not responding) when it got to 1%.

I restarted the computer in safe mode and tried again and it didn't even get to 1% before it froze up (not responding).

So you think this is pretty much all Norton messing things up? Is it possible to uninstall it? If so which AntiVirus/Internet Security program do you recommend?

Another thing is when I unchecked ccAApp and restarted I was still able to access the internet but not particular sites (I.E. yahoo mail, could not open yahoo messenger etc) Is this a firewall thing? How do I change that?

Thank you for your time!!!

Download and run the Norton Removal Tool.

AVG Free is a good alternative. Updates free every day and is far less intrusive.

The firewall in XP should be sufficient for most people or you can try COMODO. Also free.

You may have to check your IE settings if those particular web sites continue to fail.

Check with your internet provider, many are including free virus protection now.
It would be a simple download, and then should run similar to the Norton.
An expired Norton is not going to download the latest updates, and leave your computer vulnerable to harm.