Use Disk Defragmenter to Boost PC Performance

What is defragmentation?

Defragmentation occurs when your PC starts to break files up and placing them in separate locations. Windows always stores files where there is room, so the more full your hard drive gets, the smaller the pieces each file gets broken down into to fit. You can imagine that after awhile your hard drive will be full of hundreds of these fractional files stored all over the place.

As you would assume, this tends to slow your PC’s operating speed to a stagger, or even a crawl. The response time for files becomes longer and longer because your operating system can’t access all of the information in the same place. When you open the file, your computer has to piece it all back together again.

How do I fix the slowness?

Defragmenting your PC involves a process that puts all of the pieces and parts of the fragmented files back together again. All of the directories are reorganized, the files are stored whole, and your operating speed should immediately pick up.

Microsoft gives a good explanation of how you can defrag your PC using Windows’ Disk Defragmenter, which is a utility that consolidates fragmented files and folders on your computer's hard disk so that each occupies a single space on the disk. With your files stored neatly end-to-end, without fragmentation, reading and writing to the disk speeds up.

When to Run Disk Defragmenter

Microsoft suggests, in addition to running Disk Defragmenter at monthly intervals there are other times you should consider running it too. For instance when:

1.      You add a several new files, especially large ones.

2.      The total of free disk space on your PC equals 15 percent or less.

3.      You install new programs or a new version of Windows.

To Use Disk Defragmenter:

1.      Click Start and open All Programs. Click Accessories and then open System Tools. Click on Disk Defragmenter. Click on the selection “Analyze disk to start the Disk Defragmenter.”

2.      In the Disk Defragmenter box, click the drives that you want to defragment, and then click the Analyze button (analyzing drives will also let you know how long defragmenting will take). After the disk is analyzed, a dialog box will appear to tell you whether you should defragment the drive.

3.      Next, click on the Defragment disk button. Under the Progress column in most operating systems, the Current Status area will monitor the defrag process. After it is complete, the Disk Defragmenter will display the results for you.

4.      If you want a detailed synopsis of the defragmented drive, you can click on View Report.

In Windows 7, you can also schedule the Disk Defragmenter to run automatically, and your computer might be set up this way by default. Under Schedule, it reads “Scheduled defragmentation is turned on,” and it displays the time of day and how often defragmentation is scheduled. If you want to turn off automatic defragmentation or change the settings, click the Configure schedule (or Turn on Schedule, if it is not currently configured to run automatically). Then change the settings, then click OK.