The Problem

One of the most important and often overlooked functions that computer users should perform on a regular basis is Microsoft Window’s Disk Defragmenter. Imagine that you work in an office with a large filing cabinet and each time you pull out a file, instead of filing it away when you’ve finished, you throw it across the room! Naturally, next time you need the file, it takes ages to locate it! That’s exactly what Microsoft Windows does with your computer files. Over time, it slowly fragments your files, storing parts of each file in random physical locations spread out across your hard drive. As a result, your files will take longer and longer to access. The solution is to defrag your hard drive.

Putting it back together

Defragmenting the hard drive will keep your hard drive running efficiently. It speeds up your computer and should be done at least once a month to keep the computer working at maximum efficiency. It works by rearranging the files so that each file is stored in a contiguous collection of disk sectors on your hard drive. This makes reading and writing files much faster.

Defragmenting your drive is not difficult. Simply select Start => All Programs => Assessories => System Tools => Disk Defragmentor and then select the disk you want to defrag which most likely will be the “C” drive.

The Disk Defragmenter displays two options, Analyze and Defragment. Analyze will tell you if you need to defrag the hard drive, but if you haven’t done it for a while then it’s probably time to do so.

Once you start the process, it’s best to leave the computer alone. Defragging your drive uses up a lot of system resources and will slow the computer down. Although the defrag process can be paused or stopped, it’s advised not to. it can take up to a few hours or more depending on the size of the drive and how much information is stored on it.