Disk Defragmenter
Windows XP:
Introduction
Defragmentation is also known as defragging and defrag. It is an important
procedure in the maintenance of your computer and will help to keep it
running fast and smooth.
Over a period of time files stored on your hard drive become misplaced. They
are not lost but moved/split to elsewhere on your hard drive.
Imagine your hard drive as being a huge filing cabinet and initially
everything is in its correct order but the person maintaining the filing
cabinet does not do the best of jobs and doesn't keep the files in any
semblance of order. As a result it takes you longer to find a file stored in
the cabinet.
This happens with your own computer. Every time you download something from
the internet, create or delete a file or folder or install any new software
will result in the misplacement of files etc.
What happens is that your Computer does not always save a file or folder in
one place on your hard drive. Your computer finds the first available space
for the installation. Sometimes the first available space is not large
enough to hold all the files in relation to what you are installing/saving.
As a result your computer looks for the next available space to continue
with the installation and so on until the installation is complete. This
results in files and folders being saved in different areas on your hard
drive.
Every time you delete a file, folder or program an empty space is created.
As you save new files and folders these empty spaces are filled and as
previously stated sometimes the space is not large enough for the new file,
folder or program. As a result the next available space is then aquired to
continue the installation. This process is known as fragmentation.
Fragmentation causes your computer to run slower than usual because your
computer has to work harder to find what you have requested due to the files
and folders being saved on different areas of your hard drive. If nothing is
done about fragmentation then eventually your computer will run at a snails
pace.
What can I do?
Microsoft operating systems include a disk defragmentation tool
appropriately called Disk Defragmenter and it can be accessed by
going to Start>>all programs>>accessories>>system
tools>>disk defragmenter.
Once the program is open you will see that you have the option to analyze or
defragment. Clicking on analyze will cause the program to examine in
detail the structure of your hard drive (normally called C:) and will result
in a pop up window informing you that either you do or do not require to
defragment. You will notice that the fragmented files are colored
red
and the contiguous files are colored
blue,
these are the files that are either very close with each other or are
connected. Unmovable files are colored
green
and the space left on your hard drive is the remaining white background. The
best result would be a solid blue block, a small green block and no red
block.
Just because the program tells you that 'you do not need to defragment' does
not mean that you can't or should not. Just click defragment and the
program will run its course and tidy up all the files on your computer
resulting in faster performance.
It is not necessary to defragment on a daily basis. It depends on how often
you use your computer and what you do. However, it would be good practice to
run 'Disk Defragmenter' on a monthly basis.
Happy Computing.
Windows Vista:
In the Vista Operating System, the Disk Defragmenter runs automatically by default. This is because of the new Instant Search feature that Vista uses to find files on your hard drive. Since the hard drive is constantly indexing files, the need for regular defragmenting is necessary.
Tjolly
Admin
5 Star Support Forums
Related material:
What could be causing my computer to run so
slowly?
Using The Disk Cleanup Tool