This is why computers often lag behind when you first start using them. They’re still loading the new software and data from the disk, and it’s taking a while for that to all be processed.
Eventually though, you uninstall an application or delete some music files and those empty areas are now in between other pieces of data. When something new is written to the disk, it fills up these various empty spots and gets broken up into separate parts on the hard disk. Now when the computer goes to read the data, it has to jump to different positions on the disk and it obviously takes longer to load the data.
Running the Defrag utility will take all the files that are separated and join them back into one piece. It will also take all the free empty spots on the hard drive and make one block of free space. This will make it much easier for the operating system to find and load the data.
Windows XP doesn’t have a defragmenter built in, so you have to do it manually. Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 have a defragmenter that runs automatically. However, if you have an SSD installed, Windows 7 and Windows 8 will turn off the defragmentation process to avoid wear on the SSD. ..
Open Disk Defrag Utility
Disk Defragmenter can help optimize your computer’s performance by reorganizing the files on your hard drive.
By optimizing your computer, you can speed up the loading of programs and web pages, and reduce the number of errors that occur. ..
The Defrag utility can be accessed by clicking on Start – All Programs – Accessories – System Tools and Disk Defragmenter.
Windows 8 users can defragment their hard drive by searching for Disk Defragmenter in the Start Screen or by using the Charms bar and clicking on Search. ..
Windows XP Disk Defragmenter
The Analyze button on the hard drive fragmentation report will tell you how much of your hard drive is currently fragmented. If you see that a majority of your hard drive is fragmented, then you may need to defragment it.
Before you defragment your computer, close all programs and remove any obstructions from the path. Defragmenter will restart if anti-virus software is running because it accesses files on the hard drive which the defragmenting program may be trying to move.
Computer users should try to defrag their machines every month, as it is a good practice.
-It can’t defrag files that are in use by the operating system or applications. -It can’t defrag files that are larger than 4GB. -It can’t defrag files that are in use by more than one user at the same time. ..
Disk defragmentation can only be done on local volumes. It can only defragment one volume at a time. It cannot defragment one volume while it is scanning another. Defragmentation can be scheduled using the Defrag.exe command line tool, if needed. ..
Defragmenting your XP computer will keep it running smoothly and fast. However, you should definitely not use XP anymore and instead use a more modern operating system like Linux or MacOS.
Windows 7 & Windows 8 Disk Defragmenter
In Windows 7, you can get to the disk defragmenter by clicking on the Start button and searching for it.
As you can see below, the user interface is completely different than the one in XP. As a matter of fact, they completely removed the graphical representation of the disk when you click Analyze Disk. Instead it just does the analysis and shows the percent fragmented.
Windows 8 has a new interface called Optimize Drives that lets you schedule defragmentation every week at 1am. If you don’t turn off your computer every night, your hard drives will be defragmented without you having to do anything.
The optimization schedule is weekly and there is really nothing you need to change unless you want to run an optimization.
