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1. #How often realisticly should i defrag my computer full#
2. #How often realisticly should i defrag my computer free#
3. #How often realisticly should i defrag my computer windows#

#How often realisticly should i defrag my computer free#

The amount of time required to complete the defragmentation process will vary based on the size of the hard drive, available free space, amount of data stored on the drive, speed of the drive, and the level of file fragmentation. Smaller fragments are shifted into free areas of the drive and slowly sorted and resaved as continuous files. The Defragment button simply begins work on organizing your file fragments into continuous files.

#How often realisticly should i defrag my computer windows#

If you choose to analyze your drive before defragmenting it, Windows will give you its suggestion as to whether you should or should not defragment the drive. The second graph will show the expected level of file fragmentation should you decide to defragment the drive. Files that cannot be defragmented are represented by different colors. The first graph shows the number of fragmented versus non-fragmented files. The Analyze button creates two informational graphs that can help you determine how badly fragmented the files on your hard drive have become. Once you have selected the drive you wish to defragment, you will be presented with two options: Analyze or Defragment.

When the Disk Defragmenter Utility opens you will need to left click on the drive you wish to defragment (if you have more than one hard drive). Once you have closed any unnecessary programs or files, you can access the Disk Defragmenter by left clicking on Start, then on All Programs, then on Accessories, then on System tools, and finally on Disk Defragmenter. With no programs or files open, the utility is free to defragment every file on the drive with the exception of certain Windows files that are in use. This prevents any applications from loading when your computer boots, including your antivirus and firewall software. To get an even more thorough defragmentation you can reboot your computer into Safe Mode by pressing the F8 key when your computer is booting before the Windows XP splash screen appears. Although you can continue to work as your computer is defragmenting its hard drive, you will get a more complete defragmentation if you do not have programs or files open during the defragmentation process. The Windows Disk Defragmenter can only defragment files that are not in use. Windows XP comes with a defragmentation tool appropriately called Disk Defragmenter. Since you hard drive can now read the fragments as one continuous file, your computer will perform faster than it did in its fragmented state.

Regularly defragmenting your hard drive will take all of the file fragments that are scattered about your drive and organize them into complete files. Over time, hard drives can become so fragmented that they begin to boot slower that they used to or seem sluggish when performing common tasks. It takes time for the mechanical components of your hard drive to skip all over your drive and locate all of the fragments of a single file. The same concept applies to your hard drive. It would take a lot more time to read the fragmented story than it would have if the story was printed on a single page. Now imagine that you are required to move to a different page after each paragraph of the story. It takes you some time to open the paper, turn to the proper page, and find the story to continue reading. After a few paragraphs you are asked to turn to another page to continue reading the story. To better understand the concept, imagine picking up today’s newspaper and reading a front page article.

Organizing these scattered file fragments into one continuous file on your hard drive is called defragmenting. Because the computer must work harder to read a particular file or program, it takes more time to complete even a simple task like sending an email. This process of saving file fragments in the first available slot on your hard drive forces your computer to work harder to read an entire file from start to finish. Unlike a neatly organized filing cabinet, your computer breaks up large files into smaller file fragments tailored to fill the first available free spaces on your hard drive. While a computer’s hard drive is very precise in remembering where it has stored your data, it does tend to store it in some strange places from time to time.

#How often realisticly should i defrag my computer full#

It might surprise you to find that the data that appears to be so neatly organized inside files and folders on your computer is actually more jumbled than a bucket full of Scrabble letters.