Disk Defragmenter

Does your computer seem slower than it used to be? You may need to run Disk Defragmenter to speed things up.

As you work on your PC, files are created, deleted, and modified. Files stored on your hard drive are brought into RAM memory and virtual memory for easy access. As files are transferred back and forth from the hard drive they become fragmented. In other words the files are stored in pieces or fragments, in different areas of the hard drive. That means that the next time that a file is needed, the hard drive heads, which read the data, have to locate all of the fragments before it can be loaded into memory. This locating of fragments takes extra time, and although the time we're talking about is only a second or less, over time it adds up and becomes perceptible to us. Fortunately, you can counteract this process easily.

HOW TO RUN DISK DEFRAGMENTER

You can access Disk Defragmenter several different ways. One way is to click on the START button, then ALL PROGRAMS, then ACCESSORIES, then SYSTEM TOOLS, and then click on Disk Defragmenter.

Disk Defragmenter

Or, you can open My Computer and right-click on the drive (usually C:) that you want to defrag. Then click on Properties from the resulting menu. From the Properties window click on the TOOLS tab. In the middle of the TOOLS tab window, under Defragmentation, click on the "Defragment Now..." button.

Disk Defragmenter

Once you open the Defragmenter MMC (Microsoft Management Console) you will see the window shown below. Near the top you should see all of the existing volumes on all of your hard drives. You must select or highlight the drive that you want to defragment if you have more than one. If you only have one, like mine here, a selection is not necessary.

Near the bottom of the MMC you'll see several buttons. You can click on the "Analyze" button and the defragmenter will scan your hard drive and then tell you if your hard drive needs to be defragmented. Or, you can just click on the defragment button and the process will begin.

Disk Defragmenter

Once the process begins the MMC will look similar to the one below. You'll notice different colors in the two windows. Red is for fragmented files, so if you see a lot red you really need to defragment. Green is for unmovable system files, blue is for contiguous files, and white is open space. Ideally, what you want to see is solid blocks of green and blue and white.

Disk Defragmenter

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