The disk defragmenter comes as part of your Windows software. It's hiding in the Start Menu under "Accessories" and "System Tools". The biggest question I get when people find it is "What does it do?" Below we'll talk about what the disk defragmenter does and why you should use it.
Think of your hard drive as a nice, neat pile of papers on your desk. Now imagine what happens to that pile of paper as you add and remove various things during the day. For some the pile may stay more or less organized, but for a lot of people the pile grows and spreads into two piles and then three and so on. Eventually you have multiple stacks of stuff all over your desk. In the office we call it clutter or organized chaos. On your computer we call it fragmenting.
What happens to your hard drive over time is that the data spreads out much like the paper on your desk. You save new files and remove old ones or you edit existing ones. Every time you do this the data moves just slightly. This fragmenting causes your computer to slow down. It starts to take your hard drive a little longer to find things and eventually it becomes frustrating and slow.
Fragmenting happens to every hard drive, regardless of how big or small it is or how much you paid for it. It's easy to fix though. Your computer comes with a disk defragmenter in the Start Menu. Before you run it, make sure you won't need your computer for a while. I often start the defragmenter right before I go to bed. Make sure you turn off all unnecessary software and close all open files. If you're using a laptop make sure it's plugged in. Now run the defragmenter on the C: drive or the drive you use most often. If you haven't done this before or it's been a long time the process can take six or eight hours to complete.
So what is it doing during that time? Well it's moving all that data back into place. Don't worry, it's not pulling that important file out of Documents and hiding it on you. It's just simply moving the bits of data around on the hard drive so that things are organized again and easy to find. The same as you would do if you stacked all that paper on your desk back up. It may even throw some pieces of information out. You see as you save, edit and re-save a file it's is not saved in exactly the same spot on the hard drive every time. It's not anything you would notice, you're still saving in Documents in the same file folder as before. But the computer isn't so it may delete some of those copies that you don't need anymore.
Once the defragmenting is finished you might notice your hard drive makes less noise and files open up a little quicker than they did before. Depending on how much you use your computer you may run the defragmenter as much as once a week. If you're not a regular user you may get away with once a month.
The entire process can be scheduled. When you open the defragmenter it shows you the scheduling tool. Simply select a time of day when you're unlikely to be using your computer. Keep in mind that if you're using a laptop you shut down every night, you'll need to keep your laptop plugged in and on.
Running the defragmenter regularly is one way you can help keep your computer running smoothly. Don't forget to share this article with others you know that may need some help.
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