How to Defragment a Disk and Speed Up Your PC

Fragmentation of disk space, accumulating, begins to interfere with the normal operation of the computer over time. Not knowing how to defragment the disk, the user as a result receives a situation in which the speed of access to data is significantly reduced. This is due to the fact that one file is split into several parts. As a consequence, the hard disk head needs to perform additional functions, slowing down the functioning of the computer.

In order to combat this phenomenon, there are programs that perform defragmentation - a process that is reverse fragmentation. During its execution, the pieces of files are merged into one, which speeds up the system as a whole and frees up some free space, access to which was previously closed.

Despite the fact that this process is quite simple, many users do not know how to do a hard disk defragmentation . And this despite the fact that it is not necessary to download additional software for this, as everything can be built into Windows by standard utilities. It should be noted that with the evolution of operating systems, the capabilities of the built-in programs are also growing, which allows performing the basic actions more quickly and qualitatively. For example, defragmentation in Windows 7 occurs many times faster than in previous versions.

But it is necessary to consider some factors before defragmenting the disk. First of all, you need to delete all unnecessary files, clean the trash. It is desirable to have at hand programs that can get rid of not only old and unnecessary files, but also from various temporary files created both by the system itself and various software products. Sometimes their volume reaches quite impressive sizes, and the user does not understand where the free space has disappeared.

To proceed directly to defragmentation, you must open "My Computer". In newer versions - "Computer", and right-click on the disk icon that you plan to optimize for faster performance. In the drop-down menu, select Properties. Next, select the "Tools" tab, and then "Run Defragmentation". A list of drives will open, among which you need to select and mark the desired one. Only after this, the diggers responsible for the preliminary analysis and, in fact, the defragmentation itself become active.

Before you can defragment the disk, you need to perform an analysis so that the system can assess itself whether the chosen area needs optimization of disk space. Also here you can check whether the option that is responsible for automatic defragmentation is enabled, which the system will periodically perform, according to the set time period. It should be understood that regular defragmentation is very useful, however, the inclusion of automatic mode is undesirable, since at these moments the computer will hang up, some obstacles and failures can be created if the user does not know that the work of this utility is started.

If the analysis shows that it is worthwhile to work with a local or removable disk, then you should press the "Defragmentation" button and wait until the utility finishes the process. Before you can defragment the disk, you need to make sure that none of the programs use files located on this disk, otherwise the load will increase, which can lead to increased wear of the physical storage medium.

Thus, the maintenance of disks is quite simple, and if you regularly monitor this point, the system will work quickly, the processing speed of the stored data will not decrease.