Defragmentation

[information]

Can you tell me in laymans language, how to defragment my Acer PC.

Many thanks,
Jersey, C.I.
& Happy Xmas All.

[hc4361]

XP, Vista, Windows 7?

[Buenchico]

It would have been more useful to know which version of Windows you've got. (The PC maker is immaterial). However, with many version of Windows, you simply need to run the defragmentation tool, which can be found as follows:
Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter.

You should note that any disk activity on your computer causes the defragmentation process to end, and then to start all over again . Since many programs 'run in the background' that can mean that the defragmentation program can constantly be restarting, and never ending. For that reason it's probably best to boot into Safe Mode (by pressing F8 as your computer starts up) before trying to defragment your hard drive. (That stops all of the 'background' programs from loading). In Safe Mode your screen will look rather odd (because your video driver won't have been loaded) but don't let that worry you. (To get out of Safe Mode simply restart your computer).

Merry Christmas!

Chris

[Hymie]

I have not defragged my PC for many a long year. The main reason being that I have never seen any noticeable improvement in performance, as a result of the defragging.

[hc4361]

Windows 7 and Vista automatically defrags, if you are using XP or older you should defrag regularly.

[MarkRae]

Unless the machine's hard disk is not formatted with NTFS (which it almost certainly is), defragmentiing is a complete waste of time. As soon as the defragmentation process has completed, the disk will begin to fragment again - it's built into the way NTFS works.