How To Defragment Your Hard Disk
What is Fragmentation?
In some operating system’s file systems, a data file over a certain size is stored in several “chunks” or fragments rather than in a single contiguous sequence of bits in one place on the storage medium, a process that is called fragmentation. This allows small unused sections of storage (for example, where old data has been deleted) to be reused. In the Windows 95 system, for example, files are fragmented and the location of the fragments for each file is kept in a file allocation table (FAT). Because fragmentation over time can slow data access (each fragment of a file must be accessed for the entire file to be read in), it is important to use a defragmenter utility so that the data on the storage medium can be reorganized. This process is called defragmentation. Thankfully, Microsoft has provided a utility named Defrag with every copy of Windows.
The following instructions will help you setup Defrag to run on your computer every night at 3:00 AM. This will keep help your computer run faster and extend the life of your hard drive
All Windows Versions EXCEPT Vista
Internet Explorer (all versions)
Click Here for the Internet Explorer Video Tutorial
1. Right click on the following link: Defrag Script
2. Save File to “My Documents”
2a. Click Save Target As
3. Open “My Documents”
4. Double click on the file U-M-G-PerfScript.bat
5. follow the instructions on the screen that comes up
Firefox (all versions)
Click Here for the Firefox Video Tutorial
1. Right click on the following link: Defrag Script
2. Click “Save Link As”
3. Select “My Documents”
4. Click Save
5. Open “My Documents”
6. Double click on the file U-M-G-PerfScript.bat
7. follow the instructions on the screen that comes up
Windows Vista
Coming Soon
Stinger said
Better than scheduled defragmentation is something that is fully automatic. Let the defragmenter run in the background and process the drives, defragmenting automatically as required, without affecting system usage, while you work on the computer. This way, there are no concerns about whether to leave the PC on all the time, or keep it idle solely for a defrag, or to waste time waiting for all drives to be defragged. Less trouble for the user, and better/continuous control of file fragmentation, fully automatically. I personally have never had to bother defragging my 2 drives manually after I went the automatic defrag route.