This question surfaces all the time, Should I defragment my hard drive?  If your computer is slow, chances are you have spyware or viruses, or maybe your hard drive is failing.  However, if those issues are not the case, then you might want to looking into defragmenting your hard drive.

What does the defrag process do?  Essentially, it prioritizes your data.  In turn, your computer will be faster since your hard drive will access your frequently used files and programs faster.  When you save files to your computer, your hard drive randomly allots them on space within your hard drive.  So, if you use are constantly using your e-mails, your computer has to take the time to search to see where your specific e-mail is and then pull it up for you.

By defragmenting your hard drive, your mostly used files will be saved to the front of your hard drive.  This means that your drive will take the quickest time to access it when you need it.  And it follows suit that your least used files will be stored at the end of your drive to make space for commonly used programs and files. 

The next question is: How do you defragment your computer?  You may use the Windows Disk Defragmenter located in Start->All Programs->Accessories->System Tools.  You’ll want to run this overnight since it takes hours to run.  Also, make sure not to work on your computer during the process or else the defrag process will restart.

A more efficient and automated defragmentation process may be performed by using Smart Defrag.  It is quicker and you can set it and forget it.  It take a long time during the first time, but then is faster all subsequent times.  It is more powerful and faster than Windows defrag program.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 at 11:34 pm and is filed under Tech Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.