If you have a Windows computer, you probably know or heard something about defragmenting or defragging your hard drive. If you haven’t heard, defragging is prioritizing your files so that you have your mostly used programs and files pushed to the front of your hard drive for faster access. In contrast, your least used files are archived to the back of your drive. In turn, you save hard drive space and get to use files quickly for every day access.
But, should you defrag on your Windows 7 computer? There’s no need to perform this manually. As a default, Windows 7 support is setup to automatically defragment your hard drive every Wednesday at 1AM. So, there’s no need to perform this on your own. Plus, if you have a solid state drive (SSD), you should never perform a defrag since it can shorten its lifespan. Make sure to disable the Windows 7 defrag by clicking Start and type disk, and then select Disk Defragmenter to disable. You can enable disk defragmenter on your external hard drive that may not be included in your automatic defrag schedule.
Also to note is that if you suspect a hard drive failure, or a failing hard drive, do not run the Windows 7 defrag. It will force your drive to fail faster since the program tasks your hard drive sector by sector. In sum, you should run the defrag program as a last resort if your drive is still slow after completing virus removal and computer tune up tasks.
