Disk Defragmenter

When your computer seems slower than it used to, it could be that it's time to become acquainted with
a disk defragmenter. This program can help make a significant difference to the time it takes for your
computer to open a program.
When you uninstall programs, empty spaces are left on the hard disk. These empty spaces cause
noticeable slow downs on your system. When you do install new programs, your computer assigns a
memory block to the first available space it sees and scatters the rest throughout every empty space it
sees. When you need to use this program, the computer will go through the whole hard disk to gather
the scattered memory blocks and this takes a noticeable of time which can be the cause of long load
times and slow your computer down. To reconstruct contiguous address blocks a program such as
disk defragmenter is used.

To run Defrag in Windows 2000, XP, and Vista

Windows 2000 and XP are network operating systems, and if you are
a user, using Windows 2000 or XP on a network, your network
administrator may have restricted users from running Defrag or from
having any direct disk access. To run Defrag, the following steps are
recommended.

1. Double-click My Computer
2. Highlight the hard drive by clicking on it once.
3. Right-click the highlighted local drive
4. Click Properties
5. Click the Tools tab and click the Defragment now button.

To run Defrag in Windows 95, 98, and ME

Use the following steps.

1. Click Start.
2. Click Run and type Defrag in the run box.
3. Click ok.
4. Within the Defrag window, select the drive that you
wish to be checked and click ok.

* Don't be alarmed if Defrag seems to hang up at the
10% point. This is normal as long as it continues to work.
Due to the data structure many computers spend a good
amount of time at or around 10%.

If Defrag restarts and never seems to complete, other programs or files are being
accessed in the background as Defrag is being run. If Defrag detects any type of
a file change while being run it will restart.

To resolve this issue make sure all other applications are closed. If doing this
does not resolve your issue you can also try safe mode and then run disk
defragmenter.

There are other third party software developers that produce
good free disk defragmenter applications that you can
download. Some offer greater control over the application
than the Microsoft Windows bundled version.
Some can run in the background on your system, making
sure that your hard drive is always running at an optimum
speed.

If you think that you want to have better control of your hard
drive then research defrag software and find one that suits
your needs and your pockets.