Simply Computers Wiki

1. Go to Start - Programs - Accessories - System Tools - Disk Defragmenter.

2. In the Disk Defragmenter window, highlight the drive that you want to defragment, and click on the "Analyze" button at the lower left. The program will check that drive to see if it needs to be defragmented. Even if the verdict is that "This volume does not need to be defragmented", you may want to defragment anyway, especially if your machine seems sluggish.

3. Click on the "Defragment" button at the lower left, next to "Analyze".

4. Allow the tool to do its work, by not trying to install or uninstall programs or make any major changes to your machine while it is running. You can continue to work as usual, writing documents, surfing the Net, etc., but your machine may be somewhat slow to respond until defragmentation is complete. The length of time that the process takes will depend on the size of your hard drive, how badly fragmented it is, the speed of your processor, etc.. It may take anywhere from 30-60 minutes to several hours.

5. Repeat Steps 2-4 for each drive you want to check.

6. Close the Disk Defragmenter window.

7. Repeat the process every 1-3 months, depending on how much use your machine gets and how it seems to be performing.