starlifter
Deity
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2001
- Messages
- 4,210
The Problem
Your Hard Drive needs defragging, and you run a MS operating system.
Description
As files are added, deleted, changed, saved, etc., the storage of the info on your hard drive gets jumbled up over time, like a messy room. All your info is still there, and your system will still run, but it runs slower and slower the more you use your computer... typically a slowdown of about 20% over 6 months or so (extrememly variable, based on your usage patterns). You may not notice the slowdown using simple programs, like Notepad and even MS Word, Excel, etc. But with Photoshop, CDROM mastering, Audio editing, 3D games, and anything involving lots of files and/or large files will reveal the slowdowns.
Procedure
I will describe the procedure for MS Windoze 95, using the built in Windows Defragger. The procedure is very similar in other windows variants.
1. Close all open programs & open MS Explorer (not Internet Explorer).
2. If you have more than one hard drive, select the HD you want to defrag. I'll choose C:\ in this example:
3. Right click the mouse on your C-drive, and look at the bottom of the popup for "Properties" (choose it).
4. Select the tab "Tools" from the popup.
5. Click the 3rd option, "Defrag Now"
6. After a moment, a popup will tell you the percent that is fragmented, and give you several choices. Normally, choose "Start".
7. After a while, you'll probably be defragged.
Caveats
1. You need about 5% or more free space on your hard drive, or the defragger will really slow down a lot.
2. You can set Advanced Options before you start; I recommend the "Check Drive For Errors" option, which will add about a minute to the process.
3. The NT (including NT, Win2000, and XP) defragger is adequate for NT basesd OSs. I prefer Norton Utilities or Fix It Utilities over the built in MS defragger for Win9x based OSs (Win95, 98, 98SE, ME).
4. If the defrag takes hours and hours, it is likely because you have some other program running. If any program accesses the drive being defragged even once, the entire process is restarted... and may never complete due to constant restarts.
Rev 1.00, 16Jun02
Your Hard Drive needs defragging, and you run a MS operating system.
Description
As files are added, deleted, changed, saved, etc., the storage of the info on your hard drive gets jumbled up over time, like a messy room. All your info is still there, and your system will still run, but it runs slower and slower the more you use your computer... typically a slowdown of about 20% over 6 months or so (extrememly variable, based on your usage patterns). You may not notice the slowdown using simple programs, like Notepad and even MS Word, Excel, etc. But with Photoshop, CDROM mastering, Audio editing, 3D games, and anything involving lots of files and/or large files will reveal the slowdowns.
Procedure
I will describe the procedure for MS Windoze 95, using the built in Windows Defragger. The procedure is very similar in other windows variants.
1. Close all open programs & open MS Explorer (not Internet Explorer).
2. If you have more than one hard drive, select the HD you want to defrag. I'll choose C:\ in this example:
3. Right click the mouse on your C-drive, and look at the bottom of the popup for "Properties" (choose it).
4. Select the tab "Tools" from the popup.
5. Click the 3rd option, "Defrag Now"
6. After a moment, a popup will tell you the percent that is fragmented, and give you several choices. Normally, choose "Start".
7. After a while, you'll probably be defragged.
Caveats
1. You need about 5% or more free space on your hard drive, or the defragger will really slow down a lot.
2. You can set Advanced Options before you start; I recommend the "Check Drive For Errors" option, which will add about a minute to the process.
3. The NT (including NT, Win2000, and XP) defragger is adequate for NT basesd OSs. I prefer Norton Utilities or Fix It Utilities over the built in MS defragger for Win9x based OSs (Win95, 98, 98SE, ME).
4. If the defrag takes hours and hours, it is likely because you have some other program running. If any program accesses the drive being defragged even once, the entire process is restarted... and may never complete due to constant restarts.
Rev 1.00, 16Jun02
