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Defragment Your Hard Drive
As you use your computer, files are saved to your hard drive where space is available. Over time, this means that files that would normally be stored in the same physical area of your hard drive are scattered across the whole drive. This is known as fragmentation. Fragmentation of the files on your computer means that the system must spend more time looking for files, which can affect system performance.
Defragmentation is the process by which Windows will group similar files together in the same physical area of your hard drive. This will typically increase your system's performance, since the system will now spend less time locating the file it needs.
As a general rule of thumb, defragmenting your hard drive should be done on a regular basis, depending on the amount of use your system receives.
*Warning: This process can take a few hours to complete, depending on your system speed and the size of your hard drive. It is recommended that you allow this process to run overnight.
| Step 1: |
From the Desktop, double-click My Computer. |
| Step 2: |
In the My Computer window, right-click LOCAL DISK (C:). |
| Step 3: |
From the menu that appears, choose Properties from the bottom of the list. |
| Step 4: |
In the LOCAL DISK (C:) Properties window, click on the Tools tab at the top. |
| Step 5: |
In the Tools window, look for the Defragmentation section. Click on Defragment Now. |
| Step 6: |
A new window will appear, click Analyze. |
| Step 7: |
Disk Defragmentor will analyze your current hard drive configuration. When it is complete, a new window will appear. |
| Step 8: |
If you receive the message “This volume does not need defragmenting.” no further steps are necessary. Click Close. |
| Step 9: |
If you receive the message, “You should defragment this volume.”, you must start the process by clicking Defragment. |
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