How to Defrag External Hard Drives in Vista

Whether you’re using a USB flash drive or a larger external hard drive, you may want to defragment the drive from time to time to improve performance. Windows Vista not only allows you to defrag the main hard drive, but other drives as well. By defragging your drives regularly, you increase the speed and life of the drive. Read on to learn how to defrag external hard drives in Vista.

Things You'll Need

• Computer with Windows Vista
• External hard drive

Instructions

1. Connect your drive to your computer.

2. Click the Windows Icon Orb, known in XP as "Start."

3. Click "My Computer."

4. Right click the desired drive you wish to defragment. Choose "Properties."

5. Go to the "Tools" section and choose "Defragment."

6. Choose "Defragment Now" from the options window.

7. Remove the check from all drives except the external hard drive. Click "Defragment" and wait for the process to complete.

Tips & Warnings

• If you use your external hard drive frequently, try to defrag the drive at least once a month.

• Do not disconnect your drive until defragmentation is complete.