How to Use the Disk Defragmenter Program

Defragmenting your hard drive can make it run better.

Over time, your computer's hard disk can become fragmented. This can result in slow computer performance. Windows includes a utility for defragmenting your hard disk. Using this tool cleans your hard disk and puts like pieces of information together to make your computer run more efficiently. This process can take many hours, depending on how fragmented the hard drive is.

Instructions

1. Click "Start," "All Programs," "Accessories," "System Tools" and then "Disk Defragmenter."

2. Click the drive you want to defragment, if you have more than one on your computer. A single drive will be highlighted by default.

3. Click "Analyze disk." This instructs the computer to check for fragmentation on the hard disk and determine if defragmentation is necessary. If the result is greater than 10 percent, your disk should be defragmented, according to Microsoft.

4. Click "Defragment disk" to defragment your computer's hard disk.

References

• Microsoft Windows: Improve Performance by Defragmenting Your Hard Disk