How to Defrag Your Computer

Defrag is another computer maintenance task that should be performed regularly. At the very least, it should be ran quarterly. The process is simple and normally takes about an hour to run.

But before sharing the steps on how to run Defrag, I wanted to answer some of the common questions surrounding it. First ...

Why Defrag?

Think of your hard drive as a checkerboard. Every time you create a file (F), it takes a place on the checker board. When you delete a file, it leaves and empty space on the checker board where the file was. The next time you create a file, it doesn't go back and fill the empty space ... instead, it continues filling the spaces after the last one was created. So in time, you have "holes" or empty spaces left on the checker board in between files.

These empty spaces mean that your hard drive has to work harder to access your files and it slows down the computer. When you run Defrag, it picks up all the files and puts them in contiguous order again so all the empty spaces are filled ... which in turn allows the computer to access your data more quickly.


How to Run Defrag

The steps are simple. But first, note that it can take an hour or so to run it, and it's best to run it when you're not working on your computer. I like to run Defrag when I leave the house or am watching TV so as to ensure I leave the computer alone while it's running.

To run Defrag, follow these steps:

1. Click the START button and then MY COMPUTER
2. RIGHT click on the Local Disk "C" Drive and select PROPERTIES
3. Click the TOOLS tab
4. Click the DEFRAGMENT button
5. Click the DEFRAGMENT again on the next window and then wait til the process completes (about an hour).
   

By the way, if your computer is running Windows Vista, you don't have to run defrag (unless you want to). One of the nice features of Windows Vista is that Defrag automatically runs in the background while you're working on the computer.

Click here to learn how to run Disk Cleanup.

How to Run Disk Cleanup

Over time, your hard disk gets cluttered up with unnecessary files, which then take up disk space. Removing these files should be part of your regular computer maintenance. The process is simple and is the same for WinXP and Vista.

1. Click the START button
   
2. Open MY COMPUTER
3. RIGHT Click on the Local Disk"C" drive and select PROPERTIES (a new window comes up)
4. Click the DISK CLEANUP button.
5. If asked if you want to remove the files for all users or just your own, click the option to remove all files.
   

After clicking the DISK CLEANUP button, the computer will search for files that can be cleaned up (this process takes a couple of minutes). When the computer is done searching, a window will pop up that shows you which files can be safely removed.

Place a check mark next to the files you wish to remove. For the most part, you want to make sure the following boxes are checked:

• Temporary Internet Files
• Recycle Bin
• Temporary Files
• Web/Client Publisher Files

I tend to leave the SETUP files unchecked to minimize uninstallation problems down the road. And although I like to remove downloaded programs, others don't. So this is a personal preference. But make sure the items above are checked at least.

When all the boxes are checked, click the OK button to remove the files.


I recommend running Disk Cleanup at least quarterly. It's also a good idea to run it before you Defrag your hard drive so that process is more efficient.

Click here to learn how to Defrag your hard drive.