How to Optimize a Defrag
- 1). Delete old files to create as much free space as possible. Find old movies, photos, and other large documents in My Computer and drag them to the Recycle Bin. Don't forget to empty the Recycle Bin when you're done! In order to defragment files, the system shuffles fragments around. If there is little space to work with, very large files cannot be properly defragmented.
- 2). Close all other open programs on the computer. The only program that should be visible in the task bar on the bottom of the screen is "Disk Defragmenter" (or other third party software you may be using). Right click on all other open programs and select "Close". Open programs continually change files, creating more fragments that may take up space that would otherwise be used by the defragmentation software.
- 3). Schedule the defrag utility to run weekly using the "Scheduled Tasks" window. Open the "Start" menu, select the "Accessories" folder, then choose the "System Tools" folder and select "Scheduled Tasks." Double-click on "Add Scheduled Task" and select "Disk Defragmenter." Choose which day of the week you want to run the program. Before saving your changes, add the text "C:\" to the "Run" text box. If the hard drive is defragmented frequently, it is kept clean with less files to move each time. This also helps maintain a fast system.
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