Defragmentation :

Besides get angry, most people do one of the following when their computer begins to slow down :

1.            Speed up their computer by buying more (RAM) memory.

2.            Try to tweak their computer’s settings.

3.            Give up. They figure that their computer is old, there’s nothing else they can do, and it’s probably time to buy a new computer.

All these solutions can help increase PC speed. However, what’s to keep your newly blazing PC from slowing down again after a couple months or years? A badly fragmented hard drive will bring even a top-of-the-line new computer to a grinding halt. Before we discuss the changes introduced in Windows 7,

let’s chat a bit about what defragmentation is, and its applicability.

Over time and with regular use, files and folders on a computer’s hard drive break down or become fragmented. This can cause the system to run slowly and to experience processing problems. Fragmentation occurs when the operating system cannot or will not allocate enough contiguous space to store a complete file as a unit, but instead puts parts of it in gaps between other files (usually those gaps exist because they formerly held a file that the operating system has subsequently deleted or because the operating system allocated excess space for the file in the first place). Larger files and greater numbers of files also contribute to fragmentation and consequent performance loss. Defragmentation attempts to alleviate these problems. Defragmenting the computer generally improves retrieval time and overall performance. For example, a computer program must access various files on the hard drive every time it is run. If those files are spread out on opposite sides of the hard drive instead of gathered and organized neatly, as they are supposed to be, the computer will have to work extra hard and take extra time to access the information it needs. In some cases, severe defragmenting may even cause a program to stop running entirely.

Defragmenting, also referred to as “defragging,” reorganizes the hard drive by putting pieces of related data back together so that files are organized in a contiguous fashion. As a result, the computer system can access files more efficiently. By efficiently organizing files and folders, defragmenting will leave the computer’s free space in one big chunk. This will allow new files to be saved in an orderly fashion, there by reducing the need for future defragmentation.

To start Disk Defragmenter, use one of the methods:

Defragmentation method 1: Use the Properties of Your Local Disk

1.            Open My Computer.

2.            Right-click the local disk volume that you want to defragment, and then click Properties.

3.            On the Tools tab, click Defragment Now.

4.            Click Defragment.

Defragmentation method 2: Use Computer Management

1.            Start Computer Management  (Compmgmt.msc).

2.            Click Disk Defragmenter.

3.            Click the volume that you want to defragment, and then click Defragment.

Defragmentation method 3: Use Disk Defragmenter.

1.            Start Disk Defragmenter (Dfrg.msc).

2.            Click the volume that you want to defragment, and then click Defragment.

The version of Disk Defragmenter  that is included with Windows XP has the following limitations:

•             It can defragment only local volumes.

•             It can defragment only one volume at a time.

•             It cannot defragment one volume while it is scanning another.

•             It cannot be scheduled. If you need to schedule disk defragmentation, use the Defrag.exe command line tool.

For additional information about using the command line Defrag.exe tool, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 283080. Description of the New Command Line Defrag.exe Included with Windows XP.

The biggest difference between the defrag tool in Windows XP and Windows 7 is that Win 7  setup to defrag all of the partitions of your hard disks automatically and on a weekly schedule by default. I suppose this was a decision by Win7 system engineers probably based on the new search feature and its constant indexing of your hard disks and the importance of keeping tidy files for faster results.

In Windows XP, defragmentation had to be a user-initiated (manual) activity i.e. it could not be scheduled.

Windows Vista added the capability to schedule defragmentation – however, only one volume could be defragmented at any given time. Windows 7 removes this restriction – multiple volumes can now be defragmented in parallel with no more waiting for one volume to be defragmented before initiating the same operation on some other volume!

Among the other changes about defragmentation under the hood in Windows 7 are the following:

• Defragmentation in Windows 7 is more comprehensive – many files that could not be re-located in Windows Vista or earlier versions can now be optimally re-placed. In particular, a lot of work was done to make various NTFS metadata files movable. This ability to relocate NTFS metadata files also benefits volume shrink, since it enables the system to pack all files and file system metadata more closely and free up space “at the end” which can be reclaimed if required.

• If solid-state media is detected, Windows disables defragmentation on that disk. The physical nature of solid-state media is such that defragmentation is not needed and in fact, could decrease overall media lifetime in certain cases.

Best practices for using defragmentation in Windows 7 are simple. You do not need to do anything! Defragmentation is scheduled to automatically run periodically and in the background with minimal impact to foreground activity. This ensures that data on your hard disk drives is efficiently placed so the system can provide optimal responsiveness.

Defragmentation is scheduled to automatically for you.