How to run Disk Defragmenter in Windows XP
When you open a file your computer pulls the information into RAM, then works with it there. When you close the program Windows will write the file back to the hard drive. Sometimes it is unable to write the file entirely back where it was found, in fact sometimes it puts part of the file on one side of the disk, and another part on the other side of the disk. When files aren't stored congiguosly we call them fragmented. The easiest way to fix this is to run Disk Defragmenter.
NOTE: Running Defragmenter will take a while, possibly an hour or more. You can do nothing while the Defragmenter is working.
Go to Start | All Progrmas | Accessories | System Tools | Disk Defragmenter. At the bottom of the window that comes up there are 5 buttons. From left to right they are:
- Analyze
- Defragment
- Pause
- Stop
- View Report
At this point we need to decide if your hard drive needs to be defragmented. So highlight the drive you want to check and choose Analyze. After a short time (probably only a few seconds) you will get a report letting you know if you need to defragment. If the report says "You should defragment this volume" then click the button on the bottom of the report that says "Defragment".
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