Try running your defrag overnight or setting it up to run automatically at a preset period of time.Īlso, if you have energy-saving features such as a screen-saver turned on, your defragmenter may stop during the process and you’ll have to start all over again.There are several different ways to reach Windows XP Disk Defragmenter to defragment your hard drive, I will show you the best and easiest option in this guide. You won’t be able to use your computer at all while it’s being defragged. Keep in mind that defragmenting your hard disk may take at least an hour. The result is that your computer will have better access to files and programs and will be more responsive.
Important files needed to run your computer then will take up less disk space and will consume fewer memory resources. 3 Defrag your hard drive to speed things upĪs a best practice be sure to ‘defrag’ your hard drive on a regular basis to completely remove fragmentation gaps and produce a cleaner, more compact file organization. Compacting data helps prevent the return of fragmentation.
How to defrag my computer windows xp free#
The files can then accessed in sequence, speeding up your computer.ĭisk defragmentation also compacts data in order to create larger regions of free space in your hard drive. At the command prompt, type defrag to see a list of available command switches. Or click Start > All Programs > Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and select Run as administrator. So, defragmenters organize smaller files so they are stored within a single directory together. What is the command prompt for defrag in Windows XP One way is by pressing the Windows key (or Ctrl-Esc), pressing R (in XP), typing cmd, and pressing Enter. The purpose of defragmentation is to store the pieces of each file close together in as close to a continuous block of memory as possible. 2 How does disk defragmentation work?ĭefragmentation physically organizes the contents of your computer’s hard disk. This slows down your computer, especially when it is starting up after being turned off. This fragmentation makes it harder to retrieve the information quickly needed to run programs.
How to defrag my computer windows xp how to#
This tutorial will show you how to use the Windows XP built-in defrag tool to. However, over time, as your hard disk fills up, program data becomes ‘fragmented’ as it is stored in different nooks and crannies of your hard drive. If you are looking for ways to increase the speed of your computer, defragmenting is a good portion of that process. When you purchase and first start using your computer and your hard drive still has lots of space, this ‘random’ method of storage and retrieval works fine. Both methods will open Disk Defragmenter. Alternatively you can type the command into the Run window on the Start Menu. Your hard disk stores data in a ‘random-access manner.’ This means individual blocks of data can be stored or retrieved in any order. To run Disk Defragmenter on Windows XP, locate the program icon by clicking your Start button and going to All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and click the Disk Defragmenter icon. Fragmentation of your hard disk memory can cause your system to slow to a crawl while your computer attempts to write commands. Some programs also become sluggish, and this can be very frustrating when you have important work to do.Ī good way to speed up your computer is to ‘defrag’ your computer’s hard disk. You have probably noticed that after just a few months your computer takes forever to start up.