Defrag or not?

[Osem]

OK I know you guys will probably laugh but I've never done this on my 2-3 year old PC (XP Home Edition SP3) and am wondering if it'd be worth doing.

What does defragging do (layman's terms please ) and how do I do it? My hard drive has Boot (C) Backup (D) and Recover (E) sections so which should I defrag and how?

Cheers.

[Kymmy]

A HDD stores all your files...these files might be as one chunk of data but could be broken up to fit into spaces left by deleted files... Obviously if a file is in one piece the HDD takes so many milliseconds to find it and then reads it in one continuous sweep. If the file is broken up then each section has to be individually found and then individually read. Defrag tries to sort out your data so that all the files are pieced back together and also placed near beginning of the HDD so faster to access..

If you do a lot of reading from the HDD (for example outlook having a large PST file or a large graphics file or even playing games) defragging your HDD on a regular basis can speed things up..

Personally I defrag once a month and leave it overnight..

[CHiLL]

Defragging is often good, and can speed up a computer.

When programmes are installed, they are installed on the first free spaces on the hard drive. If you uninstall a programme, it will delete it from the hard drive, leaving empty space on the drive. This means if you install a programme, it will install in that empty space. If the programme is larger than how ever big thatempty space it, it will look for the next available space to install it into. And so on.
This means a programme can get spread across a disc in various bits of free space. I hope you understand what I mean.

A defragmenter analyses the hard drive, and reorganises the whole drive. It says it 'moves' things, but that doesn't mean a file has moved from say C:\ to My Documents...it just means it's been arranged better for faster access on the hard drive.

If a disc is fragmented, it takes longer to load a programme, because it's dotted accross the disc. Once it's been defragmented, it 'should' load faster, because the files are all together and organised.

I advise using JkDefrag, which is very small and good imo.

http://www.kessels.com/Jkdefrag/

Edit; Defragging can take a long time, depending on the size of the hard drive, and how fragmented it is.

[MJB]

Originally Posted by Osem

and how do I do it? My hard drive has Boot (C) Backup (D) and Recover (E) sections so which should I defrag and how?

Cheers.

Start / all programs / accessories / system tools / disk defragmenter. Just click on C drive and then select defrag this drive. You could do the back up (D drive) too, but I wouldn'tworry about the recovery.

As you have never done it before it could take quite a while (over an hour or maybe more) so best to do it overnight or if you go out.

Hope this helps.

[danielf]

Another vote for JKDefrag here. It's free as well.

The defrag utility that comes with windows is erm, not very good...

[Osem]

Thanks guys

[AntiSilence]

Also have a look at Defraggler.

It's by the same people who make CCleaner and lets you defrag only fragmented files as well as the whole drive which is a nice quick way of defragging but obviously doing the whole drive is better but can take a long time.

I'm using Ashampoo Magical Defrag 2.After the first original defraging it quietly works in the background to keep your HD(s) defragged.

I like it because thus far it's the only software that will defrag my Freecom External HD.

[Taf]

Auslogics do a FREE fast disk defragger and a registry defragger... both very useful in speeding up your machine.

[CHiLL]

My system runs great when I use JkDegrag and CCleaner (Clears unnecessary files and registry errors)

[keyholder]

I use Diskeeper 2008, it automatically defrags your hd and files as and when needed. It will even defrag usb memory sticks and defrags any new hd's when they are detected, dont have to touch anything.

even if your Instaling something then it defrags them as you Install it. when your copying files from 1 hd to another it defrags them.

I never have to defrag my hd again its all done for me. 1 of the best i think.

[Dragonfire]

^ I also use Diskeeper, now mine's the 2009 Pro version. Awesome as usual, and works flawlessly in automatic defrag mode. Don't ever have to defrag after installing it. Best defragger I've used

[MadGamer]

I use IOBit Smart Defrag. It doesn't only defragment the HDD it also has fast and deep optimization options

[Tinky]

Auslogics for me also, and I defrag once a month.

[sprite]

I like to defrag, keeps my PC working smooth. Diskeeper running on auto for me too. Great job, dont have to do anything manually.