Defragmenting the system is a must to do activity in order to ensure efficient performance. When files are constantly accessed, the system stores them in non-sequential order. This increases the number of hard disk spins to read the files, which leads to slow performance. Its only solution is defragmentation which will clean the partitions from any kind of mess.
For user’s convenience, Microsoft has incorporated a built-in defragmenter, which is really simple to use. In windows vista, users can even schedule automatic defragmenting. Follow the given process for defragmentation in Windows XP and Windows Vista respectively.
Disk Defragmenter for Windows XP:
- Go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter.
- It will open the disk defragmenter. Here you can analyze the fragmented drive. Tap the Defragment button to start the defragmentation.
- Wait for the defragmentation to finish.
Disk Defragmenter for Windows Vista:
- Go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter
- In the window of disk defragmenter, you can either opt for defragment now or schedule it later.
Since Vista, I have not used the defragged that comes with Windows as I changed to using one of the commercial programs thats really automatic. I have set it to run in the background and it defrags as required silently. Needs no monitoring or scheduling. Really convenient!