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1. To defragment your hard drive in
Windows XP, open My Computer and right-click on the C: drive.
Select Properties, then click on the Tools tab and select
Defragment Now...
2. The Windows Disk Defragmenter
program will open and all drives are listed in the top window pane. Since the
program is going to be arranging files on your hard drive, it is important that
no files are being accessed during the process, or the program won't be able to
move them. Close all open programs.
3. The C: drive is where
operating system files and programs are installed by default, so make sure that
it is selected, then click Defragment. While the program is running, it
is recommend that you not use your computer. The time is takes to run the
defragmenting process is dependent on the size of your hard drive and amount of
fragmentation.
While the program is running you
will see a graphical representation of the blocks of files on your hard drive
being moved and the fragmented segments joined together. Usually the less gaps
of free space between the contiguous segments the better, but as long as the
fragmented files are put together into contiguous segments, it will help your
computer's performance.
4. Once the process is complete,
the graphic should display most of the contiguous files on the left and the
majority of the free space on the right. Close the Disk Defragmenter
window and resume using your computer.
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