How does disk defragmenter work in windows 7

Then, type "Disk Defragmenter" on the Search bar. Click on "Disk Defragmenter" to access the program. Click on "Defragment Disk" to start the process. Part 2. Click on the name of the disk you want defragmented.

For example, if you want to defrag your computer's main hard drive, select "OS C. Click on "Defragment Disk" or "Defragment Now" to begin the defrag process. Your computer will take between several minutes and several hours to defrag the drive depending on its size and current fragmented status.

Part 3. Select the frequency at which you want Disk Defragmenter to run. You can choose to defrag your computer daily, weekly, or monthly. Select the day of week and time you want to Disk Defragmenter to run. Click on "Select Disks" to choose the disks you want defragmented. You can choose to defrag all disks, or select disks. Your computer will then defrag regularly on the day and time you've selected for the schedule.

Yes, you have to have the PC on for the scheduled event to run. Yes No. Not Helpful 1 Helpful 2. When you erase files, you create holes where the file data was previously stored. It's because of these holes that there is a need to sometimes defragment an HDD. It's best is to erase files you don't need before you defragment.

With a larger percentage of free space, the defrag software has more options to find alternative solutions and the more continuous free space will be directly available after the defrag. The cost of fragmented file accesses is very much lower for an SSD, and the defragmentation process creates a lot of wear on the SSD flash media. Type the word defrag. Click on Optimize.

That can take a few hours to finish. Click on the Start orb in the bottom left corner and type in defrag. Click on Defragment disk to launch the defragmentation process. Leave your PC alone! Some third-party utilities can make your life easier: One such tool is our own Avast Cleanup , which includes its own defrag program. Best of all: it runs fully automatically on a regular basis or manually, you decide!

Check it out:. Get it for Android , Mac. Get it for Mac , Android. A hard drive is made out of mechanical components: multiple discs are stacked on top of each other and rotated through a spindle. These discs, also called platters, contain the data. Hard disk access is a highly mechanical process, even though the other computer components are purely digital. Disk access is also the slowest part of computing; access times to the bits and bytes on a traditional hard disk drive HDD is typically in the millisecond range, whereas accessing data on a modern solid state disk SSD or in RAM is done in a fraction of a millisecond.

Aside from the raw speed to access files, the overall throughput of hard disks is also low. To learn more about the differences, check out our SSD vs. HDD comparison. But the key takeaway is that old-school HDDs are extremely slow. In theory, any file on your hard disk would be stored in a continuous manner on the platter. Perhaps it starts out that way, when your system is brand new. However, you move, delete and copy files regularly. You uninstall programs. A file grows as you add more data, and no longer fits in the original space allocation.

Yes No. Thank you! Any more feedback? The more you tell us the more we can help. Can you help us improve? Resolved my issue. Clear instructions. Easy to follow. No jargon. Pictures helped. Didn't match my screen. Incorrect instructions.