Scandisk and Defrag

Defrag is a utility that is supplied with your operating system and is a way of organising your files to be retrieved more quickly.
When a file is too large to store in a single area on a hard drive, it is stored in several areas (fragments). Over time this can cause your computer to rum slow while it tries to locate files - as it has to search for your information over several areas of the drive. Using disk defragmenter organises your programs into sections. You should see a marked improvement after using the disk defragmenter.

98 and ME: Defrag can be found under start -> programs -> accessories -> system tools.
XP: go to start -> my computer -> right click on c: drive -> left click on properties -> tools - in the Defragmentation box click Defragment Now

TIP: It is best to do it at night or when you are not using your computer. Because of today's newer hard drive sizes, 20gb, 40gb, 80gb, 120gb (gigabytes) it can take up to three or four hours to defrag a badly fragmented hard drive. Keep in mind if your hard drive is nearly full, 90% or more, it is going to take longer to defrag as there is less room on your hard drive for the defrag process to work. The good news is that the more you do this the quicker it will become.

Scan disk is a tool that comes with your operating system that is used to check and fix up any errors or problems that may be on your hard drive.
These errors usually occur when your computer crashes and has to be restarted. Scan disk can tell you where on the drive there is a problem and may be able to repair it, or help you to move data into a safer area on you hard drive. Sometimes your files become corrupt and unreadable and scan disk can help to fix these sorts of problems.

TIP: Close all programs before using scan disk and turn off your screensaver. To turn your screensaver off select: start-> settings-> control panel-> display-> screen saver - under the screensaver tab select 'none'.

98 and ME: Scan disk can be found under: start-> programs-> accessories-> system tools.
XP: go to start-> my computer-> right click on c: drive-> left click on properties-> tools-> in the error checking box click check now. This will schedule your computer to scan the c: drive when you next start your computer.

Close Window