Why defragmentation in windows xp

Step 5. Step 9. The first two methods are a little laborious, especially the second one. If users forget their passwords, the operation could not be executed. Users can choose to analyze a drive and defrag another at the same time, then select to defrag this time or the next appropriate time to defrag based on the analysis ends. Step 2. Check the partition needed to be analyzed, and click "Analyze". You need to check the partition, not select it. Tip : You can click "Pause" to halt the process and resume later, or click "Stop" to end the analysis process completely.

Step 3: The program will score the partition based on the fragmentation rate when the analysis is over. The partition is in good condition, with no need for defragmentation. The current partition has some fragments, which suggest running defragmentation. There are many fragments in the current partition, suggest running the defragmentation immediately.

After the analysis is finished, you can click on "Details" to see more information about the analysis results:. Tip : You could click "Pause" to halt the procedure and resume later, or click "Stop" to terminate the process completely. After the defragmentation is completed, the partition will be scored according to the defragmentation result. However, if you're not sure you can successfully set "Schedule Task", AOMEI Partition Assistant can also provide a schedule defrag service, and it's more detailed and easy to set.

One is Outlook PST files and the other is virus definition files. Oh, sure, there are other places that get fragmented. The indexes for Temporary Internet Files, for example.

Those get scattered about the disk, too. Do you care? Temporary Internet files are probably the first thing you clean up when your browser gets slow anyway, right? If you are going to delete these files, fragmentation is not an issue. You might have some other large files of your own: big photos, a. Of course not: maybe when you look at that photo it loads a little slower than it could, but so what? Are you looking at it daily?

Nothing is trying to open that while you are doing your daily work, so that isn't slowing you down. The pretty defrag map may show lots of fragmentation, but if none of it is in files you are reading or writing, none of it affects you. Here's another example: Windows Restore Point files are bound to be fragmented, but why would you care? You aren't likely to access them at all, but if you do, an extra second or two because of excess file seeks is the least of your concerns. With Outlook, you'd be far smarter to avoid large PST files anyway and even smarter to avoid Outlook outright!

Make appropriate folders for things you want to keep and keep those folders lean and mean also. If you are so disorganized that you can't do that, at least move everything from Inbox once a month or once a quarter and just name the new folder "Inbox" or whatever makes sense to you. If you do just this and don't use Deleted Items as a filing cabinet!

You can't control the virus definition files, of course. They are going to get updated, and they are going to fragment. Unfortunately, as new definitions get downloaded very frequently, it's likely that they will re-fragment very quickly after you clean them up. You aren't going to spend hours defragging your disk every time a new file comes down, right?

Another place with a similar problem is Windows Update. The patch files aren't quite as frequent as virus updates, but again they are likely to get fragmented quickly. What can you do? You aren't going to defrag the whole machine because of Windows updates, are you? There is a single file defragger: Contig by By Mark Russinovich.

This is a free download that you can use to target specific files rather than tying up your machine for hours running the disk defragmentation program. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. By using our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Cookie Settings. Learn why people trust wikiHow.

Download Article Explore this Article methods. Tips and Warnings. Related Articles. Author Info Last Updated: April 28, Understanding Defragmentation. Know why a hard drive gets fragmented. When a hard drive is freshly formatted, the system files are located at the beginning of the drive, and the rest is a large block of free space. This space is optimally filled as new data is added to the drive. As files are altered, deleted, and moved around the hard drive, pieces of data and small blocks of free space get left behind.

Learn how fragmentation affects performance. As the amount of fragments increase in the drive, performance starts to deteriorate. The drive will take longer to find files, and free space on the drive will be misreported.

Know how to prevent fragmentation. Many modern file systems are built to limit the amount of fragmentation that occurs. Solid state drives flash memory do not require defragmentation, as there is no mechanical read mechanism. Defragmenting a solid state drive will actually cause it to fail sooner, because data can only be written a certain number of times.

Method 1. Open the Disk Defragmenter utility. Select Disk Defragmenter from the list. You will need to have administrator access to run the Disk Defragment utility. You can also open the Disk Defragmenter utility by clicking Start then Search. Select your drive. There will be a list of drives that are attached to your computer. Select the drive that you would like to defragment.

This is typically the C: or D: drive. Click the Analyze button to see if the drive needs to be defragmented.