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The information stored on a computer resides on a hard disc. At first, each file and document is stored in its entirety in one piece. But as more documents, music, pictures and programs are added, changed or deleted on your computer, a process of fragmentation takes place.

Consider this scenario. You have saved a document called MyFirstDocument onto your computer. You subsequently work on and save a number of other documents. A week later, you decide to revise MyFirstDocument. You have added pictures and more text to the document. It has become much bigger. When you save it again there is not enough space in the original place and Windows saves it elsewhere on the hard drive. This process is repeated many times as files are added, modified and deleted. Eventually, files are distributed around the hard drive with many small gaps between them.

As you save more files, there is not enough continuous free space to save an entire file in a single place, and Windows saves parts of the file all over the hard drive. The Windows directory is able to manage files that are spread across several areas of your hard drive, but accessing the complete files now takes much longer. The drive-head has to move quite considerably around the hard disc to retrieve all the parts or fragments of the file.

The computer has become noticeably slower. Saving and retrieving files takes a long time.

Defragmenting your hard drive should make a significant difference to your computer's speed.

Although the term may sound scary and complex, a defrag is a simple procedure to carry out, even for someone that is not technical at all.

To start a defrag, simply follow these instructions:

Right click on the Start button. A menu appears. Click on 'Explore'. This will bring you to Windows Explorer - a directory of all your files. Scroll to the top of the directory until you find the C: drive. This may be in displayed as Vista (C:) or something similar. Place your mouse over the C: and right click. A menu appears click on Properties at the bottom of the menu. A pop-up box appears with a number of tabs at the top. Click on Tools. The first option is to check your hard drive for errors. The second option is to Defragment or Defragment Now. Windows Vista offers a number of options including scheduled defrags. Click the Defragment Now button.

Defragmentation will begin. The options on Windows XP are slightly different, and you will have to select the drive that you want to defragment. It is a good idea to defrag all drives on your hard disc.

Windows Vista now displays a message that reads: "Defragmenting hard disk (C:)... This may take from a few minutes to several hours". If you have never defragmented your hard disc before then the several hours becomes likely. Once the hard drive has been defragmented it is a good idea to repeat this process regularly perhaps on a weekly basis. Subsequent defrags should not take longer than a few minutes each time and will help to keep your computer in good running order.

Learn more about this author, Barry Marcus.
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