Defragment Your Hard Drive

DEFRAG from MS-DOS
Purpose: Optimizes disk performance by reorganizing the files on the disk (new with DOS Version 6).
You should start DEFRAG only from MS-DOS. Starting DEFRAG from a program such as Microsoft Windows may cause you to lose data.

Reboot to Safe Mode
(Warning - Colors will look wierd in safe mode and everything will be bigger, it will go back to nomral when you are done.)

* you will see a black screen with white text or a logo.
* Press F8 every second or two until you see a menu
* Select SAFE MODE and press ENTER.

Disable your screensaver

* Right click on the desktop.
* Select PROPERTIES
* Select the SCREENSAVER tab.
* Select None from a drop down list on the left labled Screensavers.
* Press the Apply button and then the OK button

At Desktop-START/RUN-Type : cmd
In Dos windows type: defrag C:
(Even if the defragmenter reports that your hard drive is 0% fragmented, continue with defragmentation)
Type exit when finish & press enter
Options
/F - Used to defragment files, ensuring that the disk contains no empty spaces between files.

/U - Used to defragment files, leaving empty spaces between files.

/S - Used to control the way in which files are sorted in their directories. Without this option, the current order of files will be maintained. You can use any combination of the following sort options . Do not put spaces between the values.

N Alphabetical order by name.
N- Reverse alphabetical order by name.
E Alphabetical order by extension.
E- Reverse alphabetical order by extension.
D By date and time, earliest first.
D- By date and time, latest first.
S By size, smallest first.
S- By size, largest first

/B - Used to restart your computer after files have been reorganized.
/skiphigh Used to load DEFRAG into conventional memory, rather than in upper memory.

/LCD - Specifies an LCD color scheme.
/BW - Specifies a black and white color scheme.
/GO - Used to disable the graphic mouse and graphic character set.
/H - Used to move hidden files.

Example
If you want to load DEFRAG into conventional memory and run it specifying that the files on drive C be sorted alphabetically by name, enter the following:

defrag c: /f /sn /skiphigh



DEfrag From My Computer
Delete Temporary Files
Do not perform files deletions unless you are confident of your ability to safely delete and restore files from your hard drive. If you are not comfortable with this, skip this section and go directly to Reboot in Safe Mode.

When programs are installed and while they are running they create temporary files. The software is supposed to clean up after itself, but sometimes this doesn't happen. These files are placed in special directories so they can be easily located and deleted.

Cleaning out your "temp" directories will free up space on your hard drive. Do it before defragmenting, so the space can be most efficiently reclaimed.

* Delete the contents of c:\windows\temp
* Delete the contents of c:\temp (if it exists)
* Reboot and run a couple of programs as usual.
* If there are no errors reported during reboot, empty the Recycling Bin, otherwise restore any files who absence generates error messages.

Reboot to Safe Mode
(Warning - Colors will look wierd in safe mode and everything will be bigger, it will go back to nomral when you are done.)

* you will see a black screen with white text or a logo.
* Press F8 every second or two until you see a menu
* Select SAFE MODE and press ENTER.

Disable your screensaver

* Right click on the desktop.
* Select PROPERTIES
* Select the SCREENSAVER tab.
* Select None from a drop down list on the left labled Screensavers.
* Press the Apply button and then the OK button

Windows XP

*
Press the Windows Start Button
*
Double click on My Computer
*
Right click on your C drive.and select Properties
*
Click on the Tools tab.
*
In the Defragmentation section click on the Defragment Now button.
*
The defragmentor will start, click the Defragment button,


* Even if the defragmenter reports that your hard drive is 0% fragmented, continue with defragmentation
* When the defragmenter is done, exit the program
* If you disabled your screensaver, re-enable it now.
o Right click on the desktop.
o Select PROPERTIES
o Select the SCREENSAVER tab.
o Select desired screensaver from a drop down list on the left labled Screensavers.
o Press the Apply button and then the OK button

Reboot Normally, You are Done

If the hard drive is badly fragmented, defragmentation can take many hours. The longer it takes, the more improvement you will usually see. If you do this monthly, it should not take long.

On a very large or badly fragmented drive, the defragmenter will often stall at 10% for a long time while it is figuring out how to move your files.

Sometimes in Windows, 95/98/ME, the defragmenter will lock up at a certain point on the hard drive. Give it an hour or two, if the percentage complete does not change, there may be a problem with the hard drive or the operating system. Sometimes rebooting will allow you to continue, sometimes it will not. If rebooting does not solve the problem, you may wish to try applying updates to your operating system and trying again.
Factors Affecting the Time Required to De fragment a Hard Drive

* The size of the hard drive
* The speed of the hard drive, seek time and data transfer rate
* How badly fragmented the hard drive is
* Even in Safe Mode, a screen saver can slow defragmentation down by forcing it to restart.

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