Defragmenting a computer’s hard drive is very beneficial in some ways. For computer users who are average in terms of computer literacy, defragmenting is not something they are capable of doing and therefore, they seek the expert assistance of a technician to do it. Desktop computers that are slightly used daily may not need a defragmentation for a more powerful performance but there may be times when you wait for a certain program to open for a few minutes causing delay to your work. There are some users who know how to defrag the hard drive but if you are an exception, you must continue reading so that you will learn about steps to be taken to get things right.

Why is it necessary to defrag the hard drive of your computer? One of the major benefits of defragmentation is making the computer perform better. In other words, defragmenting is believed to be the solution to the poor performance of a computer. It speeds up the opening of a program, for instance. The defrag tool can do all these tricks. Although there is already a defrag utility featured by Windows, it still good for you to defrag in a textbook- like way.

Here are the basic steps on how to defrag your hard drive. Firstly, you need to delete all of the unwanted files saved on your computer. In this way, you can speed up Windows’ defrag tool and improve the performance of your computer in general. Secondly, you should clear all the browsing data history and cache of the browser you have used regularly. Thirdly, emptying your recycle bin is also a beneficial step. Both Windows Vista and XP feature a tool called Disk Cleanup that can be used to delete unnecessary files from your personal computer. Instead of this tool, you can also use another tool like the program that Auslogics BoostSpeed comes with. 

Fourthly, you can make use of a disk check utility (Chkdsk) in repairing the errors in your hard disk and have other related computer problems before defragmenting. Fifthly, you need to make a backup of your whole system. This can be done in either of the two ways such as creating a recovery disk and creating a backup using an external hard drive. Remember that a System Restore point should be created first through System Tools of Windows before you defrag. Sixthly, you have to disable the Windows Pagefile before defragmenting the hard drive. This can be done by going to the “Control Panel” then “System” next “Advanced”. Search for the “Performance” tab then you see the “Settings” button and click on it. Next, go to “Advanced” tab, then click on “Change” under “Virtual Memory”. Choose “No Paging File” then click “Set”.

After taking all the aforementioned steps, you may now close all other open programs. You need to disconnect from the Internet or go offline to avoid having things automatically update. Now you can start defragmenting by either using the defrag utility of Windows or any third- party software you have selected. How can you access the defrag tool of Windows? Go to “Start” -> “All Programs” -> “Accessories” -> “System Tools” -> “Disk Defragmenter”. Next, choose the drive you wish to defragment then click “OK”. After the completion of the defragmentation process, you should enable again the paging file. To do this, follow the same steps mentioned above to go to “Virtual Memory” then the paging file size should be specified. The size of the managed System is also recommended.

These are all the things you have to take into account so that you will learn on how to defrag the hard drive and make your computer’s performance better.