Almost everything Windows users, and of any version, they notice that over time the system begins to work somewhat slower than after installation. And this may be due not only to the accumulation of computer garbage, but also to slower access to the hard drive. Defragmentation can help in such a situation. The only question is how to get the maximum performance boost on Windows 7. Let's figure this out together.
What is defragmentation and why is it needed?
First, a brief overview of theoretical information. When constantly using the system to create or delete files and folders, most objects are broken into fragments, and they are not stored in one place, but end up scattered throughout the hard drive.
That is why, in order to “assemble” one file from fragments together, the system has to “jump” from one sector to another, which, naturally, sometimes takes quite a lot of time, especially if there are a large number of fragments and file size.
In addition, if the “building blocks” that make up the file are closer to the outer areas hard drive, the time for searching and reading them turns out to be much greater compared to that spent when performing similar procedures with internal areas. Thus, the defragmentation process is to move the most frequently used files (and their fragments) to the fastest areas of the hard drive and so that these fragments are located next to each other if possible.
But how to defragment a disk on Windows 7 so that the result is the best? There are several for this simple methods. Although some of them may differ from each other in the algorithms used.
How to defragment a disk on Windows 7 using the system's built-in tool?
Any operating system in the Windows family, including Windows 7, has its own tool (standard defragmenter). You can access it from the usual “Explorer” or any other file manager via RMB and selecting the properties item. Calling the defragmenter through the Start menu and the utilities section looks longer and more inconvenient.
To begin with, on the general tab, it is advisable to clean up the disk and remove all computer junk. You can use some third-party utility for this (this is precisely what allows you to achieve the best effect during defragmentation).
After this, the question of how to defragment a disk on Windows 7 can be solved quite simply by using the corresponding item on the service tab. When entering the standard application, it is first recommended to carry out an analysis by clicking on the corresponding button. If the fragmentation result is 10% or lower, defragmentation may not be carried out. Otherwise, you just need to press the start button for the process and wait for it to complete. Depending on the degree of fragmentation and the size of the hard drive, it may take quite a lot of time.
How to defragment a disk on Windows 7 Professional using the Shell?
If you don’t like this method, you can use the standard one command line, which must be run with administrator rights (cmd in the “Run” console, which is quickly called via the Win + R combination).
How to defragment a disk on Windows 7 in this case? Nothing complicated either. In the console window you need to write the line defrag C: /W /V and press Enter. The following attributes are optional. Their full list can be viewed by entering the command defrag /?, and then select the required combination. Accordingly, for other disks or logical partitions you will need to change the letter, since the command above was given specifically for the system disk.
Application of specialized programs and optimizers
In principle, you don’t have to resort to the standard tools of the system itself, but use special programs like Smart Defrag or complex optimizers like CCleaner.
CCLeaner solves the question of how to defragment a disk on Windows 7 quite quickly and simply. In this application, as in any other similar program, you can apply optimization in one click by checking the disk optimization module before starting scanning and searching for problems, or go to analysis in the service menu.
The defragmentation algorithm is somewhat different from the one used in Windows, and the process itself is much faster in time. This, by the way, can be seen in the graphical display of the progress of the operation if you compare both options.
Instead of an afterword
Finally, it’s worth answering one more question that some irresponsible users ask: “How to defragment a disk on Windows 7 via BIOS?” The answer is clear: NO. Firstly, the question itself is posed incorrectly, since the participation of the operating system in the defragmentation process in this case is not even hypothetically provided for. Secondly, there are no such tools in the settings of the primary system.
Finally, to automate the process so as not to constantly call the defragmenter, you can use the “Task Scheduler” built into the system. You need to create a new task, select standard defragmentation or run the optimizer and specify the desired execution (run) period.
Instructions
There is another way to run this utility. To do this, open the “My” window, launch a shortcut on the desktop or from the “Start” button menu. Then select any logical drive with the mouse, call its context menu and select “Properties”. In the new window, go to the “Tools” tab and in the “Disk Defragmentation” section, click on the “Run defragmentation” button. The system will launch a standard utility application window.
In this window at the top there is an element representing a list of all sections hard drives connected to a computer. Below are elements of a graphical assessment of the used capacitive space. They display the location of files before and after disk defragmentation.
Select the disk you need to defragment from the list of logical partitions. Click the "Defragmentation" button at the bottom of the window. The system will start defragmentation of the selected disk, graphically displaying this process in evaluation blocks. Thus, the entire process of transferring parts of files to one place can be monitored as the utility works.
When completed, the application will display a corresponding message on the screen. Your disk is now defragmented.
note
Disk defragmentation is an administrative function and requires administrator rights to run it.
In addition to the system defragmenter utility, there are a number of third-party programs that quickly and efficiently defragment any partition of the hard drive. These include utilities: Diskeeper, Defraggler, Disk Defrag, UltraDefrag and many other applications, most of which have freeware status.
During the operation of the computer and operating system, file fragmentation occurs. The higher it is, the slower the files begin to load and the system slows down. Therefore, from time to time the user should defragment disks in order to improve the performance and speed of the computer.
Instructions
Always perform defragmentation using special utilities. Standard operating system tools also allow defragmentation, but the quality of the work is poor. But if you don’t have special ones at hand, then use standard system utilities.
Right-click on the drive you want to defragment. A context menu will appear. At the very end, select the properties submenu. Open the "Service" tab. You will see three possible services. Select the Disk Defragmentation service. A new window will open. Click the "Analyze" button to analyze your fragmented disk. After this, you will see a different number of colored squares. The meaning of the colors will be indicated. Click "Defragmentation" to begin the process.
Install the necessary defragmentation utilities. There are a lot of them written, so choose according to your taste. The principle of operation is the same for all. When you launch the program, you will see a window similar to the standard system service. Analyze and then defragment your disk. The defragmentation process takes a long time, but is much faster and better than standard operating system tools. You can set the option to turn off the computer after the operation is completed. Many system optimization programs contain defragmentation utilities. But it's best to use separate programs.
If you have a computer, you probably know that you need to defragment it periodically. This process helps improve the performance of the disk on which similar work was carried out. At this point in time, users on the Internet are asking many questions related to the defragmentation process. To perform this operation correctly, you need to follow certain rules.
You will need
Instructions
You can take a different path. Go to Start. Select “All Programs” and “Standard”.
Go to the "Service" folder. The Disk Defragmenter file is located there. It contains a list of available disks on the computer. If you are using Windows XP, you need to analyze the logical structure of the disk.
In the "Disk Defragmentation" window there is an "Analyze" button. Click it. The program will automatically be able to test the structure.
Then you can safely proceed to the defragmentation itself. If you need anything during this process, you can click the Pause button and defragmentation will pause.
The entire process of this procedure will take approximately 40 minutes. As a result, errors will be corrected and the disk will begin to work better.
The service procedure for defragmenting the contents of the hard drive is available among standard means maintenance of the Windows operating system. Using the Disk Management utility, you can perform one-time defragmentation, and also set a schedule according to which this procedure will run automatically.
Instructions
Launch the Disk Management utility. This program can be found in “Computer Management”, a link to which is in the context menu of the “My Computer” shortcut, as well as in the “Control Panel” of the “Start” menu. The program is a standard operating system option, so there is no need to install it yourself.
Select the partition that needs defragmentation. It is believed that defragmentation should be carried out on each hard drive partition from time to time. Right-click on the partition area and select the bottom “Properties” item. Find the “Service” tab - this is where defragmentation management is located.
Click on the "Defragmentation" button. The Disk Defragmentation Wizard will launch. Click on the “Disk Analysis” button for the program to diagnose the partition for the need for a procedure. Then right-click on “Disk Defragmenter”. Allow enough time for the operation, since depending on the condition of the section, this will take from one hour to several.
There are utility programs that are designed to optimally perform the defragmentation procedure - Auslogics Disk Defrag, Ashampoo Magical Defrag, Piriform Defraggler and others. However, for the needs of the average user it will be enough standard utility Windows. When downloading additional software from the Internet, check all files using anti-virus utilities to avoid virus infection.
06.04.2015
Greetings friends! The topic of this article will be hard drive defragmentation. Mostly beginners don’t know about this process, which leads HDD filling with fragments.
On each hard drive of each computer user, thousands of files are saved and the same number are deleted. In their place, thousands of files are again installed, and then deleted with the same number.
Let me now try to explain this process in understandable human language.
Let's say you have bookshelves in your room. On each shelf all the books are sorted by name i.e. from A to Z.
The hard drive is in the same state without fragments. But one day, all the books were mixed up, the sorting order was disrupted and, ultimately, a complete house. The hard drive containing fragments is in approximately this state.
The newly purchased computer works with high speed and performance. Over time, the computer begins to slow down over time. In such situations, if you observe that the hard drive begins to crackle and operate noisily, this signals one thing, it is time to perform defragmentation (reverse fragmentation)
Defragmenting a hard drive on Windows 7 is done in two ways:
Let's look at the first way to use the built-in program. This method has significant disadvantages. The process does not defragment some system files and the process itself takes a very long time.
Let's go start open all programs, then move on standard choose official. Select the one that opens from the list Disk Defragmenter
Basically, in all cases, this partition is the system partition (the partition where the operating system windows).
After selecting, click Analyze disk. Once the analysis is complete, click Disk Defragmentation.
Defragment your hard drive with Auslogics Disk Defrag Free
It's convenient free program, which will help defragment your hard drive, while at the same time increasing the performance of your computer, which improves your performance.
This program has a number of advantages over analogues:
- Optimizes system windows files located on the hard drive to increase system speed.
- The developers have provided one feature that allows defragmentation of one folder or one file
- The program has a very useful idle mode that works automatically
- This program optimizes free space on your computer
- Flexibility in setting parameters hard drive defragmentation Convenient and intuitive interface
This program is being improved every month. In this article we will look at the version of the program
Auslogics Disk Defrag Free 5.4.0.0. The counter for this program has reached 11,000,000 users.
At the time of writing this article, this version of the program is only in English.
Auslogics Disk Defrag Free 5.4.0.0 can be downloaded from the official website.
When installing, no special knowledge or effort is required; we perform a normal installation. Launch the program
and preferably makes adjustments in the settings to improve the defragmentation result.
Let's go to settings(settings) open program settings(program settings) go algorithm ( algorithms ) . Next, insert a check mark in all items.
- Delete temporary files before defragmentation - this function allows you to clean your hard drive of debris stored on it,
- This frees up free disk space. These files (garbage) are a sufficient number,
- to slow down the hard drive defragmentation process.
- Skip fragments larger than 10MB - fragments with such memory increases the reading time.
- Defragmenting such fragments does not provide any benefit except that it will only waste time.
- Move system files to the beginning of the disk - this function allows you to move those files forward
- on which the speed of the process and time depend. The structure of the hard drive is such that it has the highest speed
- readout is located at the beginning of the hard drive.
- Defragment in VVS - compatible mode - this feature prevents the growth of the VVS saving area,
- which occurs when moving files and reduces the risk of copying previous VVS data.
When setting these settings, the speed of the defragmentation process improves.
Hard drive defragmentation process
Open the program, select the partition, this is mainly the system partition (C), right-click and select Analyze (c).
After analysis, the program will reveal a map of results and tell you whether defragmentation is necessary.
The red cubes on the map are fragments. If the message Advice defragment disks appears at the bottom of the results, this means that the program recommends defragmentation. And if there is no message, we leave everything as is; there is no limit on the number of fragments on the disk.
Basically, if the result shows fragments less than 10%, then the condition of the hard drive is good.
The process takes from 5-15 minutes, it mainly depends on how many files are on your hard drive.
- If you defragment your hard drive frequently, you will increase the wear and tear on the drive.
- So I advise you to do defragmentation if necessary.
- During the defragmentation process, leave the computer alone. Due to this, defragmentation time is reduced.
- If for some reason you need a computer, you can use the program with the priority set to low.
- To do this, go to settings, hover your mouse over defragment priority and select Low priority.
- For the process to proceed normally, I advise that the disk has free space of 10% of the total memory.
Scheduler defragmentation function.
There are times when your computer is always on. In this case, it is better to use a scheduler.
To enable the scheduler, go to settings(settings) click scheduler(Cluster Map).
Mark the section defragment automatic(Defragment automatically) ticked. Next we configure this function according to your conditions.
Example settings:
- When selecting the When PC is idle mode, select the time.
- Every day mode (daily) - set the time for daily checking.
- Weekly mode - set the day for defragmentation.
- Monthly mode - select the day and time to start the process.
If you install the scheduler on a laptop it will not work when using battery.
Attention: For the scheduler to work, the Auslogics Disk Defrag Free program must be in active mode, i.e. should be running.
In order for the program to start along with windows, go to settings(settings) select program settings(programm settings) and go to the tab are common(general) check the box as in the picture.
That's all the question is: how to do it hard drive defragmentation to uncover. If you have any questions, write comments. I hope the information was useful!
Defragmenting a hard drive is a simple operation that few people perform. And completely in vain. After all, with its help you can optimize the operation of your computer or laptop, make it open programs and files faster, and also extend the life of the HDD drive itself. Moreover, you don’t need to install any additional programs, because it can be done using built-in Windows tools.
This procedure is performed only for regular HDD drives. It is not required for SSD drives. This can only speed up their wear, and will not affect the performance of the PC in any way.
First, let's look at the question of what defragmentation is and why it is needed.
When using a computer, users create new files every day. Windows system breaks them into small pieces (they are called clusters) and writes them down one after another. With this arrangement they are read very quickly, i.e. The PC or laptop works quickly.
In the process of moving, copying and deleting files, these clusters are scattered across the hard drive in a chaotic manner. This process is called fragmentation. And it slows down your PC.
When a user runs a document, it takes time for the computer to find all the individual pieces and put them together. Only then will it open the requested file. This may take 5 seconds, which is quite a long time.
To return everything to its place (i.e., to place the scattered pieces next to each other), defragmentation is performed. Actually, this is what it is needed for - to organize clusters and optimize PC operation, at least for a while.
Why for a while? Because in the future you will again create, copy and delete documents, and the situation will repeat again.
Don't worry, all your documents, movies, games will remain where you saved them. They will not move anywhere and will not be deleted. This is just how a computer works: it breaks files into pieces and then places them in a certain sequence. The order of clusters only affects the speed of the PC. But this will not affect the files themselves in any way.
By the way, sometimes users confuse the concepts of “defragmentation” and “formatting”. Defragmentation simply organizes the clusters. And you won’t notice any external changes at all, because all the files will remain in their places.
And formatting is complete removal data. For example, today they often format a flash drive in order to later copy a Windows image onto it (from a licensed disk) and make it bootable.
Now that you know why defragmentation is needed, let's look at how to do it.
How to run disk defragmentation on Windows 7?
At any Windows versions There is a built-in defragmenter. And this program is enough to perform this procedure.
The program window that we need will appear.
Typically, the default schedule here is enabled so that all local drives are defragmented every Wednesday at 1 am. This is too common for home PCs and laptops, so you can click the “Customize schedule” button and uncheck the box. Or select the “Monthly” option in the “Frequency” item.
It is recommended at least once every 1-2 months. Although it depends on how intensively you create and delete files. You can perform it provided that the fragmentation is 20% or higher (read about this below).
Before proceeding directly to the procedure itself, select any local disk and click "Analyze". The system will analyze and show how many% are fragmented. If it is 20% or more, click the “Defragmentation” button. If less, you can do it later.
How long does disk defragmentation take? From a couple of minutes to 1-2 hours. This depends on the amount of free space in a particular partition and the percentage of fragmentation. The lower the first parameter and the higher the second, the longer it will take.
While performing the procedure, it is advisable not to install, copy, etc. anything. (best to run it during idle time). The maximum you can do is surf the Internet.
This procedure must be done for all local disks in turn (in my case there are 3 of them - C, D and E). After it’s finished, you can analyze it again and see the coveted line “0% fragmented” :)
Congratulations, now you know how to defragment a disk on Windows 7. Just don’t forget to do it at least once every 2 months.
Disk defragmentation in Windows 8 is done in much the same way.
By the way, if you have an SSD drive installed, the built-in defragmenter simply will not allow you to perform this operation. It will be written there - “Optimization is impossible.”