Good hour! Like it or not, but in order for the computer to work faster, you need to take preventive measures from time to time (clean it from temporary and junk files, defragment it).
In general, I can say that most users very rarely defragment, and in general, do not pay due attention to it (either out of ignorance, or simply because of laziness) ...
Meanwhile, by doing it regularly, you can not only speed up your computer a little, but also increase the life of the disk! Since there are always a lot of questions regarding defragmentation, in this article I will try to collect all the main things that I myself encounter quite often. So …
FAQ. Questions about defragmentation: why do it, how often, etc.
1) What is defragmentation, what is the process? Why do it?
All files on your disk, while being written to it, are written sequentially in pieces on its surface, they are often called clusters (this word, probably, many have already heard). So, while the hard drive is empty, then the file clusters can be nearby, but when there is more and more information, the spread of these pieces of one file also grows.
Because of this, when accessing such a file, your disk has to spend more time reading the information. By the way, this scatter of pieces is called fragmentation.
defragmentation it is aimed just at ensuring that these pieces are collected compactly in one place. As a result, the speed of your disk and, accordingly, the computer as a whole increases. If you haven’t defragmented for a long time, this may affect the performance of your PC, for example, when you open some files, folders, it will start to “think” for a while ...
2) How often should a disk be defragmented?
Quite a common question, but it is difficult to give a definite answer. It all depends on how often your computer is used, how it is used, what disks are used on it, what file system. In Windows 7 (and higher), by the way, there is a good analyzer that will tell you what to do defragmentation , or not (there are also separate special utilities that can analyze and inform you in time that it's time ... But about such utilities - below in the article).
For this you need to go to control Panel, in the search bar enter "defragment", and Windows will find the desired link (see screen below).
3) Do I need to defragment SSD drives?
No need! And even Windows itself (at least the new Windows 10, in Windows 7 it is possible to do this) disables the analyze and defragmentation button for such drives.
The fact is that an SSD drive has a limited number of write cycles. So with each defragmentation - you reduce the life of your disk. In addition, there are no mechanics in SSD drives, and after defragmenting, you will not notice any increase in speed.
4) Do I need to defragment a drive if it has an NTFS file system?
In fact, there is an opinion that the NTFS file system practically does not need to be defragmented. This is not entirely true, although it is partly true. It's just that this file system is arranged in such a way that it is required much less often to defragment a hard drive under its control.
In addition, the speed of work does not drop so much from strong fragmentation, as if it were on FAT (FAT 32).
5) Do I need to clean the disk from "junk" files before defragmenting?
If you clean the disk before defragmenting, then:
- speed up the process itself (after all, you will have to work with fewer files, which means the process will end earlier);
- make Windows run faster.
6) How to defragment a disk?
It is desirable (but not necessary!) to install a separate special. utility that will handle this process (about such utilities below in the article). Firstly, it will do it faster than the utility built into Windows, and secondly, some utilities can automatically defragment without distracting you from work. (for example, you started watching a movie, the utility, without interfering with you, defragmented the disk at that time).
But, in principle, even the standard program built into Windows does defragmentation quite well (although it does not have some of the "goodies" that third-party developers have).
7) Whether to do defragmentation not on the system drive (that is, on the one on which Windows is not installed)?
Good question! It all depends again on how you use this disk. If you store only movies and music on it, then there is not much point in defragmenting it.
Another thing is if you install, say, games on this disk - and during the game, some files are loaded. In this case, the game may even start to slow down if the disk does not have time to respond to it in time. As it should, with this option - it is desirable to defragment on such a disk!
How to defragment a disk - step by step
By the way, there are universal programs (I would call them “combines”) that can carry out complex actions to clean up your PC from garbage, remove erroneous registry entries, configure your Windows OS and defragment (for maximum speed!). About one of them you can .
1) Cleaning the disk from garbage
Windows cleaners -
For example, I can recommend ccleaner. Firstly, it is free, and secondly, it is very easy to use and there is nothing superfluous in it. All that is required from the user is to press the analyze button, and then clean the disk from the garbage found (screen below).
2) Removing unnecessary files and programs
By the way, it is advisable to remove programs through special utilities: (by the way, you can use the same CCleaner utility - it also has a tab for removing programs).
At worst, you can use the standard utility built into Windows (to open it, use the control panel, see the screen below).
3) Run defrag
Let's consider launching the disk defragmenter built into Windows (because it eats me by default for everyone who has Windows :)).
First you need to open control Panel, then section system and safety. Next, next to the tab " Administration"will be a link" Defragment and optimize your drives"- go through it (see the screen below).
Alternative way to run defrag on Windows
1. Open " My computer"(Or" This computer«).
3. Then in the properties of the disk, open the section " Service«.
4. In the service section, press the button " Optimize Disk(everything is illustrated in the screenshot below).
Important! The defragmentation process can take quite a long time (depending on the size of your disk and how fragmented it is). At this time, it is better not to touch the computer, not to run resource-intensive tasks: games, video encoding, etc.
The best programs and utilities for disk defragmentation
Note! This subsection of the article will not reveal to you all the possibilities of the programs presented here. Here I will focus on the most interesting and convenient utilities (in my opinion) and describe their main differences, why I chose them and why I recommend trying ...
1) Defraggler
A simple, free, fast and convenient disk defragmenter. The program supports all new versions of Windows (32/64 bit), can work both with entire disk partitions and with individual files, supports all popular file systems (including NTFS and FAT 32).
By the way, about the defragmentation of individual files - this is, in general, a unique thing! Not many programs can allow you to defragment something specific ...
2) Ashampoo Magical Defrag
To be honest, I like products from Ashampoo- and this utility is no exception. Its main difference from similar ones of its kind is that it can defragment the disk in the background (when the computer is not busy with resource-intensive tasks, which means that the program is working - it will not embarrass or interfere with the user).
What is called - once installed and forgot this problem! In general, I recommend paying attention to it to everyone who is tired of remembering defragmentation and doing it manually ...
3) Auslogics Disk Defrag
This program can move system files (which need to get the fastest performance) to the fastest part of the disk, thereby speeding up your Windows OS a bit. In addition, this program is free (for normal home use) and can be configured to automatically start during PC downtime (ie, by analogy with the previous utility).
I also want to note that the program allows you to defragment not only a specific disk, but also individual files and folders on it.
The program is supported by all new Windows OS: 7, 8, 10 (32/64 bits).
4) MyDefrag
Developer site: http://www.mydefrag.com/
MyDefrag is a small but handy utility for defragmenting disks, floppy disks, USB external hard drives, memory cards and other media. Perhaps that is the only reason I added this program to the list.
The program also has a scheduler for detailed launch settings. There are also versions that do not need to be installed (it is convenient to carry on a USB flash drive).
5) Smart Defrag
This is one of the fastest disk defragmenters! Moreover, this does not affect the quality of defragmentation. Apparently, the developers of the program managed to find some unique algorithms. In addition, the utility is completely free for home use.
It is also worth noting that the program is very careful about data, even if some system error occurs during defragmentation, a power outage or something else ... - then nothing should happen to your files, they will be read and opened in the same way. The only thing is that you have to start the defragmentation process again.
The utility also provides two modes of operation: automatic (very convenient - set it up once and forget it) and manual.
It is also worth noting that the program is optimized to work in Windows 7, 8, 10. I recommend it for use!
