Defragmenting your hard drive

First, here's a few facts you need to know

1. Over time as you use your computer, the files in your hard drive gets fragmented (breaks into pieces). What this means is that your files gets broken into pieces and gets thrown into different parts of your hard drive. As a result your computer does an extra job of bringing these bits together to open a single file- this makes your computer run slow.



2. With regards to SSDs, carrying out disk defragmentation manually reduces the life span of your SSD. So it’s advisable to let windows do it automatically- this extends the life of an SSD.

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By default, Windows 8 and Windows 10 are designed to carry out defragmentation on a schedule (once a week). But then the process is quite inconsistent. Hence if you notice your files taking longer to load, you just might want to defragment your hard drive.

Here is how to do so

On the task bar or search box, type Optimize or defrag

This opens a new window –“Optimize Drives” > Select your Hard drive >Check the Percentage of fragmented files > Click on Optimize.

Regarding the percentage, there are no rules cast in stone. Below 5% is okay so the de-fragmentation doesn’t take too long to complete.

On windows 7

Click start > Select Programs > Acessories . Choose System tools > Disk defragmenter > give admin permission > hit Defragment Now .

The process begins and it does take a while but you can still use your PC during the process (although it might run slower due to the demanding process)