When dealing with a hard drive, one of the issues that can arise is the fragmenting of files as they are used. When this occurs, chunks and pieces of the same file are scattered all over the hard drive. What this means is that, everytime the hard disk has to locate a file, it moves more in its attempts to find the files. When a computer is making noises as things are processed, typically this is the hard drive working.
Doing a Computer Defrag
Before opening up the Disk Defragmenter, close programs that are running such as virus scanners. The fewer programs that are running while the defragmenter works, the more efficient and smoothly it will run. More importantly, the less work the hard drive has to do, the more complete the defragmentation will be. Therefore, shut down these programs to have the maximum results.
Do a disk cleanup. This will remove any unnecessary files such as Internet files and caches. These are stored on your computer, but by getting rid of them, the defragmenter won’t try and defrag those files. It’ll save time and therefore, the whole process won’t take nearly as long.
Open the Start Menu, click accessories and then scroll until the System Tools button appears. This is where the disk cleanup button is as well. Click the Disk Defragmenter button which will open the program up. Before running a disk defrag, have the program analyze the drives to make sure they need to be defragmented. If they don’t, leave it alone. It’ll be a waste of time and there will be little change noticed.
However, if the defragmenter notices a significant change if the program is run, allow it to run. The number of fragmented files that are on the computer will determine how long the defragmenting process takes. It is best to do this once every week or two to ensure that the hard drive doesn’t become so fragmented in the future that it takes hours to complete. If the hard drive is making noise as it processes, there’s a good chance that the drive is fragmented and could use a defragmenting.
