How do I defrag a computer?

Another way is to open My Computer, right click on the C drive then go to Properties. There click the tools tab and then Defragment. I disable the screrensaver and virus scan first. Any program trying to run while the defrag is in process will slow it down.

Rick
February 2006

Defragging is less useful on more moderen Operating Systems that it used to be but can help performance a little. The old OS (Called DOS) used a very crude algorithym when writing to the hard disk. It was basically: Fill up the gaps on the disk and then start at the end of the last record. That menat that if yoyu did a lot of deleting and writing to the disck, files quickly became 'fragmented' that is to say bits of a single file could be scattered all over the disk. So defragging was important to maintain performance.

A more modern OS like XP is not quite as bad. However to defrag, go to: Programs. Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter. And be prepared for it to take a long time so do it over night.

Terry
February 2006