Defragmenting your system

Defragmenter will put files and folders back into continuous units. This will improve hard disk performance. Even if your system does an automatic defrag using the Scheduler, we recommend a manual defragmentation at least once or twice a week. When Disk Defragmenter is run on the Scheduler, Windows samples the drive first, and only runs if fragmentation is high on that sample (which may not accurately reflect how fragmented the rest of the drive is). Running Defrag manually will remove all fragmentation without relying on a sample, thus ensuring a proper defrag.

First, close AOL and any other TPA programs you may be running.

Then, be sure that NO PROGRAMS ARE RUNNING except Explorer and Systray.  If you aren't sure what programs might be running, press CTRL + ALT + DEL ONE time, and look at the task list. If there is a program running, highlight it, then click on End Task.

When Defragmenter is complete, reboot your computer.

When you are online a lot, you should run the Disk Defragmenter every 2-3 days. This will not harm your computer in any way.

Windows 2000/XP

  1. On your Taskbar, click the START button, then click All Programs , then Accessories, then System Tools, then Disk Defragmenter icon.
  2. Under the category "Volume" select your C: drive, then click on Defragment.

Windows Vista

  1. On your Taskbar, click the START button, then click All Programs , Accessories, System Tools, then Disk Defragmenter.
  2. The "Disk Defragmenter" dialog box appears. Click the Defragment now... button.
  3. The "Disk Defragmenter: Defragment Now" dialog box appears. Check the boxes next to drives you want to defragment and uncheck the others.
  4. Click OK to start the defragmentation.

Windows 7

  1. On your Taskbar, click the Start button . In the search box, type Disk Defragmenter, and then, in the list of results, click Disk Defragmenter.

  2. Under Current status, select the disk you want to defragment.

  3. To determine if the disk needs to be defragmented or not, click Analyze disk.  If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

  4. Once Windows is finished analyzing the disk, you can check the percentage of fragmentation on the disk in the Last Run column. If the number is above 10%, you should defragment the disk.

  5. Click Defragment disk.  If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.