Defragging

 

What is defragging and why should I care?

Defragging is a way to organize the information on your computers hard drive(s) so your computer doesn't have to work so hard to get at the information. All those programs, files, pictures, music, movies etc. get scattered into little pieces as you work on your computer and it makes it much harder for your computer to reassemble them when you are ready to use them again.

You may have noticed that your computer gets slower and slower over time. One of the main reasons for that gradual slowing down is the constant rewriting of your files into smaller and smaller chunks scattered throughout your hard drive in little fragments. This process is called fragmentation. You can't avoid that happening but you can reverse the process.

Defragmenting all those scattered pieces can give new life and speed to your computer. You will notice the difference right away after defragmenting your hard drives. Your computer will start faster, open files faster and in general be much more like the computer you got at the store rather than the clunky slow dinosaur it's slowly become over time.

Sounds expensive - I'm not a techie so how much is this going to cost me?

Defragging is free. Well it will cost you a little time but you will get all that time and some more back when you have a faster computer that doesn't creak and groan when you ask it to do something. You don't need to be a techie or even watch over the defragging process while it happens. Just set it up once and push the button - it's really that simple. I'll even help you do the initial setup a little further down in this tip.

So what's in it for you? You make prospector's maps why write about defragging?

Well I would rather be out prospecting but if our maps are banging around on a slow computer you won't enjoy your mapping and research as much.You might even go prospecting without making great informational maps to take with you. If you don't do good research and have accurate custom maps at your fingertips you won't find as much gold and you might give up prospecting for bowling or Ukranian folk dancing. If you are folk dancing I won't have any reason to keep making great prospector's maps. Then I'd have to start selling my services as a computer techie or become a folk dance instructor or something else really boring. I like making great prospector's map and I don't think finding gold is boring at all. Defrag your drive and it works out better for both of us.

I'd rather find gold than folk dance - so tell me how to defrag.

These defrag instructions are for Windows computers. Other operating systems have their own way to deal with fragmentation so these instructions won't do you any good if you are working on Sega or Next or one of those other operating systems.

Windows has it's own defrag program built in. Like most Windows system utilities it's buried deep in the system and has a million questions to answer before it does obscure stuff that takes forever and might not work at all. That's why the first step in these instructions is:

1. Ignore the Windows defragmenter.

Now that that is out of the way we can move on to the easy non-techie way to get a faster computer.

2. Download Defraggler

Go to Piriform Defraggler and download the Defraggler program. It's free, small, easy to use and has a long history of being safe and effective.

3. Install Defraggler

Double click the Defraggler downlod to install the program. The installer will leave a colorful icon on your desktop. You can start the Defraggler program from there or from START --> All Programs --> Defraggler.

4. Start Defraggler.

Click once on your startup drive name at the top of the window (usually "local Disk (C) it will probably already be selected). Click the "Analyze" button in the lower left of the window. Wait a few seconds and then marvel at all the pretty colored squares.

Now we need to put in some basic settings to get the most of the defragging process. You only need to do this the first time you use Defraggler.

5. Set up your options

a. Go to the "Settings" item in the menu at the top of the Defraggler window. Chose "options" from the drop down list.

b. You will see five tabs at the top of the "Options" window that opens. Choose the tab named "Defrag". Checkmark the box at the top titled "Move large files to the end of the drive during defrag". In the box titled "Minimum file size" type the number 250. Leave the other boxes unchecked.

c. Click on the tab at the top of the "options" window named "Advanced" and check mark the box with "Save all settings to INI file" next to it. Click the "OK" button at the bottom of the "options" window.

Now you are set up to defrag your drive. The last step is the only one you will have to do when you start the "Defraggler" from now on. You will probably want to defrag your drive every week or so to keep your computer fast and easy to use.

I suggest you run the defrag three times the first time you do this. The first time might take as much as several hours depending on how much disk space you have left and how long it's been since it's been defragged. You should probably set some time aside for the first defrag so it can finish in one session. Each time after the first will be much faster.

You can continue to use your computer while it is defragging but it may slow down the defragging as well as your own computer use. You can also stop or pause the defragging process whenever you need, it will not hurt your computer at all.

Don't believe the "Remaining Time" at the bottom left of the Defraggler window. Like most Windows programs it only pretends to know how long it will take. Typically it will start out with anything from several days to several hours and by the end the last "minute" might be 20 minutes.

So on to the last step:

6. Defrag!

Click the "Defrag" button in the lower left of the Defraggler window.

Go prospecting for a few hours, find some gold and come back to a good as new computer.