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DR. MAC'S COMPUTER CLINIC
No.20
DEFRAGMENT YOUR PC
CORRECTLY
Welcome to another Computer Clinic. You already know (from previous Clinics) how to dose your
computer with lots of good medicine aimed at restoring its health. Now it's time to learn how
to defragment your PC ("defrag." for short)
Before we go any further, it is VERY important you know how to use :
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End It All - to close down all running programs easily.
Full instructions on how to download and use it are in Clinics 5 and 6
Scandisk - the complete "how to" is detailed in Clinic 7
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PLEASE - DO NOT TRY TO DEFRAGMENT YOUR COMPUTER BEFORE YOU HAVE MASTERED THE TWO
PROGRAMS ABOVE.
WHAT IS A "FRAGMENTED" COMPUTER ?
Let's say a program e.g.
Outlook Express, consists of 5 sections - A, B, C, D and E.
For the program to launch, all these 5 parts need to be activated - one after the other -
IN THE CORRECT ORDER.
If A,B,C,D and E are neatly stacked next to each other, then the electrical signals can easily hop from A to B to C and when it finally hops to E - the correct sequence is completed and Outlook Express opens up.
BUT - after using the computer for a time, files get scattered all over the hard drive. So, we could get those 5 parts now being in the wrong order.
Not only in the wrong order, but to make matters worse, D could be at the beginningof
the hard drive, A towards the end, B in the middle ... you get the idea. The signals
now go bananas darting around trying to find all the 5 parts needed - and they HAVE to
be activated in the correct order!
That's what a FRAGMENTED hard drive is. As you can imagine, this greatly slows down your computer.
When you DE-fragment your drive, everything gets put back into order and your PC starts
to "sing sweetly" again!
BUT - IT'S IMPORTANT TO DO THREE THINGS BEFORE YOU DEFRAG !
1. Clean up and delete all junk first. That is, delete unwanted e-mails and use
Disk Clean to give your hard drive a thorough sweep. Why? Because it will waste considerable time having these files sorted and re-ordered when you defrag - only for you to delete them in any case afterwards!
2. Close down all running programs using End It All. WHY? Because if programs are running and files are still open, they will NOT get degragmented.
3. Use Scandisk
to resolve any file and directory errors. Why? Because if you don't, there is a danger that sections with faults will be moved next to sections without faults. This will have a negative effect on those "good" sections - resulting in even MORE problems that you had before!
HOW TO DEFRAG YOU PC - THE RIGHT WAY! -
If you don't have a shortcut to your Defrag program on your desktop, make one! Click on the big "Start" button - point to "Programs - Accessories - System Tools - Disk Defragmenter"
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Hold you mouse over "Disk Defragmenter" - RIGHT-click once - and on the menu that pops up, select "Send to .... Desktop (as a shortcut)"
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With the shortcut on your desktop, RIGHT-click over it and on the pop-up menu click on "Rename"
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Call it something short and sweet like "Defrag" This is what it will look like :
 Defrag -
RIGHT - now you're ready to Defrag.
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Delete unwanted e-mails and then clean your hard drive using
Disk Clean (Full details in Clinic 15)
Close down all running programs using End It All
Now, run a standard Scandisk.
When Scandisk has finished, DOUBLE-CLICK the Defrag shortcut on your desktop.
The FIRST time you use Defrag, you need to make some settings
(N.B.
Windows 95
users - you will NOT see this box. Never mind, just double click your Defrag icon and
proceed directly with the defragmentation)
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Drive C should be automatically set here.
If you have partitioned your hard drive,
you need to specify the drive/s to defrag.
Now click on Settings
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When you click on "Settings" the following box opens up :
Put a tick in the box
"Rearrange program files ..."
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Make sure "Check the drive ..."
is NOT ticked! You have
ALREADY checked the drive
using Scandisk. If this box
is ticked, it can lead to the
defrag. process "freezing" and
waste considerable time.
Select the "Every time ..." option.
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When you select the "Every time I defragment ..." option, you will NOT have to make these settings again.
Click on "O.K." - and away you go.
You will see how the defrag is going on the little progress bar that appears :
Click "Show Details" to see the full defrag. |
For some strange reason, many
progress meters seem to "stick"
at 10%! This does NOT mean the
defrag. has stopped working! After
a time, it jumps to 20% - 30% etc.
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Depending on the size of your hard drive and the number of programs and files you have, a defrag. can take anything from one to several hours to complete.
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So, plan to start your defrag just before you go out shopping - or watch a long movie on TV !
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If you STOP a defrag half way through, your drive can land up even MORE scattered! Allow time!
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When the defrag has finished, close the Defrag program and REBOOT your computer.
That's GREAT! Your PC should now be in MUCH better health!
HOW OFTEN SHOULD I DEFRAG. MY HARD DRIVE?
You should aim to defrag once a month.
Once every week (or even more ) is over-kill. Once every three months (or even less ) is over-lazy!
Finally - To drive the message home load and clear, I'm going to repeat the warning ...
BEFORE DEFRAGGING YOUR PC - DELETE THE JUNK - CLOSE DOWN RUNNING PROGRAMS, and then
ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS USE SCANDISK FIRST !
Well, you now have another bottle of powerful medicine to keep your PC in tip-top health.
Please don't forget all the other medications that should be applied much more often.
Full details are at the end of Clinic 18
Thank you for attending my Clinic - and see you soon
for more good medicine!
Best wishes,
Dr. Mac
Dr. Mac's Computer Clinic
LIBRARY
All the
Computer Clinics that have appeared on the idf50 web-site
are HERE
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HEALTH WARNING
Outdated programmes and lack of "know-how" can seriously affect the health of your PC including your internet and e-mail enjoyment
CLICK HERE
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