Steps on How To Defrag Computer

Every computer has a hard drive that needs to be reorganized and optimized. This is why you need to know how to defrag computer. First of all, you need to know why you would need to defrag a computer. Once you understand why you need to, I will outline the steps to defragging your computer with the standard defrag program in Windows. This article will aim to educate you on how a hard disk get fragmented and then the steps on how to defrag computer.

So why do you need to defrag your hard drive? First of all, a hard drive is composed of several disks or platters. When data gets written to the hard drive, it is written in a continuous fashion. However, when files get deleted and filled with other data, existing data will prevent a continuous stream of data on a disk. Over time, files would get broken up thus resulting in a large amount of fragmented data that is spread across platters on the hard drive. When you defrag computer, you are basically reorganizing the files so that they are continuous stream. This will increase performance by as much as 200% depending on fragmented your PC is. It also alleviates any system errors caused by file fragmentation.

Although there are tools you can buy that do ongoing defragmentation, you can easily do this task manually every so often to keep your hard drive optimized. Here are the steps on how to defrag computer on a Windows 2000/XP/2003 machine:

Step 1: Open "My Computer"
Step 2: Right-click a drive and click properties
Step 3: Click on the "Tools" tab
Step 4: Look for the "Defragmentation" section and click "Defragment Now"
Step 5: This will open the "Disk Defragmenter". Select a drive and click "Defragment"
Step 6: You can see the visual representation of the files in your hard drive. Once they are in continuous colors, you are finished!

I've just told you about the steps on how to defrag computer. Now that you understand how files get fragment, you can see how performance can affected. The steps to defragging your comptuer should be done at least once a month to keep your hard drive optimized. Defragging your computer should be one of the many tasks to having a healthy computer.

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How to Reformat Your Computer's Hard Drive

If you are like most people, your computer is one of the most valuable possessions in your home. This is not simply because of what it is capable of doing, but also for all the information it holds. For most people, computers are practically a family member. Few use date books or traditional calendars anymore because most of what they need is in one place ready to access at any time. For either personal or professional use, a computer is one piece of technology that most of us can no longer live without.

That is why it is so important to know how to reformat your computer's hard drive in case it takes a severe crash or doesn't boot up. The delicate nature of this exercise is reformatting in a way that salvages your data. You should never reformat your computer without knowing the step-by-step directions you need to follow. In fact, you should have very good reasons to justify your decision to reformat at all before doing so. Computer experts agree that reformatting a drive should be the last option you take considering it is such a major change to your computer.

First, long before your computer experiences any significant damage, make a backup of all the information and programs stored on your computer. Without a backup copy of your computer's vital information, you will lose any important documents, passwords, music files, and other desirable data you currently have stored. Backups should be made on regular intervals (weekly or even daily), and done at least monthly.

Additionally, you need a copy of your installation software that usually comes with your computer when you first buy it. It may also be called a backup CD. This includes the operating system that you are using as well as any other software for programs you use that comes standard with your computer. At the same time, you want to make a boot CD which can be created through the control panel on your computer. This will enable you to boot up your computer with that CD.

Finally, you will then take the steps to reformat and install your operating system, such as Windows XP. Follow the instructions completely by installing the system to the hard drive, which is usually drive C. If you are not confident in what you are doing, then by all means take your computer to someone who does, because you do not want to be left with a useless box after completion.

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