That’s simple. Defrag your hard drive.
People are always looking for new ways to increase the speed of their computer. Aside from taking your PC to a computer repair shop, there is a very simple and essentially free way to put your computer on the road to running at its once youthful speed. What I am talking about is defragmenting your hard drive.
What is Fragmentation? What causes it?
Fragmentation is caused when your operating system has to break a file into smaller pieces, because there is not enough room to store that file in just one local.
Consider this illustration:
Imagine your hard drive as having a bunch of little boxes. An unfragmented hard-drive would look like this -
1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4
But lets say that you deleted file 2. Then your hard drive would look like this
1 1 1 1 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4
If you were to save a new file that was twice as large as the original file, your hard drive would look like this
1 1 1 1 5 5 5 5 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5
How does Fragmentation slow down my computer?
A fragmented hard drive has to work harder to read its contents than if it were defragmented. When files are fragmented they are broken up into smaller pieces that are scattered all over the drive.
What keeps track of where these different parts are stored?
The File Allocation Table (FAT) is responsible for keeping record of where every piece of every file is stored on your hard drive. Since the different parts of the file are located in different areas of the drive, your FAT will take a longer time to find the file and ultimately open it. The fragmentation of your hard drive can get infinitely more complicated than my illustration, which can cause your computer to be painfully sluggish. This is the main reason why a fragmented hard drive poses problems to your computer’s performance.
What occurs during the defragmentation process?
Defragmentation is the process of scanning the file system and rejoining the split files back into consecutive pieces. Once all the files are back in order, when queried, your FAT can find the file much quicker, thus increasing the speed with which your computer operates. This is definitely one of the easiest ways to increase the performance of your PC.
OK this all sounds great. How do I defrag my hard drive?
- Click Start
- Click My Computer or Computer (Vista)
- Right click over the hard drive you wish to defrag
- Click Properties
- Click the Tools tab
- Click Defragment Now
Now sit back pop in your latest Netflix flick and hold tight. If it has been a while since your last defrag it could take a long while to complete. Don’t fret. The increase in performance will outweigh the inconvenience.
Why is my computer still slow?
If your computer is still slow after defragging your hard drive call Rocket PC to schedule an appointment. Rocket PC offers free consultation on how to increase the performance of your computer, and what type of computer to buy when the time comes. Furthermore, Rocket PC offers computer repair at half the price of that geeky national computer repair chain, and they have a “no fix, no pay” policy, not to mention a free diagnostic on nearly all repairs. Our service and prices are unmatched by any Orange County computer repair company. Rocket PC is your source for Orange County Computer Repair and Orange County Computer Services.