TechTalk: Hard Drives Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Defragment the Drive The information in a Word document or Excel spreadsheet is not written in a sequence like pearls on a string. The data is scattered across the hard drive, writing to the next available sector.   When you save a file, the name, date and location of that file points to all of the pearls of data.   A Disk Defragmenter collects the bits back together closer to one another. The process also tests and validates each part of the drive.   The Disk Defragmenter is scheduled to run each week. The Vista instructions indicate that you can work while the computer is defragmented, however this process makes the machine very slow. Perhaps that is why Disk Defragmenter is scheduled to run at 1:00 AM.   You can also manually run the program by clicking on Defragment Now. Start ->Computer ->Properties ->Tools