Lesson 4: Using Disk Defragmenter

Windows 2000 saves files and folders in the first available space on a hard disk and not necessarily in an area of contiguous space. This leads to file and folder fragmentation. When your hard disk contains a lot of fragmented files and folders, your computer takes longer to gain access to them because it requires several additional reads to collect the various pieces. Creating new files and folders also takes longer because the available free space on the hard disk is scattered. Your computer must save a new file or folder in various locations on the hard disk. This lesson introduces you to the Windows 2000 system tool, Disk Defragmenter, which helps you organize your hard disks.

After this lesson, you will be able to

Describe defragmentation.

Use Disk Defragmenter to organize your hard disks.

Estimated lesson time: 15 minutes

Defragmenting Disks

The process of finding and consolidating fragmented files and folders is called defragmenting. Disk Defragmenter locates fragmented files and folders and defragments them. It does this by moving the pieces of each file or folder to one location so that each file or folder occupies a single, contiguous space on the hard disk. Consequently, your system can gain access to and save files and folders more efficiently. By consolidating files and folders, Disk Defragmenter also consolidates free space, making it less likely that new files will be fragmented. Disk Defragmenter can defragment FAT, FAT32, and NTFS volumes.

You access Disk Defragmenter by selecting Start; pointing to Programs, Accessories, and System Tools; and clicking Disk Defragmenter. The Disk Defragmenter window is split into three areas, as shown in Figure 18.5.

The upper portion of the window lists the volumes that you can analyze and defragment. The middle portion provides a graphic representation of how fragmented the selected volume is. The lower portion provides a dynamic representation of the volume that continuously updates during defragmentation. The display colors indicate the condition of the volume, as follows:

Red indicates fragmented files.

Dark blue indicates contiguous (nonfragmented) files.

White indicates free space on the volume.

Green indicates system files, which Disk Defragmenter can't move.

Figure 18.5 The Disk Defragmenter window

By comparing the Analysis Display band to the Defragmentation Display band during and at the conclusion of defragmentation, you can quickly see the
improvement in the volume.

If you want to analyze and defragment a volume, open Disk Defragmenter by selecting a drive you want to defragment in Windows Explorer or My Computer. Click the File menu, click Properties, select the Tools tab, and click the Defragment Now button. Then click one of the buttons that are described in
Table 18.6.

Table 18.6 Disk Defragmenter Options

Using Disk Defragmenter Effectively

The following list provides some guidelines for using Disk Defragmenter:

Run Disk Defragmenter when the computer will receive the least use. During defragmentation, data is moved around on the hard disk and the defragmentation process is microprocessor-intensive. The defragmentation process will adversely affect access time to other disk-based resources.

Educate users to defragment their local hard disks at least once a month to prevent accumulation of fragmented files.

Analyze the target volume before you install large applications, and then defragment the volume if necessary. Installations complete more quickly when the target media has adequate contiguous free space. Additionally, gaining access to the application after it is installed is faster.

When you delete a large number of files or folders, your hard disk might
become excessively fragmented, so be sure that you analyze it afterwards. Generally, you should defragment hard disks on busy file servers more often than those on single-user client computers.

Lesson Summary

In this lesson, you learned that Windows 2000 saves files and folders in the first available space on a hard disk and not necessarily in an area of contiguous space. This leads to file and folder fragmentation. You learned that when your hard disk contains a lot of fragmented files and folders, your computer takes longer to gain access to these files and folders and to create new files and folders.

You also learned about the Windows 2000 system tool, Disk Defragmenter, which locates fragmented files and folders and defragments them. Consequently, your system can gain access to and save files and folders more efficiently. By consolidating files and folders, Disk Defragmenter also consolidates free space, making it less likely that new files will be fragmented. Disk Defragmenter can defragment FAT, FAT32, and NTFS volumes.