How to defragment a disk on Windows. How to defragment a disk

If your personal computer has started to run a little slower than before, you may need to defragmentation of hard disk. This process “brings order” to everyone HDD partitions, optimizing the location of stored information so that work with it is completed as quickly as possible. This article describes in detail what defragmentation is, as well as how to defragment a disk on a personal computer under Windows control 7.

This operation can be performed as standard means Windows and using a third party software. Users can use the familiar GUI or defragment using command line. Each option is discussed in detail later in the article.

General information

When recording to the HDD, each file is divided into separate pieces called clusters. As a result of numerous operations with data, for example, copying, deleting, changing a file, etc., clusters can end up quite far from each other. In this, the reading head of the hard disk must perform great amount moving around the surface to find all the components of just one file.

This does not in any way affect the safety of the data and its performance, but it seriously slows down the speed of reading and writing new information. Defragmentation allows you to sort clusters. All pieces of each file will be located next to each other to significantly increase speed work hard disk.

Certainly, this process may take quite a long time as the computer needs to check each cluster and move it into place, but the benefit you get will be significant. This operation can be compared to cleaning a house - if you periodically spend certain time, then you will find the right thing much faster when you need it.

Standard Windows utility

To defragment, users do not necessarily need to download additional software– everything you need is already preinstalled in Windows 7. To start this process, follow several steps described in the instructions:

Another way to open this utility- enter the line “Disk defragmentation” in search bar Start menu and press Enter.

A computer's hard drive is a real encyclopedia where all the data on your computer is stored, from a regular text file to music, movies, and games. The provided algorithm of the technique divides all files into several hundreds, thousands and tens of thousands of fragments. Over time, you begin to notice that the computer begins to “glitch” or “slow down”. As a result, a bottleneck occurs in the operation of the equipment and users ask a reasonable question of how to defragment the disk on Windows 7 so that they can “revive” the computer’s operation.

How to defragment a disk on Windows 7

If you have an operating system installed Windows system 7, then you can use several options for cleaning your hard drive.

By the way, laptops most often suffer from OS overload. A regular computer user is wondering how to defragment a disk on Windows 7, because... some work processes occur in background PC operation.

You are not required to perform any actions; the automatic cleaning mode is carried out using the task scheduler that is available on your PC. IN in this case disk analysis, as well as starting defragmentation and setting up a schedule are carried out in one mode. Eat additional utility, which will help solve the problem of defragmentation Windows disk 7, the execution of this action is carried out through the command line and execute the command defrag.exe.

The OS will be immediately adapted to the timing of all hard disk defragmentation operations. In automatic mode, the system carries out all operations, and information will be available on how many passes there are in Windows defragmentation 7 was in previous launches and real level fragmentation for disks. It is recommended to set up automatic operation at a time interval convenient for you.

If necessary you can use manual mode settings. The “Select disks” button automatically hides the default configuration mode. If disk defragmentation does not start on Windows 7, try other options for “curing” the disk, but for the sanitization to be successful, you must follow 3 simple rules:

• We download utilities and programs that are suitable for your operating system.
• We promptly clean the disk from accumulated garbage.
• We carry out comprehensive defragmentation.

Windows 8.1 disk defragmentation, what the user needs to know

Thanks to special programs, effective treatment can be carried out personal computer, laptop. If you are installing programs, then the best option how to run disk defragmentation on Windows 7 or 8, 10 will become CCleaner and Defraggle, which are free versions. You can order paid version, but it is suitable for those who do serious work on a personal computer.

At the disk cleaning stage, we recommend using CCleaner. There is a special “Cleaning” tab here and disk defragmentation on Windows 8 is carried out automatically by activating the corresponding button, but before that you need to go through “Analysis” to understand what kind of “garbage” will be deleted.

The program has special settings, which will help you undergo proper disk defragmentation, for example, if you want to save passwords, uncheck or check the boxes in the program.

It is recommended to close all browsers, otherwise cleaning will not give an effective result. After this, we activate the “Analysis” button, you will be presented with a complete list of “garbage”, after that we activate the “Cleaning” button.

Please note that this program does not clean up “garbage” of working audio and video files. In this case, you can delete it manually. Open the “Tools” menu and activate the “Disk Analysis” option.

After this, we study the information in detail and delete unnecessary files.

Disk defragmentation on Windows 10: cleaning features

To prevent your computer, where a demanding operating system is installed, from acting up during operation, it is recommended to defragment the disk Windows components. Maximum effect can give simple tips, who will build the right tactics to clean the system of unnecessary garbage.

• In order for the cleaning to be painless, you must have a certain amount of free space on your computer. Experts say that the minimum volume should be 10-15% of free space. If there is a sufficient amount of free space on the computer, the cleaning will be faster.
• It is recommended that before you know how to defragment a disk on Windows 10, you do not use the partition involved. In this case, do not open the files, do not move them, or do anything with them at all.
• To know how many passes you can use in Windows 10 defragmentation, it is recommended to clean at least once a month. If you use your computer at an increased pace, for example, constantly downloading files, installing programs, etc., it is recommended to clean it more often, for example, once a week.

Now you know everything about how your computer works. Try to “treat” it as quickly as possible so that there are no problems in the future during operation.

Windows 7, like other operating systems, organizes data on disks in units called clusters. Cluster - the minimum disk space that is allocated file system to store one file. Over time, files are written to the disk in a chaotic order, which leads to a decrease in computer performance. In order to increase the speed at which the hard disk heads access files by organizing them and increasing the performance of the computer, a disk maintenance tool called “Hard Disk Defragmenter” is used. After defragmentation, computer performance increases by different estimates, from 10 to 20%.

Why is disk defragmentation necessary?

During operation, the file is written to disk in sequential sectors. Later, when working intensively with hard drive, when some files are written and others are deleted, a situation is created that if there is free space on a disk, files can be written to sectors in different parts of this disk. Such files are called fragmented.

Working with fragmented files requires more time, since the disk read heads spend it moving to another position and reading the information. When working with files written in sequential sectors, the time it takes for the heads to move into them is significantly reduced. When the proportion of fragmented files reaches big size, the computer's performance slows down significantly.

To rewrite files on a disk in the form of sequentially read sections, use special programs defragmentation, which allows you to rearrange information in the form of continuous sequences of clusters.

The programs have three modes:

• analysis. The program analyzes the fragmentation of all sections and, upon completion of the analysis, displays a full report;
• Defragmentation of only fragmented files. This mode the program offers by default. The process of overwriting fragmented files does not take much time, and after it is completed, the files are located on the disk not as a continuous area, but with gaps. The program simply connects disparate pieces of one file, without paying attention to free places, which leads to the formation of fragmented files when new information is written. This option is suitable for weekly defragmentation;
• complete defragmentation. All files on the disk are arranged in order. This mode is suitable if defragmentation is performed once a month. It is better to perform it at a time when other programs are not used. This will speed up the completion of a complete defragmentation.

The Hard Disk Defragmenter program runs in the background, so once launched, no further action is required. It must be remembered that when defragmenting, there must be at least 15% free space on the disk to transfer files.

How to start and perform disk defragmentation

Windows 7, unlike previous versions, has a developed by Microsoft built-in utility for defragmentation. There are four ways to launch it.

Via the Start menu

Using Explorer

Using the Run window

Using the Command Prompt window

Video: how to defragment a disk on Windows 7

How many passes will defragmentation take?

By default, defragmentation is programmed for two passes:

• pass No. 1 - used to defragment the disk;
• passage No. 2 - combines free space.

It all depends on several factors:

• volume of fragmented files;
• hard drive capacity;
• hard drive performance (writing, reading);
• amount of occupied disk space;
• distribution of information across the disk;
• frequency of defragmentation.

The last factor is the most important. If the disk has large volume and has never been defragmented, the number of passes can reach ten or more. This happens because the file fragments are scattered throughout the disk, and they are so small that two passes are not enough to reassemble them completely.

What to do if disk defragmentation does not start

If, when starting defragmentation, there is a failure or does not start at all, then it is necessary to perform a number of operations that will eliminate the cause.

The first reason is that a defragmentation program or utility was installed on the computer from an unverified site, which did not work correctly. As a result, it was removed. After deleting in system registry or system files traces of the program remain that prevent it from starting standard utility. What to do in this case:

The second reason is that the defragmentation service is not working. What to do in this case:

In the list of services, you should also check the status of services that affect the start of defragmentation:

• “Module for launching DCOM server processes”;
• "RPC Endpoint Mapper";
• “Remote Procedure Call (RPC).”

All of these services must be enabled and running.

The third reason is a hard drive failure. What to do:

1. Launch the Run panel and enter the command “c: chkdsk /r”, where c: is the drive selected for scanning, and /r is the key to identify bad sectors and attempt to repair them.
2. The utility will scan HDD for the presence of failed clusters and will restore or close them.

If all this does not help, then you need to reboot operating system.

Defragmenting an SSD drive on Windows 7

IN Lately The popularity of solid state drives (SSDs) has increased. They have a number of advantages over magnetic ones hard drives(HDD):

• higher reliability;
• quiet operation;
• high-speed access to data.

Their volume is growing rapidly and already makes it possible to install an operating system on them, that is, to make them the main ones. But the issue of limiting the cycles of rewriting information on them has not yet been resolved. Therefore, the question arises: is it necessary to defragment them?

More and more specialists in the field computer technology conclude that solid-state drives (SSDs) do not need defragmentation. This will not affect the performance of the storage medium and may even harm it. Disk defragmentation is the process of frequently overwriting information, and SSD has limited quantity rewrite cycles. Solid State Drives have a built-in program that determines the volume itself unnecessary information, no longer used, and deletes it.

Only HDDs need defragmentation, because with large fragmentation of files, the speed of the hard drive drops sharply. In an SSD, these actions do not occur, so files from different sectors are read at the same speed. Because of this, in Windows 7 it is necessary to disable automatic scheduled defragmentation.

Fast disk defragmentation

In addition to the “Hard Disk Defragmenter” utility built into Windows 7, there are third-party software products with similar functions. They are divided into two groups:

• defragmentation programs;
• defragmentation utilities.

The programs contain several subroutines for maintenance hard drives. One such routine is the defragmenter. Its main difference from utilities is that it does not have a function fast defragmentation disk. First, analysis is carried out, and then defragmentation or complete optimization.

Defragmentation programs are less effective means in the fight against file fragmentation than utilities. This is due to the fact that utilities are developed with specific purpose- defragment the hard drive, and the programs are used to perform complex optimization of the computer, where one subroutine complements another from the kit.

Utilities are small programs with one single function - hard drive defragmentation. During installation, they can be built into startup and start working when Windows startup 7. They have a quick defragmentation function without analysis.

Defragmentation programs

Defragmentation Utilities

Video: Disk defragmentation using Auslogics Disk Defrag

When using your computer intensively, when downloading large quantity files and their deletion, you need to remember that regular defragmentation of the hard drive will help get rid of problems in the future. With this mode of operation, it is recommended to carry out it once a week. When working only with text files You can defragment once a month. But in any case, it must be carried out.

Windows 7 automatically defragments sections of hard disk in the background, i.e. you are not required to do anything additional actions. Defragmentation is performed using the task scheduler, while analyzing the disk, starting defragmentation, and setting its schedule are performed in one window. In addition, defragmentation can be performed on the command line using the defrag.exe utility, which has new options in Windows 7.

Attention! Updated version of this article, incl. and for newer Windows operating systems, there is .

Windows 7 Defragmenter GUI

As in previous Windows operating systems, you can open the defragmenter from the disk properties tab Service. But it will be faster to enter defrag to the Start menu search. Unlike Windows XP, where a stripped-down version of Diskeeper was used for defragmentation, Windows Vista and 7 uses its own command line utility defrag.exe, launched according to schedule.

The system immediately shows the schedule, the time of the last launch and the level of disk fragmentation. It will be at zero if you have not disabled the task scheduler (which, in addition to running defragmentation, is responsible for many other system tasks). In this case, the analysis will not report anything new - the system considers a fragmentation level of 10% or less to be normal. But if you wish, you can always start defragmentation manually using the button Disk Defragmenter.

You can also set up a schedule so that defragmentation starts at times when you are not running active work at computer.

Behind the button Select drives The setting for automatic defragmentation of all new disks is also hidden (it is enabled by default).

GUI The defragmenter does not provide details about the state of the disks, but they can be found using the command line.

Defrag.exe utility command line parameters

In Windows 7 the utility defrag.exe acquired new command line parameters: /E, /H, /M, /T, /U and /X. Full list The utility parameters are given in the table.

Although the last three options do not appear in the utility's internal help ( defrag /?), they work.

Command examples

The table provides several example commands that you can use to defragment partitions. You need to perform analysis and defragmentation on the command line,