I am NOT a computer buff. What does defrag mean and how do I do it. Simple language answer please.?

Answer 1

Defrag, or disk defragmenter, is a software utility designed to help chronologically order the data on the hard disk drive. The theory behind defrag is to place each program together instead of scattered throughout the hard disk drive, allowing the read-write head to access the data faster on the hard disk drive.

To defrag your hard disk please view the link below:

Answer 2

Imagine your hard drive is a room.
You want to save a file - imagine the file is a handful of nuts.

When your computer saves it, it's like opening the door to the room a tiny bit, and flinging in the nuts. They go all over the place. This means when your computer tries to find all the bits of your original handful of nuts (file) it takes a little while.

Defragmenting your drive puts all the handfuls of nuts (files) back close together and makes it easier for the computer to find things for you.

To defrag: In My Computer, right click on the drive you wish to defragment, go to 'properties', tools' and click 'defragment now'. Turn off your screensaver before a defrag as if new stuff is being written to the drive as it defrags, it will keep starting again from the start.

Not easy trying to clean up a room full of nuts if some fool keeps opening the door and flinging more in on top of you as you work.

Answer 3

It's short for defragmentation. As your computer runs it stores files all over your hard drive. When you go to access those files the computer looks all over your drive to retrieve them. When you defragment your hard drive the computer organizes those files putting them closer together and easier to access.

If you are using a Windows computer there is an application probably in your Accessories/System Tools probably called disk defragmentor. I think you need at least 10 - 15% free space on your HD for the defrag to work.

Answer 4

"Defrag" is a process that your computer does to sort all the information. Weird as it sounds, your computer sometimes pulls apart the pages of a file and puts them into different places on your hard drive. It leaves little notes on each sheet of paper to help it find where the next page in the file is located. Defragging is when you tell the computer to put all the pages together so the files aren't spread out all over the place.

This can make your computer load certain files faster, especially big files. Things like pictures, games, long documents can all load faster after you defrag your machine.

How to do it: I will assume you have a Windows XP machine. If you have another kind of machine I sugest you edit your question to let other people know what kind of machine you have. Anyway...

First open your windows explorer. Click on the start button (should be the bottom left corner of the screen.) then click on "All Programs" (should be in the menu that pops up above the start button). In the new menu that pops up look for a folder named "Accessories" and click on that one (This is most likely near the top, one of the first folders.) In there you should have Windows explorer.

Once you are in windows explorer on the right hand side is a thin menu. On that menu should be a line that says "My computer", click on the little + sign next to "My Computer" A list should appear under "My Computer". In that list should be your (C:), usually it is named so you may see something like "Bob's computer (C:)" or maybe "DELL_PC (C:)". The important part is you find the (C:), and then right click on it.

Once you have right clicked on the (C:) you will go to the bottom and find "Properties" and click on that. This should start a new little window. On the top of this new window should be some little tabs, "General" "Tools" "Hardware" and so on... You want to click on "Tools". And this should change the window so it has some buttons you can choose from. Read from the list that it should be displaying now, one of them should read: "Defragmentation" and have a little button called "Defragment Now..." You want to click on the "Defragment Now..." button.

In the Defragment program, there should be a list on the top of the program, and in that list should be your (C:) again. Click on your (C:) to make sure it is selected. Once it has changed colors to show its been selected, on the bottom should be a button with "Deframent" on it, and you want to click that button.

This will start your defrag. Once you have started it, I would sugest leaving your computer alone for a while. It will have to work finding all the spread out files. How long the defrag takes will depend on how big your hard drive is, how many things are on it, and how fast your computer is. I would say the average time on this is about an hour to three hours. The best time to run a defragment is when you won't be using the maching for a while. Before you go to work, or school, maybe before you go to sleep, or before you go out shoping.

After the Defrag is finished it will probably show you a "report" but you won't need this information at all, so go ahead and close all windows with the little X button on the top right hand side of the windows. And this should finish it all up, your computer will probably run a little better.

=^..^=

Answer 5

First to do it. Simply right click your hard drive icon, go to Properties > Tools > Defrag and follow the prompts or instructions.

Now the second part. Imagine writing a note book and creating the index for all the contents in it. Similarly, a hard disk records all the information about the location of files. As the hard disk starts to fill up, it will have a particular file in many locations, using up the space created by deleted programs and files. These are called fragmented files. Defrag is the process of bringing togather these files to one location and cut down on the time required to read the index.

Answer 6

Defrag or Disk Defragmenter is a program included with most versions of the MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows operating systems starting from MS-DOS 6.0 (1993). Defrag.exe defragments a file system in a hard drive.

Press Start>Run type in dfrg.msc

Answer 7

Your hard drive is made up of sectors, in these sectors are clusters. When things get put on your computer they are put in certain places. When you delete things you are left with a hole. You need to defrag so it takes less time for your computer to look for things. Easy! Go to start, programs, accessories, system tools, disk defrag. It may take a very long time depending on how long the last defrag was.

Answer 8

defrag is short for defragmentation

basicly as you use your computer bits of files get spread out across the drive and it slows your computer down, the defrag will round up all the files and put them in order so things run better

to run a defrag you need to find the program, I think for windows you can usualy get to it by going to start > programs > accessories > system tools.

when you find it you just have to look for the start or "defragment" button (you might have to analyze it first (just ckick the button)) click and then just wait (it can take a while) there are different versions so that might not be exactly right for you but its pretty self explanatory even for a non-techie so don't worry too much

Answer 9

Defrag is short for defragmenting. When you use/add/delete files in the course of your normal day, your hard drive becomes fragmented, that is files get split up and moved around. Defragmenting reorganizes the files to make things more efficient.

It's like cleaning your room. When your room is messy, it's harder for you to find things. When your hard drive gets messy, it's hard for Windows to find things. Defragmenting is like cleaning your room. Nice and neat!

TO defrag, go to "My Computer" and right click on your hard drive (usually C:\) and click "Properties". Click the "Tools" tab and select "Defragment". The defrag program will open and all you do is click the defragment button. THis can take quite a while, but it's worth it. Go for a walk or something.

Answer 10

Defrag simply means defragmenting your computer. In other words, cleaning up your PC's internal memory and making sure it is organized and functional.
Norton System Works has this function, as does the computer itself within Windows system tools.
Once you activate that function, the computer does the rest, although it will take a while depending upon the size of your PC's internal hard drive.

Answer 11

As you know there are lot of files on your computer. When you use your computer and access a some files or use some programs, files get scattered all over. So the next time when you want to run a program or want to access a file as the files are scattered it takes time for the harddrive to access the files resulting in slow output. As we defrag the harddrive what it does is it will reallocate all the files on your computers hard drive and that will result in faster response. I hope this gives youa better understanding. To defrag your hard drive simply go to start> programs> accessories> system tools and defragmentation.