How to defrag a system store drive?

Question

I have XP Pro and I want to defrag a hard drive that has only 2% free space left. When the drive is analyzed there is a lot of red. How can I defrag this drive?

Answer 1

Just u can do Delete the temporary files on ur hard disk which can be done by simply deleting the Files under Temp Folder and Temporary Internet Files Folder, also u can just go to that drive letter for ex. C: Right Click on it go to properties, then select Disc Cleanup,
And cleanup all the unnesseary files
Now u may have got plenty of spaces, then u can defrag easily,

One thing u have to disable all of ur programs in the taskbar before defragment because they always lead to the disk write and causes the program to restart

my best advise is u can go to safe mode and then defrag the drive

Answer 2

If it only has 2% free space left, then you may not have enough to defrag it as is.
If your defrag program has a feature where you can see the details, then activate that. Look at the key which tells you what each of the different blocks means. One of the block codes will be info that cannot be moved. Visually go through the entire detailed representation of the drive's contents and make a rough estimate (that's all you'll be able to get) of how much is unable to be moved in comparison to the rest. If it's over 50%, then you have to delete some files/folders/programs off that drive or you'll never get it to defrag. You probably have too much stuff on your computer.
After you unload (to disk for future use) the contents, you may want to consider upgrading to a higher capacity hard drive.

Answer 3

Its not just Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2 - all Microsoft systems suffer from terrible file fragmentation problems. As you have found, a fragmented filesystem requires sufficent free space in order to be able to defragment properly. Additionally, Microsoft Windows cannot defragment "open files" as the operating system doesn't handle open files very well.

Firstly, and most importantly, you will need to delete a lot of files.

1. Check that you and all other users of your computer, have emptied their "Recycle Bin"s
2. In Windows Explorer, ensure that you are viewing all files - do not hide file extentions or system files
3. In C:\Windows remove all of the patch data - they start with $NTUNINSTALL
4. Delete all files in C:\Windows\Temp
5.Turn off System Restore
6. Disable Hibernate mode
7. If you have another partition available. move your paging file to that partition instead. If not, simply reduce the size of your paging file to 64Mb.

You should now have several gigabytes of free space and are ready to defragment.

Remember about the open files and how Windows can't cope with these? Good. Reboot into safe mode to ensure all non essential processes are not running, and run the defrag.

Ensure you defrag at least once every 45 days.

Also note that the default tools that come with Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2 are woefully inadequate, and don't defragment all files. You will need to download additional 3rd party software, such as sysinternals PageDefrag.

Answer 4

I think what he is trying to say is that it says it needs at least 15% free space to defrag, then asks to continue anyway. Hit continue anyway and nothing is defragged because it is a protected drive.

Answer 5

I agree with others. Delete as much as you can from the drive. A 98% full drive does not perform efficiently to begin with.

Here are my general tips for speeding up your PC and making it more efficient as a whole.
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A major cause of slow PC's is fragmentation of the hard drive.
You need to defragment the HD at least once a week if not more depending on how much you use your computer, and what you do with it.

One way is to use the defragment utility built into Windows XP. It is slow but does the job rather well. Go to:

Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools
and then click on System Defrag to run the tool. It will take several hours so let it run overnight or simply walk away from your PC for a few hours.

A great program for defragging automatically is Diskeeper. It costs $30 but is well worth it. Go to www.download.com and search for Diskeeper. Read the Publishers Description and the tech and user reviews. It can be scheduled to run automatically as the program deems necessary, and if you are using your PC and the program launches itself, it will take a backseat to whatever you are doing and give you the priority for CPU usage. I think you'll agree it's a good program to have. It precludes your needing to remember to defrag at regular intervals.

Also, another major cause of a slow PC is programs that are running in the background. Here's another really good Microsoft tool.
Go to Start > Run > type in msconfig in the box and click OK.

This will bring up a window with several tabs at the top. Click on the “Startup” tab. It will list the programs that are running on your PC and eating up resources. Look them over carefully and turn off any that don’t absolutely have to be running. Simply click on the “check mark” in the little box beside the program name. Clicking on it will remove the check mark. Once you have edited the Startup list, click on Apply and then on OK. Once you have exited the window, reboot your PC for the settings to take effect.

Another good thing to have is a little program called FreeRAM Pro. It is free and is available from www.download.com This program puts a little RAM meter on the System Tray and shows how much RAM you have remaining that you are not using at any given time. I think you may be surprised at how little RAM you have to run other programs. Also, once it is installed you can right click on the little meter, then click on RESTORE and it will open the RAM display window. You can tweak the settings so it will display your CPU usage also. Then just click “Minimize” and then “To System Tray” to return to the Task Bar.

What happens when you run out of or run real low on RAM is that the OS recognizes the low or no RAM situation and starts using a section of your hard drive as memory. This is called virtual memory, or a swap file. The PC is constantly writing and reading from your HD. Comparitively, it is a very slow process. Check your motherboard manual and determine how much RAM each slot can hold. It will also tell you what type of RAM you need. You can also go to http://www.crucial.com and run their analysis utility to determine what kind and how much RAM is installed in your PC. Depend on your MoBo manual to determine the RAM limits of each slot though.

Hope this helps

Answer 6

does it not have a defragment button next to the button you click to analyze it? If not, just go into your hard drive and delete all the files you no longer need.

Answer 7

Congratulations on defraging your C pressure! i recognize from journey that that is fairly a chore! it really is going to be probability-free to defrag your exterior pressure besides. All you're doing is eliminating or repairing undesirable information. you isn't deleting any sturdy ones.

Answer 8

when u do the defrag analyzed press the button that says defrag.

Answer 9

Delete or transfer files in order to free up space.

Answer 10

I can give you a link that deals with hard drive problems.
Some RAM/hard drive problems can be easily fixed yourself by using easily available tools. I found the info at http://fixit.in useful. Try this site, if you can get what is required.