Defraging????????

Question

how often should i do it
what is it
does it help
what are scan discs
should i use them
how do they work
do they help please help me my other computer keeps crashing

Answer 1

A clean computer is key to a faster computer. Run the 3 scans below.

Run a virus scan weekly.

Update and run your Anti-Virus program. Don't have one? You can run a free online scan from CA.
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virus...





Run Spybot and Adaware weekly.


Download, update and run Spybot---http://www.safer-networking.org/... . Don't forget to use the Immunize feature.

Download, update and run Adaware---http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaw...



Now to prevent spyware from being installed in the first place....





Download SpywareBlaster---http://majorgeeks.com/download2859.html

SpywareBlaster doesn't scan and clean for spyware - it prevents it from ever being installed.

It's main features include:
- Prevent the installation of ActiveX-based spyware, adware, browser hijackers, dialers, and other potentially unwanted pests.
- Block spyware/tracking cookies in Internet Explorer and Mozilla/Firefox.
- Restrict the actions of potentially dangerous sites in Internet Explorer.






Now lets clean up your registry.


Run RegScrubXP weekly. Run Cleanup every time you log off.


Download RegScrubXP--http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?d...

Safely cleans junk out of the Windows 2000/XP system registry. All changes made to the registry are fully restorable to it's original condition. You can make an exclusion list of registry entries that RegScrubXP will not display as problems. You can sift through a list of file extensions, company names, run upon startup programs, Internet Explorer history, and uninstall programs to delete what you think is junk.

Download CleanUp---http://www.stevengould.org/software/clea...

Free disk space, make your computer run better/faster and protect your privacy - all in one easy solution. All for free!





Now lets clean up your disk.



Run a Disk Cleanup 2 times a month. Run Disk Defrag. monthly.


Do a Disk Cleanup and Disk Defrag. You can find both of them by following the path below.
Start>all programs>accessories>system tools>Disk Cleanup. Let it do its thing. You can check every box that has something to delete.
Now follow the same path and do a Disk Defrag. Again just let it do its thing.




Now lets tweak your connection.


If your speed is good I would not mess with it by trying to tweak it. If you do tweak once it is done you should not have to do it every again.


There are many programs out there to do this. I will give you 2 of them.
The first one is TCP Optimizer.

Description: The TCP Optimizer is a free, easy Windows program that provides an intuitive interface for tuning and optimizing your Internet connection. There is no installation required, just download and run.

http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php....

You can get support for the best way to set it up right from their forum http://forums.speedguide.net/

The second one is Cablenut.

Windows XP tested and approved

CableNut is a tool for optimizing your Internet Connection. We have provided a way to tweak any option you may want to in the adjuster. You can load "CableNut Custom Setting" files that are included with the program to tweak your Internet connection.

http://www.cablenut.com/

Again support is available right from their forum.http://www.broadbandnuts.com/index.php?p...




All programs are FREE!




After applying the suggestions above you will have a clean and faster computer. Enjoy.

Answer 2

Depending on your use of the computer, defrag can be weekly, monthly or yearly, etc.

The more files change on your system, the more likely you'll encounter fragmentation. Fragmentation is what happens to a file as it grows and is broken into multple pieces of data on the disk. Without getting too technical, this is normal as the O/S tries to fit the changed file into the same space it last occupied. Since the file is now larger, it may not fit into the same location so it'll put part of it somewhere else and keep track of the parts.

Defragmenting the drive makes all of the files one contiguous file again and thereby speeds up access to the data.

Scandisk is a process that examins the disk for errors or inconsistencies. Again, how often you run it depends on the use of the machine.

Answer 3

Google says "A process (run by a defragging program) whereby parts of data files on all segments of a computer hard disk are taken from their fragmented state (with parts of files spread all over the disk), and grouped together in complete-file segments. This makes it quicker for applications to find the files they need and frees up disk space, making the computer run more efficiently." Do it about once a month but many other factors can slow down your computer such as viruses,spyware,overheating,too many programs open, too much electricity in one place, dust in the computer, and too many cookies in your internet browser (clearing history also helps).

Answer 4

It depends on how often your installing new programs and downloading, and deleting files. Personally, once a month minumum is a safe bet. Defragging gets rid of all the empty sectors on your hard drive that you were once using. That's as simply as I can explain it.

So, yea, it helps. :) You might need to delete some things if you want it to run correctly. I believe you need at least 10% of your hard drive space free. If you don't, it'll tell you before the defrag starts to run.

You could also try the command "msconfig", and disable any programs you don't use on the startup. It doesn't get rid of anything. It just makes it so the programs you choose don't run automatically and slow everything down when you don't need them.

Answer 5

What is file fragmentation?
Sometimes when you install a program or create a data file, the file ends up chopped up into chunks and stored in multiple locations on the disk. This is called fragmentation.

What makes this happen?

When you first install your operating system and programs on your hard disk, they are written to the disk, for the most part, in one contiguous block without any gaps. The exceptions are certain system files that must be stored in specific locations. Over time, as you create and then delete documents or uninstall programs, once-filled locations are left empty and you end up with files dotted all over the disk.

Now, when Windows is writing a file to the disk, it looks for a suitable piece of free space in which to store it. What happens, then, when you copy a 40M database or audio file to the disk and the biggest slice of free space is only 30M? Or say you modify an existing file, appending a whole bunch of data so the file now takes up more space on the disk. To accommodate the files, Windows writes the first part of the file in one section of the disk and then scouts around for other places to store the rest of the file. The end result is that a single file may be stored in several chunks scattered about the disk.