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In Windows 7, Vista, and XP, how do I defragment my hard drive?

As hard drives write and rewrite information, the information can become fragmented due to the manner in which it is stored. Periodically defragmenting your hard drive can increase its performance and aid in system maintenance.

Note: UITS recommends that you run ScanDisk before you run Disk Defragmenter; see the "Hard disk errors" section in Why is my Windows computer running slowly? Under certain circumstances, if you run Disk Defragmenter before ScanDisk, you may lose data.

To defragment your hard drive in Windows 7, Vista, and XP, from the Start menu, select Programs or All Programs, then Accessories, then System Tools, and finally Disk Defragmenter.

In Windows 7 and Vista, click Defragment now... . In Windows XP, select the volume you wish to defragment, and then click Defragment.

Note: As Windows 7 and Vista by default run Disk Defragmenter once a week in the background, you may not notice significant changes after defragmentation.

For more, see article 942092 (Vista) or 305781 (XP) at Microsoft Help and Support.

Search Microsoft Help and Support.

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Last modified on March 31, 2010.

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