Gateway 200 manual Defragmenting the hard drive, To run Disk Defragmenter, 221

Managing hard drive space

Defragmenting the hard drive

When working with files, sometimes Windows divides the file information into pieces and stores them in different places on the hard drive. This is called fragmentation, and it is normal. In order for your computer to use a file, Windows must search for the pieces of the file and put them back together. This process slows the hard drive performance.

The Disk Defragmenter program organizes the data on the drive so each file is stored as one unit rather than as multiple pieces scattered across different areas of the drive. Defragmenting the information stored on the drive can improve hard drive performance.

While the Disk Defragmenter program is running, do not use your keyboard or touchpad because using them may continuously stop and restart the defragmenting process. Also, if you are connected to a network, log off before starting Disk Defragmenter. Network communication may stop the defragmentation process and cause it to start over.

To run Disk Defragmenter:

1 In Windows XP, click Start, then click My Computer. The My Computer window opens.

- OR -

In Windows 2000, double-click the My Computer icon. The My Computer window opens.

2 Right-click the hard drive that you want to defragment, for example Local Disk (C:), then click Properties. The Properties dialog box opens.

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