De-Fragmenting your computer (attn: LINUS)

**IntlMom** · 04-06-2010, 06:06 PM

I'm asking this out here, as opposed to PMing Linus, because I think many of us could beneifit from the information.

OK, so my computer is slowing down. I've virus scaned it, updated it, and yet it still seems to be "chugging" along a bit lately. I had a computer friend ask me if I had run a "de-frag". I pretended to not look I had no clue what he meant. Can you tell me/us? IS is a good idea? What exactly does it mean and do? and most importantly, how do you do it?

thanks

**Linus** · 04-06-2010, 06:17 PM

LOL.. well, that got my attention! Heh..

De-frag is the activity of aligning all the files into a contiguous locations. When you write a file (e.g., create a word doc, browse the internet, download email, etc.) the system will write the file as the disk spins. This causes the parts of the file to be written in various locations. The more "fragmented" files are, the longer it can take a system to read files and the slower a system is.

This tends to be an issue primarily with Windows-based systems as other OSes are a little better about how they write their files down. The Defragger on Windows can be found here:

1. Open My Computer.
2. Right-click the local disk volume (say the C: drive) that you want to defragment, and then click Properties.
3. On the Tools tab, click Defragment Now.
4. Click Defragment.

Do this activity overnight or when you're not using the computer.

That said, this isn't the only reason for slowdowns. Another culprit can be a lack of space for the page file. Take a look at all your disks and see how much free space is left. If it's a lot (10GB or more) then we know this is unlikely the issue. But if you have 2GB or less, you may be running into a space issue.

Additionally culprits can also be malware (not necessarily viruses). Spyware and other such beasties are often written poorly and can impact a system. Having a good spyware detection tool (e.g., Ad-Aware by Lavasoft Ad-Aware Free - Download security software for spyware removal - Lavasoft ) is just as important as Anti-Virus software.

One thing I would ask is: what exactly is slow? Can you define if specific activities are slow? And how do you define slow (e.g., took 2 seconds before and takes 5 min now to open a browser window).

**IntlMom** · 04-06-2010, 06:30 PM

thanks a bunch....... and as far as "slow"

really I am spoiled. for example, what may have taken 2 seconds now takes 10 seconds (like my life is so busy I cannot wait 10 seconds?) lol

also, I am notoriuos for having like 3 pages up and several tabs on each page........ I know that doesn't exactly help

thanks!

**Linus** · 04-06-2010, 06:33 PM

That helps. What browser are you using? Internet Explorer? Firefox? Chrome?

**IntlMom** · 04-06-2010, 06:36 PM

Originally Posted by Linus

That helps. What browser are you using? Internet Explorer? Firefox? Chrome?

IE with Vista (ick)..... ok, I found the place to de-frag, I'll do that tonite...... still looking for my storage capacity

**NikoSan999** · 04-06-2010, 06:38 PM

Originally Posted by IntlMom

thanks a bunch....... and as far as "slow"

really I am spoiled. for example, what may have taken 2 seconds now takes 10 seconds (like my life is so busy I cannot wait 10 seconds?) lol

also, I am notoriuos for having like 3 pages up and several tabs on each page........ I know that doesn't exactly help

thanks!

This is me also...
What do you think of Malwarebytes as opposed to Ad-aware

**Linus** · 04-06-2010, 06:42 PM

I haven't used it so I can't really comment on it. How often do you get updates on it?

**Linus** · 04-06-2010, 06:44 PM

Originally Posted by IntlMom

IE with Vista (ick)..... ok, I found the place to de-frag, I'll do that tonite...... still looking for my storage capacity

Use Chrome or Firefox as opposed to IE. Internet Explorer is still tied fairly heavily into the Operating System (OS) and becomes an avenue into the OS (path for malware to infect). Chrome is pretty speedy so it'd be a nicer option. (Google Chrome - Get a fast new browser. For PC, Mac, and Linux)

**lparker** · 04-06-2010, 07:29 PM

As another hint - clean up your hard drive BEFORE defragging. Easiest way is to just use the disk cleanup option in your system tools folder. This is another thing to do at night, especially if you compress old files. I did this on my desktop..went from around 7% fragmented files to 86% fragmented...THEN I defragged it with this free defraggler which I think works faster than the MS version.

**baxjul** · 04-06-2010, 07:41 PM

Originally Posted by Linus

Use Chrome or Firefox as opposed to IE. Internet Explorer is still tied fairly heavily into the Operating System (OS) and becomes an avenue into the OS (path for malware to infect). Chrome is pretty speedy so it'd be a nicer option. (Google Chrome - Get a fast new browser. For PC, Mac, and Linux)

Now I have a question! I use Chrome, and it takes an incredibly long time for my windows to open up. My computer seems so slow. I defrag it about every month or so. Any other hints?

**lparker** · 04-06-2010, 09:14 PM

Scan your hard drive for malware. I use Spybot-Search and Destroy spybot It's free and works great.

Clean out unneeded garbage on your hard drive and clean your registry. I use another free program CCleaner/ that will do both. I found out that this program misses a lot of stuff in the registry, so I bought Cyberdefender registry-cleaner

Scan your hard drive for viruses. I use AVG and it works OK for me. No viruses that I know of since I first used it maybe 8-10 years ago. I have both their free and paid versions. You have to look hard for the free one. AVG Scroll down and click "download" under the free column.

Run the disk cleaner in the system tools folder, then defrag.

Should run much faster.

**Gabe** · 04-06-2010, 09:25 PM

Originally Posted by baxjul

Now I have a question! I use Chrome, and it takes an incredibly long time for my windows to open up. My computer seems so slow. I defrag it about every month or so. Any other hints?

How much memory do you have?
I see your running windows xp.
I would try to flush the cache in chrome see if that helps any.
Another tip would be to switch to google public dns.

Using Google Public DNS

Other alternatives to firefox, chrome, IE on the windows platform

Apple - Safari - Introducing Safari 4 - See the web in a whole new way and Opera browser | Faster & safer internet | Free download

**qcrazy** · 04-06-2010, 10:06 PM

I love my Chrome its so much faster! I got it to watch youtube and hulu. I have a new laptop Im thinking of defragen it but it is still fast I just want to keep it that way.

**baxjul** · 04-06-2010, 10:21 PM

Originally Posted by Gabe

How much memory do you have?
I see your running windows xp.
I would try to flush the cache in chrome see if that helps any.
Another tip would be to switch to google public dns.

Using Google Public DNS

Other alternatives to firefox, chrome, IE on the windows platform

Apple - Safari - Introducing Safari 4 - See the web in a whole new way and Opera browser | Faster & safer internet | Free download

I don't know how much memory I have. And what is google public cns? LOL

**Linus** · 04-07-2010, 08:40 AM

A DNS is a domain name server. These are computers that take the human friendly name (e.g., frugalvillage.com) and translates it into an IP address (think of it like a postal address with postal code). A public DNS is one that anyone can use. Usually, when you sign up for internet access, you'll use their DNS but if your provider's DNS is flaky, using a public one can circumvent any issues.

To find out how much memory you have, right click on My Computer and select Properties. It should tell you on the summary page how much memory (either in MB or GB) you have.

To see the disk space open up My Computer and change the View to Detailed. It should show how much disk space (how big a disk is) and how much is free (what hasn't been used yet)