Defragmenting The Hard Drive - Gateway MX6452 User Manual

Defragmenting the hard drive

Help and
Support
For more information
about defragmenting
the hard drive, click
Start, then click Help
and Support. Type the
keyword
defragmenting in
the Search box, then
click the arrow.
Click Check Now.
4
Click the options you want to use, then
5
click Start. For help, press F1. Windows
checks the drive for errors. This process
may take several minutes. After Windows
has finished checking the drive for errors,
it provides a summary of the problems that
it found.
Correct any problems that are found by
6
following the on-screen instructions.
Click OK.
7
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 notebook 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 mouse
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.
Managing hard drive space
179