Defragmenting the hard drive is an important system maintenance procedure that is often neglected. The process of defragmenting a hard drive is a simple procedure that will ensure files are organized in a manner that makes file access quicker.

Defragmented Files Overview

When a file is saved to the hard drive, the files are fragmented, broken into small pieces, and stored in different areas of the hard drive. Over time, the speed at which the computer accesses files degrades due to having to locate the pieces of the file from different locations on the drive. To increase file access time the hard drive should be defragmented, which is the process of reorganizing the files in one area, so file access time is increased.

Procedure for Defragmenting Hard Drive in Windows 2000

Below is the procedure for defragmenting the hard drive in Windows 2000. The defrag process in Windows 2000 is a two-step process – first the drive is analyzed and then the disk defragmenter is executed.

Notes:

1. Need to be logged in as administrator or as a user with administrator rights.

2. Before defragmenting the hard drive, create a data backup.

3. The first time a hard drive is defragmented the procedure can take up to several hours. Though the computer can be used during the process, it is advised to allow the program to run without interference.

4. If the system has multiple drives, the procedure needs to be executed for each drive.

Defragment Using Disk Defragmenter Utility

1. Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Disk Defragmenter

2. Select Drive to Analyze

3. Click on Analyze

After the analyze process is completed a dialog box will appear stating whether the drive needs to be defragmented. If the drive needs to be defragmented click on Defragment, else click on Done to exit the dialog box.