Disk Defragmenter

Windows stores files in units called as clusters. The cluster size is set to a default of 4KB when the disk is formatted with the NTFS file system. Only one file can be stored in a cluster. The file is saved to multiple adjacent clusters if the size of the file is larger than the size of the cluster. When you delete a file from the disk, the cluster gets free. Therefore, a file may be saved to clusters at different places in a disk. This reduces the performance of the disk drive.

You can use the Disk Defragmenter to defragment files on a disk. Defragmenting files moves the data to adjacent clusters on the disk. This increases the performance of the disk.

To defragment a hard disk drive:

1. Open Windows Explorer. The Explorer Window appears.

2. Open the Properties dialog box for a drive.

3. Click the Tools tab. The Tools tab appears.

4. Click Defragment Now. The Disk Defragmenter window appears.

5. select a drive to defragment, for example, E.

6. Click Defragment. Disk Defragmenter defragments the drive and displays a message box.

7. Click Close.