Simple Computer Tune-up: Speed Up Your PC- P17 doc

Figure 6-25: Accessing Disk Defragmenter
Figure 6-26: Analyze the hard drive
3. During the analysis you should see a depiction of the hard
drive’s estimated fragmentation status, such as Figure 6-27
shows.
62 Part II • Optimizing Your PC
11_068557 ch06.qxp 12/13/06 6:13 PM Page 62
Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark.
Figure 6-27: Estimated fragmentation status
You can refer to the color codes on the program and the
following descriptions of the codes to better understand
the status:
• Red
This means most of the clusters are part of a frag-
mented file.
• Blue
This means most of the clusters are contiguous files
with clusters in the group that contain only free space
and contiguous clusters.
• Green
This means most of the clusters are part of a file that
cannot be moved from its current location.
• White
This means most of the clusters are free space and
contiguous clusters.
4. At the end of the analysis, a pop-up message will appear,
as Figure 6-28 shows. This lets you know it has completed
and if you should continue with the defragmentation.
Figure 6-28 shows an example of when a defragmentation
is not recommended.
Chapter 6: Other Ways to Optimize Your PC 63

11_068557 ch06.qxp 12/13/06 6:13 PM Page 63
Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark.
Figure 6-28: Example of a pop-up status message
From this point you can do one of the following:
• View a report for more details about your current
fragmentation status
You can simply click the View Report button, as shown in
Figure 6-29.
Figure 6-29: Accessing the fragmentation report
You will then see the Analysis Report window, such as
shown in Figure 6-30, which shows detailed information
about the hard drive (or volume) that was scanned.
Figure 6-30: Example of a fragmentation report
64 Part II • Optimizing Your PC
11_068557 ch06.qxp 12/13/06 6:13 PM Page 64
Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark.
You can get a good indicator of the hard drive (or volume)
fragmentation state by referring to your average number of
fragments per file. As Figure 6-31 shows, this piece of
information is located in the Volume Information list.
Figure 6-31: Example of average number of fragments per file
You can then compare your number to the following aver-
age number of fragments per file ranges, which gives you
an idea of how bad your fragmentation is at the time:
• 1.00
Most or all files are contiguous.
• 1.10
About 10% of the files are in fragments of two or more
pieces.
• 1.20

About 20% of the files are in fragments of two or more
pieces.
• 1.30
About 30% of the files are in fragments of two or more
pieces.
• 2.00
Most or all of the files are in fragments of two or more
pieces.
Chapter 6: Other Ways to Optimize Your PC 65
11_068557 ch06.qxp 12/13/06 6:13 PM Page 65
Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark.
• Continue with the defragmentation
Simply click the Defragment button, as Figure 6-32 shows,
to begin the defragmentation, and then continue with Step
3 on the next set of steps.
Figure 6-32: Starting the defragmentation
• Close the window
To close the pop-up window, for example if it recommends
not performing a defragmentation, you can click Close, as
seen in Figure 6-33.
Figure 6-33: Closing the pop-up status message
Here is how to defragment your hard drive using Windows XP:
1. Open Disk Defragmenter, which can be accessed by brows-
ing to the following path on your Start menu:
• Start
• Programs (or All Programs)
• Accessories
• System Tools
Then click Disk Defragmenter, as shown in Figure 6-34.
2. Click Defragment, as shown in Figure 6-35.

The amount of time that defragmentation takes, which can
take up to several hours, depends on several factors includ-
ing the following:
• Amount of fragmentation
• Size of the hard drive
66 Part II • Optimizing Your PC
11_068557 ch06.qxp 12/13/06 6:13 PM Page 66
Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark.