The Next Component To Optimizing Your Computer, The Basics Series.

So far I have written about the first steps to optimizing your computer. Removing any computer virus, spy ware, and ad ware from your system. Before you can begin to optimize your computer you must first make sure it is clean of these threats. I highly recommend adding anti-virus, and anti-spy ware software to prevent any future malware infections to your computer. Please refer to my prior articles for more details about these threats. Remember, I am writing these articles to enable you, the average user, to tackle these issues on your own and save money by avoiding the high cost of a repair shop.
Todays topic is disc defragmentation. You have probably heard the term before and you may have run the drfragmentation that is supplied with all Windows operating systems. More about that in a minute. First lets talk about what fragmentation means and how it affects your computer.
First of all your disc, short for hard drive, is a component inside your computer that looks like an eight track cassette, SORRY, a little larger than a DS for those of you too young to have heard of an eight track! I have heard it referred to as the memory of the computer but it is not. A hard drive is basically a storage vessel. It contains your operating system and everything else you store on a computer and therein lies the problem. Windows operating systems have some inherent flaws that need your periodic attention. The registry is a big one and that will be my next article topic. The hard drive is similar though. Over time you will notice that your computer seams to run slower and slower. Fragmentation is one of a combination of factors contributing to that. During normal use your computer is constantly accessing files on the hard drive. The time that it takes your computer to access files will increase over time as fragments accumulate. You access files all the time too. Every time you move files, add files, delete files fragments occur. It is kind of like a ghost magnetic residue that clutters up your hard drive making it take longer for your computer to find the file it is searching for. Fortunately there is an easy solution to this problem that even my nine year old can execute with a few clicks of the mouse but it requires a program designed to defragment the hard drive.
Lets get back to the defragmentation program supplied with Windows. I have worked on computers whose owners have never run any kind of defragmentation. In that respect the Windows program is better than nothing. Now, if you are a patient person, or dont mind starting the defragmentation process before you go to sleep at night, because it WILL take all night to run and it is not very thorough, then use the Windows program. Otherwise there are some very good programs out there. I use Diskeeper and it is a wonderful program but that doesnt mean that other programs arent as good, just a personal preference. I have several on my site including a free one from Auslogics. All of these are fast, light speed fast compared to Windows. The free ones are manual which means you have to initiate the program and run it, and ones like Diskeeper are automatic, just set it and forget it. If you are on a tight budget get the free one. In this day and age the first priority is good anti virus program.
Next time I will delve into the registry and I have some SPECIAL tweak tips you can do yourself! An article NOT to be MISSED!
Alan Hohenbrink