#Why cant i defrag my computer on vista how to#

There are third-party defrag programs available, but we don't recommend them because they often cause more problems than they fix. On Windows 8, it is called Optimize Drive you can find it by pressing the Start button on your keyboarding and typing in 'optimize drive.'ДЄpple has built similar automaticВ defragmentationВ into Mac OS X, but that operating system doesn't offer you a manual way to optimize your hard drive. On Windows Vista or 7, look for a program called DiskВ Defragmenter. However, you can still run it manually if you want. Beginning with Windows 7, Microsoft has built automaticВ defragmentationВ into the Windows operating system, so you don't have to worry about running it yourself. When we received your question,В Neila, we realized that we couldn't even remember the last time weВ defraggedВ a computer. Running a defrag will reorganize everything. This will make the computer start to run slow as it searches through your data. This works well, but things can become really messy after a while.

You would never be able to find anything if you did that, but your computer canВ keep track of where it put things even if they are all over the place. Imagine opening a file cabinet and just throwing paperwork into it. When your hard drive stores data, it puts it anywhere there is space available, so it may sometimes put pieces of the same file in several different places instead of right next to each other. When you defrag a hard drive, you're basically re-organizing the data on it so that it will run faster and more efficiently.

#Why cant i defrag my computer on vista how to#

Neila asks, 'How do defrag a computer running Windows 8.1? I can't figure out how to do it on my new laptop.'ДЇor those of us who have been using personal computers for the past 20 or so years,В defragmentingВ your hard drive used to just be part of life.