AOMEI Partition Assistant
Fixed: Disk Defragmenter Won’t Open on Windows 11, 10, 8, 7
What to do when Disk Defragmenter won’t open issue happens on Windows 11, 10, 8, 7? This post will give you easy and effective methods to solve that. Or you can use the hard disk defrag software as an alternative.
By Irene / Updated on June 24, 2024
User case: my Disk Defragmenter won’t open
Hello,
Recently, I haven't been able to open Disk Defragmenter. I try to open it in the usual way: via My Computer > Properties on Local Disk C, then Tools, and selecting "Optimize and defragment drive." When I click on it, nothing happens. I've also tried accessing it through Windows > System32, but the same thing occurs—nothing happens!
I was able to open it two days ago, but now it won't open, and I can't find any defragmentation services or processes in Task Manager.
- Question from Microsoft Community
Every time you add, remove, or modify files on your hard drive, disk fragmentation occurs. The Windows Disk Defragmenter tool can help organize this and then improve hard drive performance. However, what should you do when Disk Defragmenter won’t open? To fix that, let’s first know why the tool stop working.
- You are using an SSD rather than an HDD. SSDs don’t have the same type of moving parts as hard drives so it will not work for disk defragment. If you want to restore SSD performance, you can click to read that passage.
- Certain Windows services related to Disk Defragmenter are disabled.
- System files for Disk Defragmenter running might be corrupted or missing.
- Disk Defragmenter relies on Task Scheduler to run scheduled tasks. If Task Scheduler is not functioning properly, the Disk Defragmenter won’t open.
- If your hard disk is nearly full, it might prevent Disk Defragmenter from opening or running correctly.
How to fix Disk Defrag not working on Windows PCs?
If you can't open Disk Defragment on Windows 10, 11, 8, and 7, you can try these methods to fix the issue.
Fix 1. Use AOMEI Partition Assistant
If the Windows Disk Defragmenter won't open, the first suggestion is to use hard disk defrag software, AOMEI Partition Assistant. This tool is compatible with Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, and can offer more advanced features than the built-in utility. For example, its “Disk Defrag” feature can combine analysis and defrags into one. According to the analysis results, users can find out what the status of the drives is.
Besides, it can schedule defragmentation of your hard drives daily, weekly, or monthly. You can choose the specific time to defrag and whether to defrag at startup or logon. Besides disk defragmentation, this software allows you to manage partitions, extend drive space, rebuild the MBR, and more. If you want to optimize your SSD, you can run SSD 4K Alignment.
AOMEI Partition AssistantThe Best Windows Disk Partition Manager and PC Optimizer
Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant, right-click on the disk and select the "Disk Defrag" function.
Step 2. Check the partition needed to be analyzed, and click "Analyze". You need to check the partition, not select it. This function currently only supports NTFS partitions, so it will only list NTFS partitions on SSD, HDD, and USB drives.
Tip: You can click "Pause" to halt the process and resume later, or click "Stop" to end the analysis process completely.
Step 3. The program will score the partition based on the fragmentation rate when the analysis is over.
If you're so busy that you can't remember to defrag your drives, don't worry, you can upgrade to AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional that has a "Schedule defrag" function for you. You can set frequency, time, date, and conditions to launch this service automatically.
Step 1. After you enter the "Disk Defrag" function, click the button “Schedule”.
Step 2. In the schedule settings, you can select drives, the specific date and time to defrag the target drives, then click “OK” to save the settings.
Step 3. Click “Conditions”, you can set the degree of fragmentation to trigger the schedule to defrag your disk. And there are other options to help you make a detailed schedule.
Fix 2. Check Disk Defragmenter's status
One reason for a slow running computer could be that the Disk Defragmenter service is not working properly. By moving files around, the service can read them faster, thus making the hard disk work better.
Here's how to make sure the Disk Defragmenter service is working properly:
Step 1. Press Win + R or choose its shortcut from the WinX menu. In the Run text box, type services.msc to open the Services utility.
Step 2. Find the "Optimize drives" service at the bottom of the list and click on it twice. To change the Start type, click on the drop-down menu and choose "Manual."
Step 3. Check to see if the Service is "Running." If it's not, click Start to make it run. To save it, click "Apply" and then "OK."
Check to see if the problem is fixed after making the changes above. If not, move on to the next solution.
Fix 3. End all running tasks
If the the disk defrag not opening on Windows 10 or 11, you might want to close all third-party programs in Task Manager. This is because some programs can stop the Windows defraggler from working.
Step 1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to launch Task Manager. When it starts, go to the Process tab, locate the third-party app you want to shut down, right-click on it and select “End task” from the dropdown menu.
Step 2. . Repeat the previous steps until all running apps are ended.
Conclusion
When the Disk Defragmenter won’t open on Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, you can follow our guide to fix it or use the best alternative AOMEI Partition Assistant for system performance enhancement. This powerful software also supports clone HDD to SSD if you want to upgrade your disk, and gives other options for files organization. You can run it to delete large files, find and remove duplicate files, or clean up all junk files. For Windows Server users, you can use AOMEI Partition Assistant Server edition.
