How to Perform PC Defragment And Improve Its Performance

What is PC defragment?

PC defragment refers to sorting out all file fragments in the PC. It's a good method to speed up HDD performance on your PC.

When you store files on the PC hard drive, the data will be stored separately in the available space of the disk. In addition, repeatedly reading-writing operation and the deleting work on files may cause more files to be scattered on the hard drive.

Why do you need to defrag PC?

Due to the location of file fragments on the PC, finding the related files will consume much time, slowing down the operating efficiency of the PC. Because the disk head needs to jump repeatedly in the disk to read file fragments in different locations.

When there are many file fragments on the PC, the response of the system will be delayed, and problems such as damaged or lost files, blue screen, and computer freezes will also occur.

Therefore, in order to speed up the computer and improve its performance, performing PC defragment is necessary.

3 ways to effectively perform PC defragment

How do you defrag a PC? Next, we will share two practical ways to do it.

▶ Way 1. Defrag PC with Defragment and Optimize Drives

Windows system provides its users with a built-in tool to defrag the PC hard drive and improve its performance. If you don’t know the detailed operation method, please refer to the following steps to perform PC defragment.

Step 1. Click the "Start" button, input "defragment and optimize drives" on the task bar and hit "Enter".

Step 2. In the Optimize Drives window, select the drive you want to defrag and click "Optimize" to start this task.

Step 3. If you want to set a schedule to defrag your PC, please click the "Change Settings". You can select the frequency to defrag PC hard drive.

▶ Way 2. Defrag PC with CMD

You can also use the CMD to defrag your PC, the steps are as follows:

Step 1. Press "Windows", then type "cmd" in the task bar and select "Run as administrator".

Step 2. In the CMD window, type "defrag x:" ("X" refers to the drive you selected to defrag.) and press "Enter".

Step 3. Wait for a few minute, the detailed volume information will be shown.

▶ Way 3. Perform PC defragment with an almighty software

If you don't want to spend much time performing PC defragment, or worry about problems caused by entering the wrong commands. You can try a reliable PC disk defragmenter- AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional.

It allows Windows 7/10/XP/Vista users to quickly defrag your PC. With a few clicks, users can both analyze the condition of the PC hard drive and completely defrag it. Through the defragmentation adjustment function, you can use this smart tool to carry out detailed planning for the PC defrag tasks.

In addition, this comprehensive PC management expert also provides you with some functions to further optimize your PC, including Allocate free space, Move programs to another drive, PC Cleaner, Convert system disk between MBR and GPT, etc.

Tips: 
✍ Before defrag the HDD, you need to clear your PC with "PC Cleaner" and "Delete Large Files", reducing the time of PC defragment operation.
✍ If the file system of the partitions on your PC hard are not NTFS, please convert them to NTFS first.
✍ You couldn't defrag SSD for the difference between HDD and SSD. To defrag it, please read the next section.

Step 1. Download and run this powerful tool, right-click the target drive and select "Disk Defrag".

Step 2. In the new window, choose the drive need to defrag and click "Analyze". 

Step 3. If you want to defrag the target drive regularly, click "Schedule".

Step 4. In the new popped window, choose the drive you want to defrag, set the special time to defrag it, click "OK". Then lick "Conditions" to set the degree of the defragment operation.

Step 5. Set other options according to your needs, then click "OK".

Step 6. Finally, click "Defrag" to start it.

Additional reading: How to safely optimize your SSD

Due to the different construction of HDD and SSD, forcibly defrag SSD will not optimize it. Instead, you will damage your SSD and even shorten its lifespan. If you want to improve SSD performance, you can try "4K alignment" function.

Here're the detailed steps to improve the performance of your SSD:

Step 1. Right-click a partition from the SSD, click "Advanced" and "Partition Alignment".

Step 2. In the new popped window, select "4096 Sectors" and click "OK".

Step 3. Click "OK" and "Apply" to align the partitions on SSD. You need to repeat the operation to align all partitions on the SSD.

Verdict

How to defrag my PC? In this post, we shared 3 methods to perform PC defragment, including Defragment and Optimize Drives, CMD and AOMEI Partition Assistant. Besides, we also talked about the notes when defrag the HDD and SSD on your PC.

If you want to defrag your Windows Server PC, you can turn to the Server Version. If you want to share this brilliant tool with your colleague, the Unlimited Version can be your best partner.