Disk Cleanup and Defragment Drive are overlooked tools
Two fundamentals that are often overlooked in speeding up a computer are the Disk Clean Up and also the Defragment Drive. These are two tools that everyone should use, especially if they are installing new programs or using programs that shift large amounts of data.
The disk clean up can help remove old files that are no longer used on the system and in compressing files that have laid dormant for longer periods of time. This can free up hard drive space and also give additional resources to the computer in the overall performance. This is a step that can take a while to run, but should be run at least once a month or more often if the person is moving a lot of data from multiple drives and also using programs that are database oriented.
Defragment Drive is a tool that should be used each time a program is installed. The key reason for this is that they data that is stored on a hard drive is very similar to books on a book shelf. The files are very much like the literal books in the sense that the computer picks the respective book or file and opens it for the person to perform the task that is needed. Unlike a person, though, a computer can wind up placing the book back on the shelf in a different location and also with the book still considered “open.” This is not that the file is still accessed, but Windows offers a functionality that keeps part of the file in resident memory, in case you need to reopen it. This can cause a small level of fragmentation of the file. Over time these fragmentations can wind up putting data at risk of losing its integrity and wind up corrupting the data. To remedy this, Windows has the Defragment Drive tool. This cleans up all the “messes” that are left by the computer and can also speed up the overall performance of the computer if this is a regular step that is ran on a computer.
Many people never run the Defragment Drive and can see the improvement of the computer after it has been ran. Two things to note though are that you need at least 15% of your hard drive free and there may be times when this process needs to be ran more than once.