For good file system maintenance, run the disk defragmenter periodically. The analyze option will indicate whether it is necessary to defragment.

The defragmenter provided with Windows provides only basic functionality. Obtain another defragmenter like Executive Software Diskeeper to do the following.

• Defragment the MFT
• Run as a scheduled background task
• Run at a lower priority to avoid performance bottlenecks
• Complete defragmentation after running once

The defragmenter will not run if the disk requires maintenance or is scheduled for maintenance. Run CHKDSK or reboot to AUTOCHK so that any file system problems will be fixed. The defragmenter will only run after all file system problems are repaired.

The green unmovable files in the following display represents the page file and MFT metadata. In large volumes, this data will be positioned in the middle of the disk for fastest access.

Keyboard Exercise

Defragment a disk drive on your computer.