Hard disk drive more effectively

If you want to proceed to defragment your hard drive (defrag), but you are afraid to spend a lot of time, use the executable file shown later. However, before you start working, you should perform a hard disk check to detect and fix the error.

First, defrag the drive manually: click Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Defragmenter (Figure 1). This way, you can only defrag a single drive at the same time, but this tool displays a status chart and lists all the drives available on your computer, so you can choose one after another. Defrag each drive without clicking multiple times through the dialog boxes.

Figure 1 : Windows Defragmenter uses a 4-color graph showing the recoverable capacity on the hard disk.

This is the best way to defrag a drive when not in use on that drive. To set Windows to automatically defragment a hard disk at a predetermined time, open the Notepad utility or any text editor and enter the following text: defrag.exe C: -f –v> "e: docdefrag report_C.txt".

Figure 2 : Set the defrag command for each drive with a simple executable file.

Typically, an empty disk will not allow you to use the defrag command, so the -f parameter will force Windows to perform this task. The window will also create a report table for each defrag, add the -v parameter to get all the details, followed by a > and the path name of the result file (if this file already exists) , Windows will overwrite this file by default.

If you want to defragment multiple drives, create one command line for each drive: just change the drive letter, file name and path if necessary (Figure 2). When done, select File -> Save and select the file format to save as .bat or .cmd .

Figure 3 : Use Windows Scheduled Task to automate defragmenting the hard disk.

From here on, whenever you want to defrag the hard drive, just double-click the newly created .bat or .cmd file (you can also drag and drop this file from the utility window). Windows Explorer or any folder window to the Start menu).

Finally, Windows' Sheduled Task utility will allow you to set the automatic defragmentation mode at a predetermined time. To open this tool, click Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Scheduled Task . Double-click the Add Scheduled Task icon and select Next . When asked to enter the name of the application to run, click Browse and select the executable file created at the top, then click Open .

Scheduled Task requires users to login to Windows with a password-protected account, which forces you to enter the correct password for the task to be performed.

Disk Cleaner - a disk cleanup tool

Windows' hard disk cleaning tool is very handy for removing useless and outdated files from your hard disk: Choose Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Cheanup . However, this program is not capable of removing some Windows temporary files and protecting your data privacy.

Meanwhile, the free utility Disk Cleaner can hide the file name and website you ever accessed. In addition, the ability to activate the command line (with parameters) allows you to automate the task of cleaning up the hard disk which is already too boring.

Bui Xuan Toai