Disk defragmenter is an application that comes installed with the Windows Operating System. The main function of this software utility is to speed up the performance of your computer and also to maximize storage space utilization of your hard drive. For using this utility, you just have to click on Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter. You can also access this utility by clicking on “My Computer” and selecting ‘Manage’ from the available options.

After this, you just have to select the Drive or Drives that you want to defrag and click on the ‘Defragment’ button. After this you just need to sit back and relax while the defragmenter does the job for you. You should do this preferably at night because Defragmentation can take several hours depending on the amount of data that you might have on your hard drive.

Using Disk defragmenter from time to time is necessary because as you continue to add and remove files and folders, your hard drive becomes a virtual war zone, scattered with bits and pieces of data everywhere. This slows down your system obviously because the operating system has to work harder to access the data stored in your hard drive.

Using an un-fragmented drive is like reading a book whose pages are strewn all over the floor. In this context, what Disk defragmenter does is that it picks up all the pages from the floor and arranges them together according to the page numbers. In real terms, the defragmenter rearranges files and folders in such a way that it helps in boosting the computer’s processing speed and maximizing space utilization.

For getting the best results, I would recommend that you close all other running programs before starting the Defragmentation process. This would help the Disk Defragmenter to make the most appropriate file allocations and last but not the least, complete the defrag in the shortest possible time.