Thread: Optimizing system performance by defragmenting files

The hard disk, which is almost bursting at the seams, reads data at a snail's pace. A complete defragmentation operation takes a few hours due to the size of the hard disk. You do not have this kind of time, it must go faster!

You can improve performance just as you would through a complete defragmentation simply by cleaning up individual large or frequently used files; for example, the PST file (Personal Store) from Outlook. This job is done by the free tool 'Power Defragmenter'. It is based on the free command line tool 'Contig' in Microsoft Sysinternals and extends the functionality of the same with an easy-to-use graphical interface. You can find the Power Defragmenter tool in our current issue. Extract the archive and start the program. You will need the 'contig.exe' file, which can also be found on the DVD. You can now start Power Defragmenter, which then guides you through the process with the help of a wizard. In the first step, determine whether you want to optimize individual files, directories or a complete drive. Select 'Defragment files' for the task described here. Now click the 'Next' button and select up to four files in the following dialog for optimization. A click on 'Defragment', and the tool gets down to work.

In addition to defragmenting PST files, it is also recommended to optimize all Office documents. Media files such as photos and music on the other hand are rarely changed and so they are not subject to any fragmentation. You can use the command line tool 'Contig' even without the graphical superstructure. For this, open a command prompt window and go to the folder of the file to be optimized using the DOS command 'cd' (change directory). However, if the tool is supposed to process multiple files simultaneously, navigate to the root folder of the drive. Enter 'contig' as the command, followed by the possible options and the file name. The '-a' parameter looks after the analysis of the fragmentation without processing, while '-s' performs a recursive processing of sub-folders. With the '-v' option, the tool displays detailed information and the '-q' option shifts it to a background operation. You can determine whether the files are to be processed as a plain text or ascertain the same with the help of wild cards. With that, the selection can be reduced to a certain file type, for instance. It is advisable to first determine the extent of fragmentation by calling up a command using the '-a' option. You can then decide more easily the files that have to be processed. To examine all PST files within the current folder, run contig -a -s *.pst for instance. Start the actual optimization with contig -s *.pst. You can stop a running defragmentation using the keyboard shortcut [Ctrl]+[C].