Files on PC are not stored in one line way. Bits of data are stored at different places on platters in hard drive. As files are edited, saved, removed, and moved, they turn into "fragmented" across these platters. When this occur read / write heads in hard drives take longer to access information in disks which, over time, makes PC runs less capably. It's a good idea to defragment hard drive every 6 months or so based on usage.

a. There are two methods to access disk defragmenter in XP. First right click on My Computer and select "Manage." This opens Computer Management Console. Click Disk Defragmenter.

b. Choose drive in top window.

c. To decide if hard drive wants to be defragmented, click on analyze. This will rapidly analyze drive and will let you
know if a defragmentation is essential. Even if it is not, you can still go through procedure.

d. Click on Defragment to begin defragmenting procedure. This could take a moment if you have big hard drive that
is greatly fragmented.

e. Wait for the procedure to finish. You want to do this at a time when you will not want to utilize PC.

f. When finished, just close Console Management window and you're completed.