This. Seems. Slower. Today.



You’ve been working with some very large spreadsheets and presentations on your computer for a few months. Lately, you’ve started to notice that loading and saving the files takes longer and longer as time goes on, even though the file size hasn’t changed much over that time. Which of these would be the best way to improve your loading and saving time?

A) Increase the amount of RAM

B) Backup the disk

C) Run Error-Checking on the hard drive

D) Defragment your hard drive

E) Use your computer as if you were floating in space. It will seem much, much faster.


The answer: D) Defragment your hard drive

As files become more and more fragmented around the hard drive, it takes longer and longer for the pieces to be gathered together. A disk defragmentation collects all of the pieces and puts them back together into a contiguous group, helping to minimize the time it takes to read and write the files.

Want to know more? Watch “Disk Management Tools.”

If you maintain your storage devices properly, they’ll tend to be more efficient and last much longer. In this video, you’ll learn how to manually defragment your hard disks, backup their contents, and check them for any logical or physical errors.