Odd People

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Hi all-knowing, all-wise, Ubi! My puter does an automatic scan disc when it locks up a couple of times a week, because of the improper shut-down. We were discussing doing defrags. Is this two seperate things? If it is,, I need to start doing defrags, if I can figure it out.

Yes Scandisk and defragmentation are two distinct and seperate programs. Scandisk goes thru your files and fixes any obvious errors in them. Defrag is another whole can of worms.

In a perfectly working program, all of the parts of the program are in memory sections of your hard drive which are right next to each other. Over time and as you move files around etc etc and add new programs, sometimes part of a file or program will be on one part of your hard drive and part of it over in another section which is not next to it. This causes your computer to slow down as the parts of the program take a little bit longer to communicate with each other than they would if they were next door to each other. If your computer becomes over 10 percent fragmented then you can have a noticeable slowdown in performance.

The Defrag program sorts thru all the bits and pieces on your hard drive and moves like pieces back next to each other. Sort of like cleaning up your filing system. Consequently your programs will run faster and more effeciently. As a general rule you should probably defrag about once a month to keep things running smoothly.

To Defrag, click on start, then programs then acessories, then system tools and then on defrag. I strongly suggest closing all programs before defrag. This program takes quite a while to run so I would do it before going to bed or before dinner or when something good is on tv. Happy defraging.

Overcatus Defragus

Well, I am not Ubi but I will tell you this... you definitely need to de-frag. Scan disc looks for mistakes. It will then repair them. But it does nothing to de-frag your comp. Think of it like a big dresser. You rummage and rummage around and if you never stopped to put it in order again, things get all messy. You cant find both socks from a pair, it takes a really long time to find anything. If you de-frag, your computer does the equivalent of a housekeeping. Scan disc gets stuff all laundered, de-frag folds them and puts them in order. Your computer does not have to search to find stuff you want. If you keep your computer well de-fragmented you will note an increase in speed and functionality. You may not even lock up anymore. Look in your accessories---tools....system tools. You will find the tool there. You will also find a wizard which will walk you through setting up an automated schedule... accessories....tools.....scheduled tasks. If you have not defragged before, you will have to expect a several hour wait while your computer works away putting things in order. You can ask it to do this overnight while you sleep. Make sure to turn off running programs during that time... for instance, your screen saver and if you have a wallpaper changer.

Hi ubi dooooooo... fancy meeting you here! Lets get coffee!

I defrag at least once a week..... it shortens the time I have to stay away from my comp.

Thank you, Ubi and Happyguppypuppy! Now that the spies are gone and I do the defrag tonight, I should really speed up! Hey, HGP! Have you been looking thru my drawers? lol

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