Fix Disk Performance Problems In Windows 7

For many common tasks on a computer, the hard disk limits overall performance. Opening and saving files requires reading from and writing to the hard disk, which is much slower than accessing system RAM. In addition, if Windows needs to allocate more memory than physical RAM available with it, Windows uses the hard disk as virtual memory, reducing performance for any task that requires the memory stored on the hard disk.

Fortunately, there are several things you can do to improve performance without upgrading to a faster hard disk. The sections that follow discuss fragmentation and virtual memory.

Fragmentation and Free Space

To reduce fragmentation, increase the amount of free disk space. When a disk begins to run out of space, Windows needs to divide files into several different fragments, a process known as fragmentation. Because hard disks perform best when a fi le is not fragmented, fragmentation slows disk performance. As a general rule, you should keep at least 15 percent of a disk’s space free, but having more free disk space can further improve performance.

NOTE: FRAGMENTATION AND FLASH DRIVES Traditional, magnetic hard disks have a drive head that must move across several spinning round platters to read data, much like a record player. These drives perform best when reading and writing sequentially, which does not require the drive head to move to a different part of the disk. To read a fragmented fi le, the drive head must move several times, slowing performance.

Flash drives do not have a drive head, and fragmentation does not reduce their performance. Therefore, you never have to worry about fragmentation with a fl ash drive. Windows 7 automatically disables defragmentation for fl ash drives.

You can use the Windows 7 Disk Cleanup tool to free up disk space automatically by following these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Computer.
2. Right-click the drive you want to clean, and then click Properties.
3. On the General tab, click Disk Cleanup.
4. To remove system fi les (a task that requires administrative privileges), click Clean Up System Files.
5. Select the fi les that you want to delete. You can click each fi le type for a description of the fi les that will be removed. Click OK. The Disk Cleanup tool removes the fi les you specified.

Windows 7 automatically defragments your files, so you should never need to defragment manually. If you would like to defragment files manually, perform these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Computer.
2. Right-click the drive you want to defragment, and then click Properties.
3. On the Tools tab, click Defragment Now.
4. To confi gure the defragmentation schedule, click Confi gure Schedule.
5. In the Disk Defragmenter tool, select the disk you want to defragment, and then click Defragment Disk. The Disk Defragmenter begins defragmenting the drive. You don’t have to wait for it to complete before closing the window, however.
6. Click Close, and then click OK.