[vip_students] FW: Defragging the hard drive!
- From: "Paul Traynor" <paul.traynor@xxxxxxx>
- To: <vip_students@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 27 May 2007 18:36:39 +0100
Hi Kathleen,
Here you are.
Paul.
-----Original Message-----
From: vip_students-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:vip_students-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Paul Traynor
Sent: 23 May 2007 11:29
To: vip_students@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [vip_students] Defragging the hard drive!
How to Defragmenter your Hard Drive (Windows XP)
What is "fragmenting" and why do I need to "defragmenter" my hard drive?
Imagine a large library of books arranged in volumes. Also imagine that the
librarian for this particular library re-shelves the books in a way which
moves the individual books in the volumes further apart from each other. As
more books are added to library, the further apart and more mixed up the
books in the volumes become. Now imagine that you come to the library and
want to check out an entire volume of books. You would have to search all
over the library to find each individual book in the volume that you want.
In computer terms, what is happening when the individual books are
re-shelved in this way is called fragmenting, and this is what happens to
your computer as you install programs, download files, or just use your
computer in general.
When running programs that contains hundreds of files, fragmenting can
degrade the performance of your computer. As the clusters of files on your
hard drive become fragmented, they grow further apart and it takes longer
for your computer to find and assemble all the pieces necessary to run the
programs. This is where defragmenting comes in. It rearranges the files on
your hard drive so they are back in order, which cuts down on access latency
(the time it takes to access your files). It is as if the library has hired
a new librarian who goes through and arranges the books so that the volumes
are intact and contiguous.
This would greatly reduce the time it takes to find whole volumes or
individual books in those volumes.
[Defragmenting your Windows XP hard drive]
Note: Since the program is going to be arranging files on your hard drive,
it is important that no files are being accessed during the process, or the
program won't be able to move them. Close all open programs.
1. To defragment your hard drive in Windows XP, open My Computer by
pressing keys, "windows key + M or D". Jaws should say "desktop" but not in
all cases.
2. Now while in "my computer" it is best to set the views to show in a list
style. Just press keys, "alt + v" to open the view menu, then "letter L" for
list and you will now be back in my computer using a "list view".
3. Arrow down to something that says, "local drive C:" or such like.
4. Now press the application key, "third key out from right of spacebar" to
open up the context menu and then arrow down to "properties. Now press the
enter key.
5. Once the properties have opened up, you need to use keys, "control + tab"
to jump you into the "tools section".
6. Tab once and you should be on the "disk defrag button", press the
spacebar on this to activate it.
7. Now you should be presented with the available drives on your computer
and the one you want from the list is "drive C, local drive" or something
such as a name like that. Just arrow up or down in this list, you may only
have only one choice in here or more than one, depending on how many drives
you have. Also it may tell you how much you have in space on this disk.
Note: The C: drive is where operating system files and programs are
installed by default, so make sure that it is selected.
8. Now you must tab to the "defrag button". As you tab along you may first
come to a button which says "analyze", just keep tabbing till you come to
the defragment button and then press the "enter key".
Note: At least on my computer, jaws did not announce the "analyze and
defragment buttons" as "buttons", this may or may not be the same experience
on your machines but just treat them as buttons anyway.
Note:Defragmenting your hard drive can take a considerable amount of time.
This is a job which should be done only when you don't require the use of
your computer for a while. The time it can take to defragment a hard disk
can vary between "30 minutes and a few hours" depending on the size of the
hard disk you have.
(Magnification users)
*. While the program is running you will see a graphical representation of
the blocks of files on your hard drive being moved and the fragmented
segments joined together. Usually the less gaps of free space between the
contiguous segments the better, but as long as the fragmented files are put
together into contiguous segments, it will help your computer's
performance.
(Screen reader users)
The only way I Have found for those of us who are totally blind to know
whats going on during the defragmenting process is to turn on the jaws "say
all mode". You can do this after the defrag process begins using keys
"insert + S". Note this key combination controls three different modes; *.
Say All, *. Say none, *. Say highlighted.
Just keep toggling the key combination of "insert + letter S" to move
between the above modes.
Note: The mode that jaws should be in for normal use is "Say highlighted"
Step 9. To finish off the defragmenting process I usually wait for jaws to
go silent which indicates to me that the disk compressing is completed. Then
I tab key to the Close the Disk Defragmenter window and resume using the
computer.
Defragment Complete
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you should not use, disclose, distribute or copy any of the content of it or
of any attachment; you are requested to notify the sender immediately of
your receipt of the email and then to delete it and any attachments from
your system.
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accept any responsibility for any such which are transmitted. We therefore
recommend you scan all attachments.
Please note that the statements and views expressed in this email and any
attachments are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the
views of NCBI
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NOTICE: The information contained in this email and any attachments
is confidential and may be privileged. If you are not the intended
recipient you should not use, disclose, distribute or copy any of
the content of it or of any attachment; you are requested to notify
the sender immediately of your receipt of the email and then to
delete it and any attachments from your system.
NCBI endeavours to ensure that emails and any attachments generated
by its staff are free from viruses or other contaminants. However,
it cannot accept any responsibility for any such which are
transmitted. We therefore recommend you scan all attachments.
Please note that the statements and views expressed in this email
and any attachments are those of the author and do not necessarily
represent the views of NCBI
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