How To Perform The Ultimate Defrag

To note up front: This takes a very long time to complete. It is not something you will be able to finish in 10 minutes. And even if you have a very fast PC, this process will take at least a good two to six hours.

DISCLAIMER: Use this information at your own risk. I state this because there is the possibility, albeit very minimal, that this may corrupt the data on your hard drive. However, I have performed all of what’s listed below myself, and it has worked.

What this process involves:

1. Using CCleaner to “Wipe Free Space”. (If you do not have CCleaner, download and install it from www.ccleaner.com)

2. Using MyDefrag to “Consolidate Free Space”. (If you do not have MyDefrag, download and install it from www.mydefrag.com)

3. Using MyDefrag to perform the defragmentation process.

It may be 3 easy steps, but oh yes, this will take a while.

** Preparing for the defrag **

The preparation for this process basically involves shutting anything down and disabling anything that would interrupt the process so everything goes through as fast as possible. You know you’re going to be waiting a long time for this to get done, so you might as well give yourself any advantage you can.

A. Disconnect your internet connection from the PC.

Windows as well as other programs periodically make connections to the internet for updating purposes. This can run an executable or two that can slow down the defrag process. Disconnecting the internet from the PC entirely prevents Windows or any other program from attempting to update itself temporarily.

B. Disable and shut down your anti-virus/spyware/malware suite.

One thing that can *really* slow down this process is if your anti-virus decides to perform an update or scan the system while the defrag is taking place, so it’s best to disable and shut this down temporarily.

C. Close everything.

All web browers, e-mail clients, instant messenger clients and anything else that’s open – close it.

D. Disable any screen saver and/or power options settings.

If your screen saver activates while this process is going on, this will slow things down quite a bit. If your Windows is configured to shut down or hibernate after X minutes, disable that as well.

E. Reboot.

After disconnecting your internet connection from A above, there may be a few programs that still “think” you are connected. Reboot to reset these programs so they “know” there is no internet connection available.

STEP 1 – WIPING FREE SPACE

Run CCleaner. Scroll down the left sidebar. The last option under “Advanced” will be “Wipe Free Space”. Check this box. You will receive a warning notice that it will take a long time to complete. Click OK.

Click “Analyze”, wait for the results to come back, then click “Run Cleaner”. Both these buttons are at the bottom of CCleaner.

Wait. A long time.

STEP 2 – CONSOLIDATING FREE SPACE

Run MyDefrag. On the left side, choose “Consolidate free space” and run it.

Wait. A long time.

STEP 3 – DEFRAGMENT

Go back to MyDefrag. On the left side, choose “Defragment only” and run it.

Waiting is required but it *should* go through relatively speedy at this point.

STEP 4 – SHUT DOWN, RECONNECT INTERNET CONNECTION, BOOT

At this point you should be all set. For some, you may experience a faster boot-up time. Program launching and closing should be smoother, as well as switching tasks.

Remember to re-enable the things you disabled, turn your screen saver back on and re-enable your power options settings.