What does this mean when pc says "defragmentng drive c" ?????
It has appeared on my screen after I had gone to make a cuppa ? :rolleyes:

I think it means that its putting all your files etc were they should be, cant understand why its just come up on your screen though because normally you have to request it. I defrag mine every few months to keep it running smoothly, hope this helps :)

Hi Lel

I think it means it's putting all you files back in order or something like that. Apparently you should defrag every couple of weeks. I'm sure someone will come along and explain to us both in technical terms :D

Alison

I definately didnt request it and there was no one else here so I know the kids havent been messing about .
Has been a bit strange of late though - my scanner was playing up last week and it fixed itself . Now I cant print anything even though the lights on and there is paper there and now this ... :rolleyes:

Defragmenting is the term used for rationalising the drive and putting relevant files together instead of all over the place as naturally happens when files are stored to the hard disc, sometimes files are even stored split into sections and this then takes up more room on the hard drive. Its a bit like shuffling papers into piles on an untidy desk :D

You probably have it scheduled to happen on a regular basis as part of the scheduled tasks, which is why it just pops up now and again.

Hope this helps
Regards
Dill

Thanks Dill :)
I put it on pause a the time as I didnt know whether it was a good thing or bad :rolleyes:

Good! Should be preceded by Scan Disk (Win 98, don't know what it is called in other versions) though as this scans the hard drive and if there are problems tries to repair the drive or retrieve the information and /or marks the bad sectors.

Then empty your bin/recycle bin (after making sure there is nothing in it you want) and do a full Defrag. This, like backing up your data and keeping your anti-virus definitions up to date should be part of your regular computer "housekeeping" and it does help keep the computer running smoothly and in many cases quite a bit faster.

Defrag can take a loonnngggg time (hours) depending upon the size of your hard disk and the amount of deframention, and the speed of you CPU, so you should turn off any screen-savers or other programmes that may start automatically whilst it is running as these may cause it to restart.

Christine