Vista adds a couple of other switches: -i defrags even when the PC isn't idle, -c works on all drives, and -w processes chunks of files smaller than 64MB without this switch, Vista's defragger ignores all file fragments smaller than 64MB. In both XP and Vista, you can add -a to the 'defrag' command to analyze the drive only, -f to force a defrag with less than 15 percent free space, -b to defrag only boot files, and -v to show a 'verbose' report of the defrag. Or click Start > All Programs > Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and select Run as administrator.Īt the command prompt, type defrag ? to see a list of available command switches.

One way is by pressing the Windows key (or Ctrl-Esc), pressing R (in XP), typing cmd, and pressing Enter. Start by opening a command-prompt window. You get more control over your disk defrags by running Windows' defragger utility from a command prompt and entering command switches that modify its actions. XP's version of the Disk Defragmenter isn't much more functional, although it does give you a little more graphical feedback about the state of your drives. Vista's Disk Defragmenter utility is a no-frills affair. Your only options are to set the defrag schedule, select the volumes to defrag, and run the defragger. The interface of Vista's Disk Defragmenter is nonexistent the utility is clearly designed for behind-the-scenes operation. If you prefer to use Windows' defragger, you can open it by pressing the Windows key (or Ctrl-Esc), pressing R (in XP), typing defrag in Vista or dfrg.msc in XP, and pressing Enter. Last year, I started using Auslogics' free Disk Defrag utility, which works with Windows 2000 and up. But I also know better than to put all my faith in Microsoft's ability to keep my system healthy. So it comes as no surprise that I'm a big fan of Vista's automatic-defrag setting. I'm one of those people who prefers to have Windows' maintenance operations done in the background, without my direct intervention.

If it were up to me, I'd never defragment my PC's drives.

Defragment your windows 10 pc