When saving files, then deleting files, and then re-saving many times with Windows 95, the file structure on disk drives get fragmented, meaning pieces of files end up getting saved all over a drive. Running defrag to optimize your hard drives is ESSENTIAL for optimizing the speed AND for extending the hard drives' lives (because the less a drive has to seek for a fragmented file, the less wear and tear is exerted on the drive). While Windows 95's Defrag "allows" you to run other programs while optimizing the hard drive, this can actually cause more harm than good as defrag may never finish due to the disk contents being changed.

If you are having problems getting defrag to complete its much-needed task and can forget about using defrag's multitasking "feature," here are some tips.

Run defrag FIRST, before running any other programs. Running other programs first fragments memory somewhat, forcing Windows 95 to use virtual memory to compensate - hence, hard drive usage and defrag would stop.

Disable virtual memory while running defrag, if possible, and as a last resort.

Disable the clock on the Windows 95 taskbar notification tray while running defrag.

Disable the screensaver while running Defrag.

Turn off the desktop wallpaper while running defrag.

Turn off all misc. applications which run in the background while running defrag.

In general, the less fragmented the main memory is when Defrag runs, and the less amount of programs which could potentially write to disk are running, the greater the chance that Defrag will finish successfully.

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