How to speed up your windows xp hard drive. Video: How to convert a dynamic disk to a basic one. Selecting the disk operating mode in the registry

The hard drive can be classified as one of those computer components that cannot be improved in performance, unlike, for example, a processor: it can be overclocked. However, there is a certain software and operating system tools that can answer the question: how to speed up a hard drive. And although this is more related to optimization, the system will load faster and respond to user commands.

Activating some functions provided in operating systems can really increase the performance of a hard drive, but one nuance should be taken into account: if the computer suddenly turns off, the user risks losing some data recorded on the hard drive. Therefore, when enabling some parameters, it is best to initially purchase an uninterruptible power supply, which in case sudden shutdown light will keep the computer in working order. To set such functions you need:

• right-click on “My Computer”;
• select the “Device Manager” line;
• in the left Explorer window, expand the list of disk devices and place the cursor on it;
• right-click on it and open the “Properties” window, then go to the “Policies” tab;
• move the bullet to the “Optimize for execution” item, and then, when the following items are active, check them (shown in the screenshot);

• confirm the changes made by clicking on the “Ok” button.

In order to double-check the inclusion of these options, you need to sequentially go through the lines of the IDE controllers and see if the checkboxes in the “Additional settings” tab are checked in the “Enable DMA” item. If this is not the case, then it must be installed manually.

Repartitioning the hard drive

Sometimes on system disk(as a rule, it is designated by the letter C) there is not enough space to write temporary OS files. This may be due to the fact that the user places a lot of information on the desktop, the “Documents” directory, etc., which overwhelms the section. As a result, the computer will noticeably slow down, online video may not start, etc. Therefore all user information in this case, you need to copy it to another section. If everything is deleted from drive C, and there is still very little space, it is better to expand its physical size using other partitions. This can be done either using standard tools or using third party programs, for example Acronis Disc Director.

Defragmentation

When recording information to a hard drive, this does not happen sequentially, but pieces are thrown into different places, although they should be as close to each other as possible. If old files are deleted and new ones are written in their place, this leads to greater scattering, which accordingly slows down the operation of the hard drive as a whole. In order to eliminate this, the Windows operating system has a utility tool called “Defragmentation”. With its help, all the pieces move closer to each other, which makes them easier to find. To open this utility, you need to follow the path: “Start” - “All Programs” - “Administration Tools” - “Disk Optimization”.

After clicking on the “Analyze” button, you should wait for it to finish and if the percentage of fragmentation reaches more than 10, in this case you need to click “Optimize”.

Checking for bad sectors of the hard drive

The cause of the most common breakdown and unstable work is the appearance of non-writable blocks, the so-called bad sectors. The fact is that it works on a principle similar to a record, and if scratches appeared on it, the playback jammed and only moving the needle eliminated this problem. In a computer component, the situation is different; if the needle hits such a place, a freeze occurs; all recorded information in such areas, as a rule, will not be opened in the future. To check the disk, you can use the built-in utility of the operating system. To do this, open “My Computer” and click “Properties” on one of the sections. After that, in the new window that appears, go to the “Service” tab, select “Run check”, check two boxes and click “Run”. The system will re-check the partition and, if there are bad blocks, carry out treatment, if possible.

In any computer device is one of the most important elements, without which the operation of a computer is impossible in principle (except for loading the operating system from external media and saving information on it). However, the hard drive does not always operate at full capacity, which affects the performance of the entire system as a whole. How to speed up your work hard drive different methods, we will discuss further. However, you should immediately pay attention to the fact that outdated HDD models with a rotation speed limit of 5600 rpm cannot be particularly optimized, although some actions general plan it is still possible to produce. Let's consider the main areas related to increasing speed HDD operation and let’s look at each of them in as much detail as possible. But first, let’s find out why all this is needed, because if the hard drive has some kind of limit that limits the speed of access to it, as they say, you can’t jump over your head.

Why is HDD acceleration needed?

Speaking about why the actions described below are needed, you should clearly understand that the higher the speed of access to the hard drive, the faster the operating system and the programs installed in its environment behave, even on computer configurations that minimally meet their requirements. Roughly speaking, by increasing the speed of reading information from a disk or writing some data to it, software and software environment works faster.

Basic methods to increase speed

As for the main techniques used to speed up access to the HDD, normal settings the optimal mode of operation, as is assumed for some other “iron” components, is not limited to this. And very often you shouldn’t discount software methods, which no less contribute to increasing the performance of the hard drive and, as a consequence, the entire system as a whole. But the main areas that any user should know and apply them in practical terms are the following:

• selection of the optimal operating mode of the device itself;
• optimization of access through the use software settings operating system;
• cleaning the disk from computer debris;
• shutdown unnecessary programs, slowing down its work;
• regular defragmentation (for SSD-class devices it is not necessary and even contraindicated);
• optimal setting virtual memory usage;
• eliminating disk errors and fixing bad sectors.

How to speed up a hard drive through BIOS?

Now let's move on to practical actions. First, let's look at how to speed up the hard drive on a laptop or desktop computer terminal, without taking into account the use of operating system tools for now. IN in this case We are, of course, talking about the primary input/output systems BIOS and UEFI. The latter are newer, but the settings regarding the operation of hard drives in them are almost identical.

First of all, when you turn on your computer or laptop, you need to go into the parameters of the primary system, using the Del key (for desktop computers) or the combinations provided for this on laptops (they can vary quite a lot). Here you need to find the item responsible for the operating mode of the SATA controller. It may be in the hardware configuration or present in the parameters peripheral devices(it all depends on the chip manufacturer and BIOS/UEFI software developer. How to speed up a hard drive?

Most experts' advice boils down to include AHCI mode, which, so to speak, is more advanced compared to the IDE. True, in this case you should prepare for possible problems when loading the system, and it is recommended to install this mode only if you have the appropriate knowledge. In addition, when disconnecting IDE mode when re-installation errors will appear in the operating system, or Windows will not install at all.

Viewing operating modes through Device Manager

Now let's look at how to speed up a hard drive in Windows 7 or any other system by selecting similar parameters directly in their settings. But even here you need to clearly understand that the options set in the BIOS have highest priority, therefore, in an operating system environment, it is not always possible to switch the controller’s operating mode.

However, to obtain information about the desired mode, you should call the standard “Device Manager” (devmgmt.msc), find it in the list of equipment required controllers and ensure that they are intended for use by such standard modes. If the properties show error 45, stating that this device disabled or not used, this can be interpreted as a clear switching requirement desired mode precisely in the primary system.

Selecting the disk operating mode in the registry

But if you understand how to speed up the hard drive in Windows 10 and below by viewing or changing the above parameters in the registry, then you can perform the required actions, even if they are not available in the “Device Manager”. In the editor (regedit) you should use the HKLM branch and find the iaStorV directory in it.

In it, to switch to AHCI mode, the Start key value must be changed to zero. When talking about how to speed up a hard drive in Windows 10 and below through the registry, we cannot ignore one more key.

In the same directory there is a subfolder StartOverride with the parameter “0”, the value of which must also be set to zero. Two exactly the same entries in the storahci and msahci folders are changed in the same way. When you have finished editing the options, you should close the editor and run full restart system, however, for the first time it is strongly recommended to use the boot only in safe mode.

How to speed up your hard drive: setting performance optimization parameters

Optimize the performance of the hard drive through the property parameters offered by operating system, that's also possible. How to speed up a hard drive in Windows 8 or similar operating systems in this case? Simple too! Use the “Device Manager”, in the disk drives section, find your hard drive, through RMB menu open its properties and go to the policies tab. Here you will see an option to activate optimal performance, which you need to enable. However, it may not exist.

It appears that write cache enable or runtime optimization options will be specified instead. Accordingly, they will need to be activated.

Another recommendation for optimizing hard drive operation is to use direct access mode random access memory(DMA or Ultra DMA), which can be set through additional controller parameters. For some models, such access is set by default, and there may not be a corresponding item available for configuration. In some cases, it will not be possible to change such settings without first switching to IDE in the BIOS.

Note: despite the fact that Windows suggests using such parameters, for outdated hard drives they should be set only if you are fully confident that the device itself supports it, since it may simply fail.

Timely removal of computer junk and disk cleaning

To many, the previous methods may seem somewhat abstruse, so now, as they say, let's come down to earth and see how to speed up a hard drive by using tools and methods familiar to every more or less literate user. For now, let’s focus on the factors that only indirectly affect the performance of the hard drive.

As you know, in any operating system, as it functions and the programs installed in its environment, great amount temporary files, obsolete objects or leftovers after uninstalling certain applications. This also includes saved recovery checkpoints and even some updates that hang like dead weight in the system. All this garbage needs to be cleaned out regularly.

In the very simple case You can use the standard Disk Cleanup tool, which is available on any Windows system, and run it on all disks and partitions. For removing additional components cleaning should be activated system files.

However, you can do it much easier by using special optimizer programs for such purposes, which have the appropriate modules.

Controlling operating system startup

Autoload may also contain a fairly large amount software modules, which start with the OS. If you understand how to speed up a hard drive, you also cannot ignore them, if only because there are too many unnecessary background services just affects performance.

Deactivate unnecessary components in Windows 7 and below, you can use the corresponding section in the configuration (msconfig), in versions 8 and 10 you can find it directly in the “Task Manager”. However, not everything that can be deactivated will be shown there.

To obtain expanded information, it is better to use the same optimizers, including the best option will become CCleaner program, but sometimes you can delete autostart entries directly in the registry (for advanced users only).

Performing defragmentation

Defragmentation is also quite powerful tool speed up disk access, but, as mentioned above, for SSD media not used. But on regular hard drives, you need to organize frequently used files in mandatory. Again, you can use both the operating system’s own tools and third-party software from other developers for this.

Actions with virtual memory

Finally, let's look at how to speed up the Windows 10 hard drive on a laptop or desktop PC by changing the virtual memory settings that the page file is responsible for using. If it is activated, it is reserved instead of RAM disk space the hard drive itself. If the paging file size is too high, hard drive excessively frequent access is made, which reduces the speed of its operation as a whole. By by and large, you can refuse to use the paging file altogether. Experts have different opinions on this matter. Some believe that you can disable it completely only if you have 8 GB of RAM or higher. Others believe that even with 1 GB of RAM nothing bad will happen. And Microsoft experts say that it is better to leave the choice of size to the operating system. Who is right? Oddly enough, everyone is right.

But based on practical considerations, it is advisable to disable the use of virtual memory only if the user needs a computer or laptop solely for working with office packages or accessing the Internet. But when using resource-intensive engineering programs, graphic, sound or video editors, it’s better not to joke with such settings.

Troubleshooting errors and fixing bad sectors

Well, finally, it remains to consider how to speed up the operation of a hard drive by timely identifying errors that may be present on the hard drive, bad or unreadable sectors, access to which can provoke slowdown. Unfortunately, the operating system itself issues notifications about such problems only in the most extreme cases. Therefore, it is better for the user to carry out regular checks on their own. As the most simple method can you recommend using standard means, but if you have knowledge and experience with the command line, it is better to use its tools. By analogy with the situations described above, for performing an automated check and correcting possible failures, special applications, intended for comprehensive care of the system or narrowly focused programs.

Probably all users want their computers to be able to perform the required actions much faster than they currently can. Information processing can be speeded up different ways. Such options include optimizing the operation of the hard drive. For such a process, Windows has a huge number of settings and tools. Let's look at how to speed up your hard drive and your computer in general.

Disabling indexing

This method is suitable for those who do not use the search function in the operating system.

The basis of the method is to close the hard drive partition from indexing, which will speed up its operation. For this:

1. Go to “My Computer”. There you need to call up the context menu on the main drive, often the C:\ drive. Then click “Properties”.
2. In the “General” menu, select “Allow content to be indexed...”. You need to uncheck the box and confirm the action.
3. After these actions, a notification will appear informing you about the possibility of using the new policy only for certain files. Select “Continue” and then “Skip all”.

Stop logging

IN standard settings The system has a logging function. All failures and changes made are displayed there. If you do not use this system or do not even understand what it means, then you can safely disable it.

Disabling instructions:

1. Launch the command line. The simplest way: press “Win ​​+ R”, and in the “Run” window that appears, enter “cmd”.
2. An application will open where you need to enter: fsutil usn deletejournal /D C:, where C is the letter of the required hard drive.
3. To confirm your intentions, you need to press “Enter”. Then command line needs to be closed.
4. For the changes to take effect, the computer must be restarted.

Cleaning up unnecessary files

Quite often, performance indicators hard drives noticeably improve after removal unnecessary files, which could have accumulated on the storage device over a long period of time. The more free space on the hard drive, the faster the search for files will occur, and this will speed up the work.

If we consider this process in more detail, it turns out that the system will not produce long search in their tables the addresses of certain pieces of information. By deleting unnecessary data, the number of such tables will be less than if the space is full.

Therefore, you need to delete files from your computer that are not in use more often. If they are important, then you can simply collect them in one folder and archive them. Such a procedure will free up space, and there will be only one address in the parameters of the main table.

To clean disks in Windows 7 and other versions, special tools are used. They are located in the Start menu under the Utilities category. The exact name is “Disk Cleanup”. The program searches for unused files in the partition and then prompts the user to delete them.

In addition, there are a large number of programs that provide this procedure.

Defragmentation

When new information is written to the device, it is not always located nearby. Individual packages are placed on the free space of the volume. After numerous recordings, one file can be located throughout the media. This results in the system constantly accessing different sectors. Using defragmentation, you can search for similar data and collect it together. The system will then contact neighboring locations, which will increase the speed of operation.

Such a tool can only help with using HDD disks.

The function is available in various programs ah, which offer services to speed up your computer.

Microsoft operating systems have the ability to defragment using built-in capabilities. To do this, in “Computer” you need to select required disk and launch the context menu. Then select “Properties”, select “Service” and select “Optimize”. The OS will then prompt you to defragment.

Re-partitioning

In cases where the computer is used for a long time and the hard drive is running at full capacity, you can re-partition. This will help if you have two or more partitions.

This is formatting the disk, and some developers indicate that the hard disk is “cut” again into sectors and tracks.

The ideal option is when the system uses one hard drive with a single volume. A system with two partitions is considered normal. At more– the system will work more slowly, spending time searching necessary files. In this process, the search is carried out across all hard drives one by one. You can use one hard drive to install the OS and software, and record movies and other multimedia files on the other.

Moving files to removable media

A good option is to move unused data to separate media. Often used for this external drives. It is important to choose reliable external HDDs that will differ high speed information processing.

Products can be used not only for storage outdated files, but also in the form of a flash drive. For such purposes, 500 GB will be enough. It connects to the computer via USB interface and is characterized by silent operation.

Disabling startup programs

Availability unnecessary programs in startup significantly slows down the computer and uses its processor and memory. If you disable them, you can increase disk speed and overall system performance.

IN different versions Windows startup control is located in different places. It is most convenient to use the CCleaner utility for this purpose. You need to launch the utility and go to the “Tools/Startup” menu.

In startup you should leave only those programs that are necessary for the computer to operate, for example, antivirus. The remaining components can be disabled using the “Disable” button in the right panel.

Any of the disabled programs can always be started again manually. If the icon will disappear in the system tray, then it can be launched again using the “Enable” button.

Updating the Disk Controller Driver

The stability of the entire system depends on the relevance of the drivers. It is recommended to update drivers to the latest version, especially for SSD drives.

To check the version installed drivers you need to go to “Device Manager”. You need to open the command line, and enter “devmgmt.msc” in it and press “Enter”. Then right-click on SATA controller and select “Properties”.

If you are using an old driver, a new one can be found on the manufacturer’s official website motherboard or laptop, download and update it.

Exist special utilities, which allow you to update drivers. You can select software " Driver Booster", which, when launched, will show a list of drivers that require an update.

This information will help you optimize your hard drive and improve its performance.

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HDDiq.ru

How to speed up your hard drive and your computer in general - the best methods and my personal experience

Greetings, dear readers, Trishkin Denis is here.

Many users want their computers to perform tasks faster than on this moment. You can speed up the information processing process in different ways, one of which is optimization work hard disk. For this purpose, Windows provides a lot of tools and settings. By doing everything described below, you can speed up your hard drive and your computer as a whole.

Methods for optimizing work (to contents)

The Microsoft operating system provides many tools that allow you to speed up the device by a minimal amount.

Here are the main ones:

Disable indexing.

Opting out of journaling.

Cleaning up unnecessary files.

Defragmentation.

Re-partitioning.

Disabling indexing (to content)

This method is only suitable for those who do not use operating system search.

The fact is that the method involves closing the hard drive partition from indexing, which allows it to speed up its operation. For this:

Opting out of journaling (to contents)

By default, the system has a logging function installed, which displays all changes and failures. If you don’t use this system or don’t even know what it is, you can safely disable it.

To do this you need:

Cleaning unnecessary files (to contents)

You can often increase the speed of your hard drive by simply deleting unnecessary documents that are for a long time usually a lot of people gather. You need to understand that the more free space on the hard drive, the faster it finds files, which means its speed is higher.

If we consider this process in more depth, it turns out that the system does not need to search for a long time in its own tables for the address of a piece of information, because in this case it has less similar data than if the partition is completely filled.

That is why it is necessary to remove more often unused files from a computer. If they are important, collect everything together and archive it. This will free up space, and most importantly, now there will be only one address in the main table.

There is a special tool for cleaning disks in Windows 7 and other versions. It is in start-up utilities. This is called “Disk Cleanup”. It looks for unused files in the section and offers to delete them. In this article I described how to delete old windows updates 7 using this tool. You can read it, it will be useful!

increase

In addition, there are a lot of programs that allow us to do the procedure we need. You just have to do a little searching on the Internet.

Defragmentation (to contents)

When new information is written to a device, it may not always be nearby. Individual packages are placed on the free space of the volume. It turns out that after numerous recordings, one file can be scattered throughout the media. Because of this, the system needs to constantly access different sectors. Defragmentation looks for such data and brings it together. In the future, the system will already access neighboring places, and therefore the speed of operation will increase.

Important! This tool will only help if you are using HDD standard disks.

The function is present in many programs that offer computer speedup services.

At the same time, in Microsoft OS, defragmentation can be carried out using built-in capabilities. To do this, you need to select one of the drives in “Computer” and call up the context menu. Next, click “Properties”. Then go to “Service” and click “Optimize”. After this, the OS itself will offer to carry out the above operation.

Re-labeling (to contents)

In the case when you use the computer for a long time and at the same time use the capabilities of the hard drive to its full capacity, sometimes it is worth re-partitioning. This will help if you have two or more partitions.

Thus, you format the disk, and some developers claim that they “cut” the hard disk again into sectors and tracks. But earlier I wrote that these are just “loud words”, because this kind of thing only happens at the manufacturing plant.

It should be noted that it is ideal when one hard drive in the system has a single volume. Two sections are considered normal. If it is more, the system will work longer since the search for the necessary files will be carried out one by one for each one. So, for example, you can allocate one hard drive on which the operating system and programs will be installed, and another for storing films, photos, music and other information.

You can read more about hard drive partitioning methods in this article.

Moving files to removable media (to contents)

Another good option is moving unused documents to a separate medium. External drives are often used for this. Many people call the 2.5" external HDD WD Elements Portable one of the best today. It is distinguished by its quality of performance and data processing speed.

It can be used not only to store old information, but also used as a flash drive. And we can safely say that 500 GB will definitely be enough for these purposes. It connects to the computer via USB. It works silently.

The device is distinguished by its lightness - only 134 g, as well as its matte surface, which allows you to avoid unwanted fingerprints.

Buy to order this external hard disk you can here.

Personal experience (to contents)

On Windows that came out before the seventh version, defragmentation usually made things even worse - the computer worked slower after it. But in the last few operating systems from Microsoft, the algorithm for this tool has clearly changed. Therefore, after carrying out the next process of reuniting files, the difference in a positive direction is clearly visible.

For convenience, I use a program from Auslogics. It contains all the tools that allow you to as soon as possible clean your computer and speed up its operation.

windwix.ru

How to improve hard drive performance - Free-IT-expert

For increase hard performance the disk must be switched to AHCI mode. Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) technology is a standard proposed by by Intel, which allows you to increase the speed of reading/writing operations from hard drives connected via the SATA protocol by using advanced features of SATA technology, such as integrated command queuing (NCQ), in addition, the standard supports the technology hot swap hard drives (hot swap).

The fact is that in your BIOS motherboard It is possible to select the operating modes of your hard drive. Exhibited this parameter in Configure SATA and has 3 operating modes - Standard IDE/AHCI/RAID.

The default is StandardIDE, which means that your hard drive SATA drive will emulate the operation of the IDE, an older and therefore slower interface. Let's change this misunderstanding to AHCI.

Remember: this function, only works when presence of hard disk with SATA interface.

In addition, if you set the AHCI mode when installed windows, then in response when loading windows, You'll get blue screen of death. You can get rid of it in the following way:

1. Open the Registry Editor by typing RegEdit in the Start bar. 2. On UAC request“Do you want to allow the following program to make changes to this computer?”, We answer Yes. 3. In the registry editor, go to the following branch: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\msahci 4. In the right pane, select the Start key and edit it (Modify).

Good day, friends. Today, as you already understood, we will talk about how speed up computer disk , either SSD, HDD or some other one.

But first, a few general words.

In general, over the years of using computer systems, I various levels(oh how I said it! :)), I am increasingly inclined to think that progress has not taken something into account, or rather created, so to speak, a “bottleneck” in productivity, because judge for yourself - over the past few years everything has developed except the hard ones disks and no one was in a hurry to speed up the computer disk in any way.

Frequencies, architecture, cache and, so to speak, turbo-frequency and all sorts of super-sophisticated ones came out (in which all the parameters responsible for performance also swelled in breadth) and only hard disks they just increased their volumes (and reduced energy consumption), which, in general, did not provide any gain in terms of the speed of operation of the system as a whole.

The situation began to improve with the advent of , but the latter have a price that is unaffordable for many, and cheap solutions are a rather controversial approach, because they have a limited work life, are small and in volume, and in general, in terms of speed, they do not always outperform similar solutions of the “old” generation.

How to speed up a computer disk - defragmentation

The fact is that OS Windows loves to use the hard drive in every possible way for various background needs, which, often, are not needed by the average user.

One of these needs, for example, is indexing a disk by the system or a hard drive using the tools built into the system (firstly, the built-in defragmenter is of rather weak quality) on a schedule (secondly, it is better to run defragmentation manually, and not in background while any other work is happening with the disk).

First, let's disable scheduled defragmentation (the settings are relevant for Windows 7 and Windows Vista, because there is no scheduled defragmentation). To do this, right-click on any disk in " My computer" and select the item " Properties". In the window that appears, open the tab " Service"Press buttons" Run defragmentation"and then," Set up a schedule". Uncheck there" Execute on schedule".

Disabling indexing for quick search - optimizing the disk

It’s just that I think that you don’t use this search very often because you know what you have where, and if so, then for rare requests a slow search (not by index, but “live”) will be suitable, but you will save a certain amount of disk performance, which means speed up it and the computer, because the system likes to index it when this setting is enabled.

Do you want to know and be able to do more yourself?

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• To disable, right-click on the first disk in " My computer" and select the item " Properties";
• In the window that appears, on the " tab Are common"we need to uncheck" Allow the contents of files on this drive to be indexed in addition to file properties"and press the button" Apply";
• When prompted to confirm the attribute changes, you will need to select " To drive C:\ (or whatever letter you specify) and to all subfolders and files" and press the button " OK". Next you will need to wait for the attributes to be applied and do the same with all the disks in the system. If suddenly a window appears notifying you that rights are needed Administrator, then press the button " Continue";
• If a window appears about the impossibility of applying attributes, then press the button " Skip All".

In particular, I would recommend experienced users completely disable system restore, because it also likes to access the disk when creating new restore points or monitoring them. For example, I think the recovery system is generally useless, especially since there are such powerful things as Acronis, which I wrote about in the article "".

And finally, for those who own RAID 0 based on Intel raid controllers. I recommend downloading the latest version Intel Rapid Storage Technology(at the time of writing this article version 10.5.0.1022 ), and then install with a tick " Center Installation Intel Management " and launching the panel Intel Rapid(using tray icon) , go to the "tab" Control", where to enable for your RAID 0, so-called " Cache write back ", which will significantly increase the raid's already powerful performance.

With this, perhaps, we can conclude our short article.

Afterword

These are the pies on how to speed up the disk of almost any type of computer.

Also, I wanted to write a few words about file systems ah - NTFS And FAT32, the size of the cluster and other small tricky things from the field of file systems, but, after thinking, I decided to publish this a little later as part of a separate article.

If there are any additions, comments or questions, I will always be happy to answer them in the comments to this post.

The hard drive stores all the files on your computer. The operation of each program and even the operating system itself depends largely on the operation of your hard drive. Therefore, it is important that it is in perfect condition and optimized.

Optimizing your hard drive in Windows 7

Disk optimization is difficult process, which includes several actions. These steps differ depending on whether you are using an SSD drive or an HDD drive.

Advanced Disk Cleanup in Windows 7

The first step in optimizing disk performance should be cleaning it. Temporary files and other garbage accumulate on the disk over time and slow down its performance. To remove them we will use system utility"Disk Cleanup". We do the following:

In addition, you can delete additional files in the "Clean up system files" section. But that's not all. You can access advanced disk cleanup by entering the command at the command prompt. For this:

Disk defragmentation in Windows 7

Defragmentation of the hard drive is the basis for its optimization. If over time your drive begins to work slower than before, and the response when opening files and launching programs has become significantly faster, then your hard drive needs to be defragmented. This process itself consists of moving file fragments towards each other for faster access to them. The need for defragmentation arises when these pieces are active use disk are recorded in different parts of this disk.

During the defragmentation process, all red areas will be nearby, providing fast access to file

Disk defragmentation should be done as needed. Before defragmentation, you should allow the utility to analyze the fragmentation of all partitions and issue a report. If the share of fragmented files is 10% or more, then it is worth defragmenting them, but if it is less than 10%, then you can postpone defragmentation.

By default, automatic defragmentation is enabled in the Windows 7 operating system. It is set to Wednesday and turns on at night. However, depending on your computer work schedule, this may not be enough or the defragmentation process may be interrupted by you. In this case, you need to start it manually. This is done as follows:

It's worth mentioning that defragmentation is quite long process. You may have to wait for several hours.

Video: how to defragment a disk on Windows 7

Optimizing an SSD on Windows 7

If you have an SSD drive, the situation is slightly different. It does not require defragmentation, and the system takes this into account. Automatic defragmentation will not be carried out when using an SSD drive. But in the case of such a drive, there are a number of other actions that can help increase the speed of the disk. And instead of studying SSD setup drive manually, it will be easier to use a special program - SSD Mini Tweaker.

After downloading the program from the Internet and downloading it, do the following:

Complex setup of your SSD drive was produced. Of course, you can configure most of these options yourself, but it will take much more time. And you can also get information about each option that this program changes if you read the help data.

In the help you will find information about all SSD settings

Video: how to configure a system for an SSD using SSD Mini Tweaker

Disk Management utility

To configure the disk, you may need to access Disk Management. With its help, you can change the drive letter, divide the drive into virtual volumes, or, conversely, merge them together, which can be convenient for creating a separate partition for the operating system. In the future, this can help avoid losing important data and provide the opportunity to format the partition without the risk of deleting necessary files.

To interact with the disk, use the context menu: it is called up by pressing right button mice

To open the Disk Management Manager in Windows 7, just call the “Run” menu by pressing the Win + R key combination and enter the command “diskmgmt.msc” there.

Enter the command "diskmgmt.msc" and click "OK"

Actions in the dispatcher itself are performed mainly using the context menu. That is, just select the required disk and call up the menu by clicking the right mouse button.

Hard drive bug fixes

Let's figure out how to solve the most common errors that can occur with your hard drive.

The disk is defined as dynamic foreign (unspecified)

If in the manager you find that the disk is not defined as basic, but as dynamic with the annotation “undefined” or “foreign”, then most likely you will not be able to access the data on this disk.

Dynamic foreign disk will not work properly

You can fix this error using special programs. To fix it we need to convert dynamic disk back to the basic one, and this can be done using demon paid program TestDisk or paid Acronis Disk Director. The capabilities of a paid program, of course, are much wider, and we will use its example to analyze this process. Do the following:

Of course, if the problem occurs on the disk with the operating system installed, you will not be able to access it. The solution here is simple - insert the disk into another computer as an additional one and perform all the actions you need, and then return it to its place when the disk is restored.

Video: working with Acronis Disk Director

Windows 7 has detected a hard drive failure

If, during any check, the system displays a message about problems with the hard drive, the first thing you should do is create a backup copy of the necessary files. While your drive is still functioning, copy all the necessary files from the drive to another drive or upload them to the cloud.

This may help you salvage these files later if the problems get worse. You can determine which disk you have a problem with by carefully studying the error message. The letter designation will be indicated there virtual partition

disk.

At the bottom of the notification you will see a drive letter

• The error could occur for the following reasons: The problems appeared directly with the drive itself. This may be due to physical damage or contamination. In this case, it is recommended to give your drive to service center
• to diagnose and correct problems; problems with the operating system. If certain system files are damaged by viruses, the error may appear on its own without any reason from the disk. In this case, it is recommended to check the system antivirus programs

Regardless of the cause of the problem, the best thing you can do is back up your files in advance. If the error message continues to appear and you want to get rid of it, you can disable the disk diagnostic system. This is done as follows:

Formatting a disk to install the Windows 7 operating system

For more efficient work disk at reinstalling Windows It is recommended to format it, that is, completely clear the disk of files on it. You can format the disk right during Windows installations 7. Be sure to make backup copies of all necessary files, as formatting will completely delete them.

To start formatting: Thus, formatting is carried out quickly and without any special frills. In addition, it is possible to perform formatting using special programs. For example, this option is available in the Acronis Disk Director program mentioned above. The program must be written to disk, and the disk itself must be selected as the boot device. This can be done in Boot menu

BIOS or by pressing the corresponding key when turning on the computer (depending on your BIOS version).

Install CD/DVD as the first Boot device

After the disk with the program is loaded, do the following:

Disk programs

There are many programs that can help you optimize, clean, or do other things with your drives. Let's look at the capabilities of some of them.

CCleaner disk cleaning program Disk cleanup includes deleting temporary files and installed applications at user's choice. Good program cleaning can delete your browser cache and temporary files of various programs, and conduct system diagnostics. And one of best programs

• in this area is CCleaner. This program has the following features:
• automation of system cleaning; completely harmless and safe cleaning
• temporary files, as well as analysis of registry damage and its correction;

works with all popular browsers.

The program's interface is simple and convenient, suitable for beginners who want to regularly clean their computer of junk. In addition, the free version of the program is not reduced in functionality and has the same capabilities as the paid one.

CCleaner will help you configure startup applications, which will also speed up your computer. CCleaner - popular program

for cleaning disks

Hard drive cloning program EaseUS Disk Copy

In this case, cloning means transferring information from one disk to another. This can be extremely useful when reinstalling the system. EaseUS program Disk Copy is great free solution for this task. It is different:

• the ability to work with any operating system;
• support for disks up to terabyte in size;
• high cloning speed;
• simple interface for novice users;
• support for dynamic disks.

In general, it copes well with the task for which it was created, and its only serious disadvantage is the lack of Russian in the program.

EaseUS Disk Copy - disk cloning program

Recovering disk partitions using Starus Partition Recovery

If a hard disk partition is damaged, one of the special recovery programs can help - Starus Partition Recovery. She does this job well. The main features of this program:

• deep disk scanning for damage;
• recovery of partitions that have been damaged or deleted;
• recovery of information on any type of media;
• comprehensive disk analysis.

The program is considered simple and effective among users.

Starus Partition Recovery can restore damaged partitions of your disk

Disk drive emulation program DAEMON Tools

If you are planning to reinstall the system, you cannot do without a flexible tool for creating virtual disks. Program DAEMON Tools Lite or another version of DAEMON Tools will help you create installation disk or do virtual disks. The program also allows you to create several virtual drives immediately and their simultaneous use.

This program is easy to use, but the limitations free version programs are not very noticeable.

DAEMON Tools - a program for creating and using virtual disks

Video: review of the DAEMON Tools Lite program

It's important to know how to configure your hard drive to work efficiently. The disk optimization process is not a one-time process, and actions to improve its performance must be carried out from time to time throughout the life of the device. Now you know how easy and simple it is to improve the performance of your drive with the Windows 7 operating system.