Windows 10 is currently the most popular desktop operating system in the world and Microsoft continues to improve it. However, there is a growing perception among users that Windows is not on par with other operating systems and that performance degrades over time. It is true to some extent as it has some underlying issues like disk fragmentation, BSOD and various other Windows specific issues. In this post, I will discuss the fragmentation issue and share some easy steps of defragmentation to make Windows 10 faster. So, before wasting any time, let’s briefly understand what exactly combining is.
What is merge?
To understand consolidation, we must first start with fragmentation. In simple terms, shredding is the process of spreading data across different sectors of the hard disk. It usually happens when there is no contiguous memory block available to store a file. In such cases, the file is split into several pieces of data and spread over different blocks of the hard drive. And Consolidation, you guessed it right, is the process of bringing scattered pieces of data into one place..
Fragmentation shouldn’t be much of an issue if you have plenty of free storage space on your PC. However, when there is a space constraint, it becomes difficult for the hard disk to allocate data in contiguous blocks. The problem gets worse when files are moved, deleted or modified from the hard drive for an extended period of time.
In such cases, the data is spread across different sectors of the hard drive. Essentially, it means hard drive takes a long time to access scattered data It reduces read/write speed and overall performance. For this reason, we must defragment Windows 10 periodically so that the file parts are held closer together. As a result, it will speed up your Windows PC.
Should You Defrag Windows 10?
Of course you should. But Windows 10 automatically defragments the hard disk every week. And the good thing is that it’s on by default. When Windows detects that your PC is idle, it runs a scheduled task in the background that defragments Windows 10. If you want to check when your hard disk was last defragmented, Press Windows and R key at the same time and type dfrgui. Now press enter.
It will open the merge window. Here you can check the details of the last merge. Under the “last run” tag. If Windows 10 is defragmenting the hard disk on schedule, you don’t need to do anything.
keep in mind if you are using a solid state drive (SSD) laptop you should not defrag Windows 10. SSD is built on a different technology than mechanical HDD. SSDs have a limited number of reads/writes and regular defragmentation will further shorten their lifespan. Therefore, you should definitely not defragment Windows 10 if you are using an SSD. To find out the memory storage type, open the Run window again by pressing the Windows and R key. Then type dfrgui and hit enter. Here, Under the “Media type” tagYou will find the necessary information.
Having said that, if you are not satisfied with the scheduled defragmentation or you want to defragment Windows 10 manually, move on to the next section to learn the steps in detail.
Merging Windows 10 in 2020
If you want to defrag Windows 10 manually, there are three different ways to do it. You can choose any of them as you see fit. So without wasting any time, let’s get started.
1. Merge Windows 10 with Built-in Tool
As we already know that there is a built-in tool to unify Windows 10. Here we will learn how to manually analyze the hard disk and then defragment it. You can also configure various settings related to defragmentation. Here are the steps to do that.
1. Open the Run window by pressing the Windows and R keyboard shortcut. Here, type dfrgui and press enter.
2. In this window, select the drive you want to defragment and Click the “Optimize” button. If you want to defrag the entire hard disk, select all the hard drives at once and click the “Optimize” button.
3. Windows will start the defragmentation process. Note that the time to complete the process will depend on how long you have been using your PC. you will get a better idea about it. Degree of fragmentation under the label “Current State”. The lower the better.
4. Also, if you want configure auto join, then click “Change Settings” under Scheduled Optimization. Here you can change the frequency to daily, weekly or monthly. You can also choose specific drives to be automatically defragmented. This is how you can defrag Windows 10 without any third party software.
2. O&O Merge
If you found the built-in Windows Defragmenter tool unreliable, O&O Defrag is a great alternative. It is a popular defragmentation tool for both beginners and advanced users. If you click on “Optimize all”, the defragmentation process will start for all drives. You can also click “Analysis” to get a better idea of fragmentation. The best thing about O&O Defrag is, you can visually understand memory fragmentation via pie charts and Disk Statistics. It also shows the allocated and available memory blocks. Additionally, you get scheduled defragmentation similar to the native tool in Windows 10. All in all, if you are dealing with high volume memory storage with insufficient space, this utility can help you a lot in defragmenting the hard disk.
Install O&O Defrag (FreePremium version with one-time purchase of $29.95)
3. Other Third-Party Integrators
The built-in tool in Windows 10 and O&O Defrag will suffice for you. However, if you’re still looking for an alternative, Defraggler and Auslogics Disk Defrag are two popular options out there. Both utilities are pretty good and do the job well enough. your one One click button to start the merge process.
There are a few mods on Auslogics Disk Defrag that I find interesting. Among many other things, you can run the defragmenter secretly in the background without slowing down your computer. If you are using a hard disk that does not have much space, this mod can help you. fight fragmentation in real time. To summarize, both utilities are pretty good and you can choose one of them if you want to merge Windows 10 seamlessly.
Install Defraggler (FreePremium version with one-time purchase of $24.95
Install Auslogics Disk Defrag (FreePremium version with one-time purchase of $16.47
Unify Windows 10 and Speed Up Your PC
In reviewing the article, we can see that fragmentation is no longer an issue in Windows 10, as automatic defragmentation has become part of the operating system. Still, if you want to defrag Windows 10 manually, you can go ahead and do it. Also, if you want to dive deeper into the sectors of the hard disk, you can use O&O Defrag. If your PC is still slow after defragmentation, you may have a different problem. In such a case, you should try to reset your Windows 10 device and set it up from scratch. But before you do that, remember to create a backup so you don’t lose your data.
