Should I Scan and Defrag (2003 XP Home)

[obillo]

I've been told many times that it's a waste of time. OK, but my system is
really dragging its feet these days, and maybe bad housekeeping is the cause?
Here's what happens w/annoying frequency:

1. In Word and Outlook both I sometimes find myself typing ahead of the
cursor--I actually have to pause and let the machinery catch up,. . and I
type with only 2 fingers!
2. There are frequent stalls or hangups--I'll click NEW to start a new
e-mail and I'll get stuck halfway between Word and Outlook. A partial e-mail
blank appears but can't be used until the system 'clears its throat.'
3. I'll start up in the morning only to be delayed by message saying
"Personal Folders not closed properly, must check for problems.' The checkup
this morning took five minutes. And I always follow S.O.P. when shutting down
for the night.
4. Delays in switching from one folder to another in Outlook, or from
Outlook to Word and back.
By the way--all I do on my machine is write text and e-mails. Nothing fancy.
No games, no spreadsheets.

Any and all help will be appreciated. Step-by-step instructions, please.

 

[Mo]

You can try disc clean-up and then defragmenting, it can't hurt and maybe
will help. Go to accessories and system tools. You'll see disc clean-up (all
files) then open disc defragmenter and see what the scan shows. Maybe you
need it then defragment away!

 

[grammatim]

If you ask it to scan, then when it tells you you need to defrag it
goes ahead and repeats the scan anyway, so you should just click
defrag the first time, and if the scan shows it doesn't need to
defrag, it won't do it. Warning: defragmenting can take a long time
(but it's fun to watch the different bars move around and recombine
and eventually merge into one).