Which First? Defrag or Clean-Up?

[DorotheaDenise]

Hello All! 
I have a Dell Inspiron 8600, with 512 MB Ram, 585Mz, 55.8 GB storage.  It's a workhorse, but the memory is running low, the internet and some programs taking forever to load.    I've already gone through and deleted what unwanted programs I could see, What is the best way to go from here to continue with maintenance....which should I run first, the disk defrag or the disk clean up. 

Thank God for the Internet!!!
Appreciate your help! 

[2x3i5x]

I would run the disk cleanup first. And then run the disk defrag second.

[DorotheaDenise]

Thanks...I'll try it and let you know how it goes.

[harry 48]

http://www.iobit.com/iobitsmartdefrag.html


go to above download and use its easy but could take 3 hours


also download below and use take out everything it shows it will clean your pc


http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/

[Karnac]

http://evilfantasy.wordpress.com/2008/05/24/slow-computer-it-may-not-be-malware/

[2x3i5x]

http://www.iobit.com/iobitsmartdefrag.html


go to above download and use its easy but could take 3 hours


also download below and use take out everything it shows it will clean your pc


http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/

if defragment process using the iobit smart defrag takes long or will take long, you can have the software automatically shut down pc when it has finished its job 

[harry 48]

if defragment process using the iobit smart defrag takes long or will take long, you can have the software automatically shut down pc when it has finished its job 

i know but i like to look at all the little colors changing

[2x3i5x]

I meant, if original poster (DorotheaDenise) does not feel like sitting there waiting for process to finish or something, having the software autoshut down pc can solve that problem 

But yeah looking at the changing color blocks is quite addicting at times, why M$ replaced it with a nondescript spinning circle in Vista's defragmenter is not cool at all, even with simplicity intended 

[Aztec]

To the OP: Definitely, disk cleanup first. No point in defragging temp files that are destined for removal anyway.

Also, if you have not defragged in a long time, and have nearly filled up the drive, it is likely that the master file table and/or paging file are fragmented. Unfortunately, the native windows defragger cannot process these two files. You can use the free trial versions (work for 30 days) of the commercial defrag utilities for this. I use Diskeeper 2009 Pro (full, paid version) on my XP systems and recommend that; it's fast and powerful. Best thing about it is, it's install and forget- highly convenient yet effective.

I would also strongly suggest that before the defrag, you run chksk /r once if you've not done so in a long time. It might take a while, but let it complete.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315265

[harry 48]

To the OP: Definitely, disk cleanup first. No point in defragging temp files that are destined for removal anyway.

Also, if you have not defragged in a long time, and have nearly filled up the drive, it is likely that the master file table and/or paging file are fragmented. Unfortunately, the native windows defragger cannot process these two files. You can use the free trial versions (work for 30 days) of the commercial defrag utilities for this. I use Diskeeper 2009 Pro (full, paid version) on my XP systems and recommend that; it's fast and powerful. Best thing about it is, it's install and forget- highly convenient yet effective.

I would also strongly suggest that before the defrag, you run chksk /r once if you've not done so in a long time. It might take a while, but let it complete.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315265[/color]



that is why i said download smartdefrag it's good

[soybean]

Uh, harry48, you put your comment inside the quote box, which makes it look like your comment was part of the quote of Aztec. You know how to edit your post and make it look right?

[2x3i5x]

Uh, harry48, you put your comment inside the quote box, which makes it look like your comment was part of the quote of Aztec. You know how to edit your post and make it look right?

did you have the [/quote]  before your own comment?

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

You may want to check my guide out too:
http://www.computerhope.com/forum/index.php/topic,62253.0.html