Defragment and Optimize your hard drive in Windows 8

Have you ever opened a filing cabinet and couldn't find the file or folder you were looking for? The same thing can happen to your computer when your hard drive becomes fragmented. To keep all of your files in the right place, optimizing your hard drive regularly is highly recommended. You can do this with Windows 8 built-in hard drive optimizing utility, Defragment and Optimize Drives.

Standard hard drive optimization in Windows 8

1. Go to the Start menu.
   
2. Right-click the Start menu background to bring up the app commands.
3. Select 'All apps'.
4. Scroll to the 'File Explorer' tile and left-click on it.
5. Left-click on 'Computer'.
6. Right-click the hard drive that you want to optimize, and then click 'Properties'.
7. Click the 'Tools' tab, and then, under 'Optimize and defragment drive', click 'Optimize'.
8. Select the drive you want to defrag and click on 'Optimize'.

Or

1. Go to the Start menu.
   
2. Right-click the Start menu background to bring up the app commands.
3. Select 'All apps'.
4. Scroll to the 'Control Panel' tile and left-click on it.
5. On the upper right side of the Control Panel, there is a 'View by:' pull-down menu (the default is Category). Left-click on the arrow to the right and select either 'Large icons' or 'Small icons'.
6. Left-click on 'Administrative Tools'.
7. Double left-click 'Defragment and Optimize Drives'.
8. Select the drive you want to optimize and click on 'Optimize'.

Advanced hard drive optimization in Windows 8

1. Open a Command Prompt with Administrative privileges (click here for instructions)
2. Use the following command-line syntax(s) and parameter(s) to run DEFRAG:

DEFRAG <volumes> | /C | /E <volumes> [<task(s)>] [/H] [/M | [/U] [/V]]

Where <task(s)> is omitted (traditional defrag), or as follows: /A | [/D] [/K] [/L] | /O | /X

Or, to track an operation already in progress on a volume:
DEFRAG <volume> /T