When we launch a PC or format and reinstall Windows, we always notice how everything moves in a more fluid way. However, over time, and as we use it, we tend to notice the system as somewhat slower, especially if we have an HDD instead of an SSD. Therefore, one of the main maintenance tasks of the PC is to defragment the hard disk. The operating system itself has this utility, although we can find better alternatives and even free ones like WinContig .
WinContig is a powerful defragmentation tool that is characterized by being easy to use. Its purpose is to quickly defragment files without having to completely defragment the entire disk. It supports FAT32 and NTFS file systems, as well as HDD and SSD drives.
This defragmenter stands out especially for several things:
- It takes up very little space.
- It does not require installation, so it does not leave residue on the PC or modify the registry.
- It allows to analyze only one or several folders or files individually. This avoids having to fully defragment the hard drive.
- It is fast and offers good results.
- Free and among its languages is Spanish.
- It is compatible with all versions of Microsoft’s operating system from Windows Vista to Windows 10.
By using this program, when trying to eliminate the fragmentation of several directories, it is possible to establish the priority of each and every one of the elements as we are interested, choosing between High, Normal or Low. Next, we are going to see how we can defragment files and folders with this powerful tool.
How to defragment files or folders with WinContig
Once we run the program, its main menu appears completely in Spanish, which makes it quite intuitive to use. To begin with, one of the greatest qualities of this program is that it offers us the possibility of selecting folders or files individually , avoiding having to defragment all of our hard drives. To do this, we have the option of adding the files and folders that we want to defragment.
Thus, to add it, just click on the link “Press to add one or more objects to the list”, which we find in the upper panel. Another efficient way to do this is to use the little “Add” button on the left of the taskbar. From it we can add the files / folders that we want to defragment, being possible to select folders, partitions, hard drives or load a profile easily and simply.
Once we have selected everything that interests us to defragment, click on the Action section where we will have three options available.
- Analyze: if we select this option, WinContig will analyze the selected files or folders and will show us a detailed report.
- Defragment: this option skips the preliminary analysis and goes directly to defragment.
- Error checking: the software is in charge of analyzing the selected elements in search of possible errors that may prevent them from being defragmented.
If we select analyze, in the window of the lower panel it will show us a small summary with the action carried out, as well as the time and the number of contiguous files. It is always advisable to use the “Analyze” option since this is how we see the percentage of defragmentation of that unit, folder or file, being able to check whether or not it is necessary to proceed with the defragmentation.
If we click on “Error checking” , a new floating window appears where we can check the volumes for file system errors. WinContig takes care of exploring volumes using Windows Disk Check. It is important that we check the integrity of the files stored on your disks before we start defragmenting them. We can double click on a disk to see its properties and copy the results to the clipboard if necessary.
Now we only have to click on “Defragment” to start the process. Once finished, a window will appear informing us that the process has been completed. In the event of any errors occurring during the process, we would also be notified.
It also defragments an entire hard drive
Although the most differential feature of WinContig is the ability to defragment files and folders, it also has the ability to defragment entire drives. As we can imagine, it is slower because the program will be in charge of carrying out the entire process in all the elements of the unit , so it will already depend on both the number of files on the system and the speed of our hard disk.
To carry out the work of defragmentation of a complete unit, click on the “Add” tab and select “Add folder” . Once the file explorer appears, we must select the entire unit , for example, C: or D :. Later we click on the “Add” button and finally on “Accept”. It is also important to keep the box to include subfolders checked, otherwise only the main folders and files will be used.
Once our hard drive is included, just click on “Defragment” to start the whole process. Likewise, we can use the options to analyze or perform an error check beforehand. Later, when finished, in the tabs below we can see the total number of fragmented files that we can see in more detail from the “List of fragmented files” tab.
Conclusions. Worth?
WinContig is a very useful software that allows us to defragment specific files and folders without having to apply the process to the entire hard drive. Compared to other similar programs such as Windows defragmenter, O&O Defrag, Diskeeper or JKDefrag, this offers great results, making it a perfect option for its reliability, performance, speed, resource consumption, light weight and simplicity of use. use. In addition, it is free which makes it earn many points in its favor.
Therefore, we are facing a very balanced and recommended tool that should not be missing in our system. Its use is especially recommended for HDDs since SSDs do not benefit from defragmentation and their useful life may be reduced.
WinContig free download
WinContig is a free and portable application so it does not require installation and can be used from any external storage device such as a hard drive or a pendrive. It does not create any installation directory or registry entry on our computer. We can download it directly from the developer’s own website.
Once the compressed file is downloaded, it includes both a 32-bit edition (WinContig.exe) and a 64-bit edition (WinContig64.exe), with a total weight of only 1.5 MB. Currently its latest version available is 3.0.0.1, being compatible with Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10.
Other alternatives to defragment hard drives
If we are looking for a program with which to defragment hard drives and SSD drives, we suggest some alternatives to WinContig that may be of interest to you:
IObit Smart Defrag
This program allows you to defragment any hard drive on your computer, thereby optimizing the performance of your computer. For a faster defragmentation speed, it has a multi-threaded defragmentation engine, allowing access to all the data more quickly. In addition, it allows scheduled tasks, so that we do not have to be in front of the PC during the process. The program has a free version that we can download from this link to the developers’ website .
Defraggler
It is a very easy-to-use and free tool for Windows users. With it we can not only analyze and defragment hard drives in full, but it also allows us to directly select files and folders, being able to defragment only what interests us. The software will inform us of all the fragmented files and we can know the statistics of the hard drive. We can download it from this link to its main website .