Fix for Error “The Disk Defragmenter is not installed on your computer” in Windows XP

When you attempt to run Disk Defragmenter using the property sheet of a hard disk drive, the following error may occur. We saw how to fix the Disk Defragmenter error using the registry editor in Windows Vista. Here are the instructions for Windows XP systems.

The Disk Defragmenter is not installed on your computer. To install it, double-click the Add or Remove Programs icon in Control Panel, click the Install/Uninstall tab, and then follow the instructions on your screen.

Use one of these methods to solve the problem.

Method 1: Fixing the Defrag Path in the Registry

Click Start, type regedit.exe and press ENTER

Navigate to the following location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ explorer \ MyComputer \ DefragPath

Double-click (default) and set its value data to:

C:\Windows\system32\dfrg.msc %c:

Exit the Registry Editor.

Method 2: Reinstalling the Disk Defragmenter

1. Click Start, Run and type %windir%\INF

2. Locate the file dfrg.inf, right-click and choose Install

Note: There will be two files namely dfrg.inf and dfrg.pnf. You’ll need to right-click on the INF file (identified by a text pad and gear icon in it) and choose Install. Note that the .INF suffix is not shown in Windows Explorer unless the Hide extensions for known file types setting is disabled in Control Panel / Folder Options / View tab.

This reinstalls the Disk Defragmenter.