Defragmenting my laptop?

[mr_lebowski]

3. Windows 10 will do it automatically once the level of fragging gets a certain level

No need to bother running it manually, though you certain CAN if you want to.

And you shouldn't (IMHO) use any other defragger than the one that comes with Windows for that reason ... first of all every other defragger uses the Windows Engine to accomplish the task, so nothing else is actually 'faster'. Secondly, if the alternative defragger uses different algorithms to decide where to put the files on the disc (some have options like 'faster bootup defrag', that sort of thing), what will end up happening is that the built-in Windows auto defrag will eventually kick in ... it will trigger Window Defrag to rearrange and undo most if not all the stuff that other defragger did to your drive anyway.

I would try again but make sure you run the built in disk cleanup utility first, and make sure to click the 'cleanup system files' button straight off, this will add some stuff to the initial list like Windows Update Cleanup, which I def. recommend. Also helpful is deleting all but most recent Restore point, an option on a second tab you only see when you click 'cleanup system files'. Make sure you review you recycle bin first, restore stuff you might need ... but then let the cleanup tool empty your recycle bin. All these actions give the defragger (potentially) a lot less work to do.

I would just resolve to let it finish the job even if takes hours. It's a low-resource process and should not slow down your browsing and such all that much.