Editing Shrinking Windows partitions for installing Linux (section)

= Defragmenting the partition =
You will need to defragment an SSD to allow Windows to shrink the disk. Windows does do automatic optimization of SSDs, but not defragmenting as it generally decreases lifespan but only by a bit each time. '''You'll only be defragmenting once in a long while (to install Linux), so it's fine.'''

# Install UltraDefrag (the open source version) here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/ultradefrag/files/stable-release/7.1.4/ (you will want to click on <code>ultradefrag-7.1.4.bin.amd64.exe</code>, as amd64 means a 64-bit system, and the .exe file lets you run the program without any extra steps.)
# The best solution I've found is to run it once with "Full Optimization", then once with "Defragment".
# You will be able to find these at the top of the UltraDefrag window with these icons:[[File:Screenshot 20211009 122050.png|none|thumb|Screenshot describing the types of optimization and descriptions in the UltraDefrag window. See Licensing notes below for the license of this image.]]
# It usually takes an hour on a heavily-fragmented 256GB SSD.
# You might not be able to shrink all of your free space on Windows, but you will usually be able to shrink about 80-90% of it.
# After it's done, follow the steps under "Shrinking the partition" below.