Which of the following best describes disk defragmentation?

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Unless you’re using an SSD, your system will eventually suffer from performance loss when the data stored on your hard drive becomes fragmented. There’s no reason to worry when this happens – defragging your hard drive is a simple fix.

Hard disk drives fragment data because they are random by nature. Consisting of an actuator, platter, spindle, actuator arm, and read/write head (among other parts), hard drives work by storing and seeking out information on a rotating disk.

When data is written (stored), it’s written to the first empty portion of the drive that the write head can access. When a hard disk drive has written a significant amount of data, the empty portions become rarer. It becomes harder and harder for the drive to find all the information or programs you want it to access in a timely manner. By defragmenting your hard drive, you are asking the computer to consolidate the information in one area of the drive. This will allow the drive to find information faster and find open portions to write new information faster.

The best way to defrag your hard drive is to use the Microsoft® Windows® Disk Defragmenter utility. Follow these quick steps to defrag your hard drive.

Method 1: Allow Disk Defragmenter to run automatically

Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista®, and Widows 10 are built with an updated Disk Defragmenter utility, which automatically performs periodic defrags. Unless you need to perform a manual defrag, you don’t have to do anything – just let it run!

If you want to change when Disk Defragmenter runs, follow these steps:

1. Click the Start menu or Windows button
2. Select Control Panel, then System and Security
3. Under Administrative Tools, click Defragment your hard drive
4. Click Configure schedule…
5. Select the schedule you want. Pick a date and time that the computer will be on but no one is typically using it. The computer can be asleep.
6. Click OK

To determine if the disk needs to be defragmented or not, click Analyze disk.

 If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

Once Windows is finished analyzing the disk, you can check the percentage of fragmentation on the disk in the Last Run column. If the number is above 10%, you should defragment the disk.

Click Defragment disk. 

 If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

Disk Defragmenter might take from several minutes to a few hours to finish, depending on the size and degree of fragmentation of your hard disk. You can still use your computer during the defragmentation process.

Notes: 

• If the disk is already in exclusive use by another program or is formatted using a file system other than NTFS file system, FAT, or FAT32, it can't be defragmented.

• Network locations can't be defragmented.

• If a disk that you're expecting to see under Current status is not showing up there, it might be because it contains an error. Try to repair the disk first, then return to Disk Defragmenter to try again.

Join the discussion

Defragmentation is the process of consolidating fragmented files on the user's hard drive. Files become fragmented when data is written to disk, and there is not enough contiguous space to hold the complete file. Storage algorithms break the data apart so that it will fit into the available space.The process of defragmentation moves the data blocks on the hard drive around to bring all the parts of a file together. Defragmentation reduces file system fragmentation, increasing the efficiency of data retrieval and thereby improving the overall performance of the computer. At the same time, it cleans the storage and provides additional storage capacity.

Defragmentation is the opposite of fragmentation, which is an inefficient use of computer storage.

Fragmentation occurs gradually as users change, save, or delete files. The saved modifications for a file are usually stored at a hard drive location that is different from that of the original file. Supplementary modifications are stored to even more locations. Gradually, both the file and the hard drive become fragmented, and the computer becomes very slow as it needs to search in various places to open a file.Windows-based computers require periodic defragmentation; Unix and Linux-based computers do not because of a different design for storing data, even if the same hardware is used. Microsoft Windows provides a proprietary defragmenting tool within its OS. Third-party versions also are available.Back-end processes such as reading and writing storage media are always invisible to users, who are unable to continuously defragment storage devices because of the impact this has on a system's rhythm.

Defragmentation tools were introduced to eliminate this issue and are preinstalled in different versions of the Windows OS. These built-in defragmenters rearrange the hard drive data and reunite the fragmented files, which helps the computer to run more efficiently. A hard drive uses automatic schedulers for periodic defragmentation. In addition, users may use tools for storage media defragmentation, such as:

• Microsoft Windows 98: This OS contains a built-in defragmentation tool available via the system’s Tools menu.
• Microsoft Windows NT: This OS was released without a defragmenter tool because its new technology file system (NTFS) was designed for automatic system defragmentation. However, third-party defragmentation tools are often used.
• Microsoft Windows 2000: This OS is equipped with defragmentation tools, which are more efficient than those found in earlier Windows operating systems.
• Microsoft Windows XP and Windows 7: These operating systems contain default disk defragmentation tools.

Techniques to reduce defragmentation include partitioning and optimization, which allow users to create logical OS hard drives. Programs such as Internet Explorer and databases should be partitioned separately to reduce potential storage media fragmentation.

Synonyms

Defragmenter, Defragment, Defrag, disk defrag

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