What is defragmentation?

Answer 1

In the context of administering computer systems, defragmentation (or defragging) is a process that eliminates fragmentation in file systems. It does this by physically reorganizing the contents of the disk in order to store the pieces of each file close together and in order (contiguously). It also attempts to create large regions of free space using compaction, to impede the return of fragmentation.

Answer 2

I will attempt to explain it well.

Your harddrive, the disk inside your computer that saves all your Data, is separated into sectors. Files actually have a sort of physical address on the harddrive. When you start putting files on a harddrive (or partitioned - seperated - volume). It starts at the bottom and fills up.

Now, let's say you delete a file. Then a part in the middle is empty. You move somehting there, but it doesn't fit exactly. Also, files get moved around in your files structure (how you see them in windows epxlorer)... further and further from related files.

Eventually, when you try to run a program, the files it needs are all scattered and fragmented all over the harddrive so much so that reading them is slowed down.

That is why you need to Defragment a harddrive every so often (depending on the activity). The Windows Disk Defragmenter (under Accessories > Sytem Tools) actually gives you a graphical representation of how fragmented your drive is.

Answer 3

Disk defragmentation is a process of reorganizing the data stored on your hard drive.

A hard disk becomes fragmented because we are constantly adding and removing programs; saving and deleting files; downloading and deleting cookies and temporary files; and so forth. This stuff gets stored in a particular, orderly sequence, but over time things just get spaced out and disorderly due to the nature of adding and deleting/removing.

Defragmentation optimizes the space and filing system on your hard drive so your computing process becomes more efficient and orderly.

You should defragment regularly. Depending on your computer usage. I do it about once every three months.

Answer 4

On a disk drive the data in files are written one after another. So if you have two documents, one containing "abc" and the other one containing "123" so after saving the files on the disk drive you will have

abc123

but let's say that you want to add "d" to the first document, you open it again, add "d" and save it, now on the disk things will look like this

abc123d

It doesn't write "d" at the end of the first document because that space is already taken by the second document, so it writes it at the first available space.
The file system is designed in such manner that it will find all the pieces that make up a file when you need to open it, but of course, finding them takes more time than if they were continuous.
Defragmentation is the process of putting all these pieces together so programs will run faster and files to be open faster.

Answer 5

The process of rewriting parts of a file to contiguous sectors on a hard disk to increase the speed of access and retrieval. When files are updated, the computer tends to save these updates on the largest continuous space on the hard disk, which is often on a different sector than the other parts of the file. When files are thus fragmented, the computer must search the hard disk each time the file is opened to find all of the file's parts, which slows down response time.

Answer 6

Defragmentation is when your computer takes all the jumbled information on your pc and neatly organizes it to save space on the hard drive.

Answer 7

Also helps speed up time opening Programs.

You should defragment at least 3 time a month. Or every week. The More the better but it does take some time. So i suggest start it and let it run it's course over night

Answer 8

when you save a file in Windows, Windows might save half the file(which is 64 megabytes) at the beginning of the hard disk and half at the end. This is to save space.

However, when you try to read the file, it takes longer for Windows to read it because it has to spin the hard disk to the beginning then spin the hard disk to the end. By defragmenting it, Windows will put the first half in front of the first half so windows only has to spin the disk to the end and then read in 64 mb instead of spinning to the beginning reading 32 mb and then spinning to the end and reading 32 mb.

Answer 9

To reorganize (a computer file) to eliminate fragmentation.

(Speeds up accessing files so the hard drive head does not constantly move back and forth.)

Answer 10

The upper questions are all bullshit.....

Here is a simple answer....

Once u defragment all the files in ur Hard disk are arranged in a specific order......Originlly they are not in any order......so The speed of ur computer increases.....

If u like my answer plz put it as the best answer thanks....