What does disk defragmenter really do for your computer?

Answer 1

Over time when Windows stores files over your HDD, it gets stored as non sequential peices scattered across the drive. This is called fragmentation. For Eg:

3 files stored initially
AAAABBBBBCCCC

The second file removed
AAAA-----CCCC

A 4th file saved- as fragments
AAAADDDDDCCCCDD

When the drive is fragmented, the HDD head has to mechanically 'go'to each fragment and read it, increasing the time taken to access the file, which leads to slow opening of programs etc. If this were only for a couple of files, the difference may not be noticed. But the problem with fragmentation is that once it starts, its like a spreading disease which leads to subesquent disarray and slowdowns. In severe cases, it can pose a potential threat to drive health and lead to hangs/freezes etc. The lesser the fragmentation, faster the PC. Imagine if you had to run a marathon with a knee injury, that would be the state of a fragmented drive.

Answer 2

Whenever a file is stored on your hard drive, it goes into the first available area. If it can't all go into the space, it gets split up, and each piece is marked so it can be found later. After awhile, you get many of your files split up into many pieces, so that when the computer needs to call up a file, it has to search for all the pieces. A defragmenter will move file pieces around and put them together in one space on the disk. This makes it easier to find the files and speeds things up. It also reduces the risk of losing parts of files.

Answer 3

When a file is written to disk, Windows starts writing the file to the first available disk cluster (a fixed-length space on the disk). If the file does not all fit in the cluster it has to find another free cluster on the drive and continue the process. When this happens, it makes the process of saving the file slower than if the file fit into contiguous clusters (those that are right next to each other). When a file is broken up like this, it's "fragmented".

Defragmenting or "defragging" takes each file and writes it to a contiguous set of clusters. It can be a long process but once it's done, Windows can read files more quickly and since most of the free disk space is in one place on the drive, writing is faster too.

hth

Answer 4

Reorginizes your files to put them in order, instead of scattered all over your disk drive, so they can be more easily found and quickly read. It also reduces the chance of a file being read incorrectly, thereby preventing crashes and program errors.

Answer 5

organizes your files