If you are working with a large number of files, you could experience a significant amount of lag time as programs open and data is retrieved. Since the advent of SSDs and cloud storage, disk fragmentation has become less of an issue, but there are still a few instances where it can be problematic. The result is that the computer’s operating system can more easily locate files and programs, and booting operations are more efficient. Many third-party utilities exist to help you defragment your hard drive - but what are they, why do you need them, and how often should you defrag?ĭefragging is the process of rearranging files on a computer’s hard drive so that sections of the drive (called “fragment” areas) are consolidated together. This problem is known as “fragmentation” or “disk fragmentation,” and it can slow down almost any computer.Īs you use your computer over time, more and more files get scattered about, making it take longer to access things like photos or word documents. This increases the time it takes for your computer to locate specific files because they’re not accessible in contiguous locations. Over time, as new files are added and existing ones read and written to, these fragments get scattered across the disk.

Fragmentation occurs when files are stored in non-continuous blocks on a disk. In the early days of personal computing, disk fragmentation was a serious problem.

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