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Dear IT Guy,
My friend was telling me some ways to make my computer faster. He seemed shocked that I never ‘defragged’ it before. What is defragging? Will it hurt my files? I am usually scared of doing high level stuff with it
Unrulynunfragged
Dear Unruly,
The first thing I want you to do, is look right at your computer and tell it you’re not scared of it. While being wary of things you do not understand on your computer is generally good practice. Being scared of your computer just stops you from using it to its full potential. Microsoft would never make Disk Defragmenter so easily accessible (start->programs->accessories->system tools->Disk Defragmenter) if it was something dangerous.
First, let’s cover the basics. Disk Defragmenter is a program that has been shipped as a part of Windows since Windows 95. It is designed to increase access speed by rearranging files stored on the hard disk. This increases access speed because it minimizes head travel time across empty space on the physical hard disk.
A good way to visualize a hard drive is thousands of tiny blocks. The size of the blocks does not matter but it is a consistent size across the drive. Fragmentation occurs when the operating system does not allocate enough free space to store a complete file as a unit. This is normally because one or more blocks formerly held a file, or files and they have been since deleted. This is sort of a vicious cycle. As you save and then delete more files you create more spaces. When the OS tries to store files in these smaller spaces then it needs to break them up and separate them across the hard drive. Consider this example:
You have a blank disk. On that disk, you save 5 different files, each of which takes one block of space. You then delete one of the files. This causes files #6 to be saved in that empty space. However, file #6 does not take a full block of space so file #7 starts in that empty space but gets pushed into free space past file #5. Thus, you create fragmentation.
So finally let’s talk about different kinds of defragmentation tools. For most users the Disk Defragmenter that ships with Windows is fine. If you are one of those user’s that want to get the most out of their machine maybe you should invest in a 3rd party defragment tool. Personally, I use a program called Smart Defrag by IObit. Firstly, and most importantly, it is free. But, it is also very easy to use and works rather quickly. You can easily schedule your defrags so you will not forget. And, of course, it does a great job.
Hopefully we here at It’s Geektime have again shed light on all your PC problems. If you have any questions in the future please feel free to let us know. Finally, remember, when you’re scared and feeling technically unsure. Never fear, IT guy is here!!!
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