Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes
In computer systems administration language, defragmentation is a process that reduces the amount of fragmentation in file systems done by physically organizing the contents of the disk to store the pieces of each file close together and contiguously. It mostly attempts to create larger regions of free space to impede the return of fragmentation.
Fragmentation occurs when the operating system cannot or will not allocate enough contiguous space to store a complete file as a unit, but instead puts parts of it in gaps between other files normally gaps created by files that have been deleted or mainly just the allocated excess space. File size and the number of files contribute to fragmentation and consequent performance loss. In order to alleviate these problems, defragmentation must be undertaken.
A defragmentation program moves files around within the free space available to undo fragmentation. This is a memory intensive operation and cannot be performed on a file system with no free space.
A common strategy to optimize defragmentation and to reduce the impact of fragmentation is to partition the hard disk(s) in a way that separates partitions of the file system that experience many more reads than writes from the more volatile zones where files are created and deleted frequently. For partitions with relatively little write activity, defragmentation performance greatly improves after the first defragmentation, since the defragmenter will need to defrag only a small number of new files in the future.
The presence of immovable system files, especially a swap file, can impede defragmentation. These files can be safely moved when the operating system is not in use. However, some defragmentation programs, such as Diskeeper or PerfectDisk (at boot time), are capable of defragmenting these file types.
User and performance issues
In the modern multi-user operating systems, file systems such as NTFS (and most Unix/Linux filesystems) are designed to decrease the likelihood of fragmentation. Improvements in modern hard drives such as RAM cache, faster platter rotation speed, and greater data density reduce the negative impact of fragmentation on system performance to some degree though increases in commonly used data quantities offset those benefits.
The use of disk defragmentation is not recommended on solid-state drives (SSD), as it may reduce the lifespan of the drive. Unlike mechanical hard-drives, solid-state drives do not incur a performance penalty for random file access, so the act of defragmentation generally will not improve overall drive performance.
“Defragging the Windows registry removes gaps (by reducing file sizes and making it faster to access for applications), fragments and wasted space, which can improve system performance where fragmented files are put together thus maximizes your system speed.”
The presence of defragmentation tools on the market enables a quicker and simpler defragmentation of files. Some tools allow you to choose files and folders you want, without having to process the whole drive without struggling with the Windows defragmentation tool.
One of the limitations of the Windows NT/2000 defragmentation interface is that it is not possible to defragment files that are open for exclusive access. Thus, standard defragmentation programs can neither show you how fragmented your paging files or registry hives are, nor defragment them. Paging and registry file fragmentation can be one of the leading causes of performance degradation related to file fragmentation in a system. Given these issues at hand, some defragmentation tools uses advanced techniques that provide the ability for you to see how fragmented your paging files and registry hives are, and defragment them which can also defrag event log files and Windows 2000 hibernation files (where system memory is saved when you hibernate a laptop).
Some programs can defragment drives manually, or fully automatic in the background, keeping your system at peak performance by avoiding build-up of file fragmentation. Defragmentation jobs can also be scheduled, using various criteria. Additional features include status reports, cluster inspector, command line interface, optional MMC integration, boot time defragmentation, special support for mobile systems and more.
The benefit of defragging our system is intangible. I’ve seen it myself and it worked. My PC doesn’t respond quickly to some operations and most of the time hangs-up not until I started defragging my system. I normally defrag my entire hard drive so I don’t escape some files that have big allotted space. Hard disk space is improved tremendously and programs responded so well after defragging consistently. It also helps to check your registry with some programs that correct and fix or even cleans some registry issues although most of which has to be purchased in the market for full performance. Registry cleaners help speed up the process of defragmentation since before hand it already removed the unwanted registry errors.
There are some programs out there that don’t just remove registry errors and cleans them but also permanently removes them from the hard disk (since deleted items normally stays in the hard disk even if you already deleted them from the recycle bin because they are not physically erased). When these junk files are removed, it makes it easier to defrag the system.
Suggested for further reading:
- A Closer Look at WinASO Registry Optimizer Reading time: 2 – 3 minutes I have talked about registry optimizers on this blog on numerous occasions but this time, it’s going to be about a shareware known as WinASO Registry Optimizer (Windows Advanced System Optimizer) developed by XMY LLC. To brush up on our registry software knowledge, these...
- Highly Effective Ways to Optimize PC Speed Made Simple Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes Here in Software Critics, we don’t only care about software but we make sure that your PC is highly optimized to perform your software’s full potential. And how are we going to do this? Simple. Software Critics came up with these highly effective ways...
- How to work with ZDP File Extension Effectively Reading time: 2 – 3 minutes If you haven’t heard of files with a .zdp extension like myself, then let me introduce to you the facts behind File Extension ZDP so you’ll have an idea what’s it all about. I’ve learned about this file extension when I was searching for...
Did you enjoy this article? Please subscribe to Software Critics via RSS or Email to receive all the FREE updates!
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
hey, thanks for commenting in my blog. you have a nice blog here. simple design and informative content. keep up the good work!