Most users have heard about the concept of defragmentation and know that it is recommended to perform it regularly, but for some reason they look at the need for such a procedure through the fingers, completely not understanding what the disk defragmentation on Windows computers gives. In this regard, it is necessary to explain what such processes are, how they work, how often you need (or do not) to perform these actions, and what tools are best used.
What is disk defragmentation, and why is it needed in Windows: introduction
First, we give basic theoretical information regarding the general provisions. If anyone does not know, all the files on the hard drive are not stored as solid objects or in one location, as is usually presented in the "Explorer". Such a display is accepted only for the convenience of user access to the necessary files. But on the hard drive, the file structure is presented in a completely different way. All files are divided into parts (fragments) that can be recorded in different places (on different tracks or even different plates). Each program can correspond to more than one file, not to mention the many of its individual fragments into which it is divided. Thus, in order to run the application or open some kind of file, the system needs to assemble all parts together.
But for this, if parts of the files are scattered throughout the disk, the system has to rush about in search of the necessary components, and mechanical actions are performed related to moving the read head of the hard drive over the surface. It is obvious that the constant load on the hard drive not only increases the search time for the necessary file fragments, but also shortens the life of the hard drive itself.
So what is hard disk defragmentation, and why is it needed? Apparently, many have already guessed that defragmentation just means the process of organizing fragments of files with moving them to areas where they would always be “at hand”. First of all, this applies exclusively to those files that are used most often. In addition, the system does not need to constantly search for files moving around the entire disk, but just go to a specific place where they were placed.
How does file organizing work?
What is disk defragmentation, and why is it needed in practical terms, is most easily understood on the basis of the proposed simple example. Imagine that you went to the library.
Books on bookshelves are in a specific order (for example, alphabetically sorted by title, author, genre, etc.). It is clear that in search of the necessary literature you will immediately come to that rack that exactly corresponds to the possible location of the book requested by you. But what if all the shelves suddenly fell, and the books were on the floor? How long will you look for what you need? The same situation is on the hard drive. An analogy can be made as follows. Suppose a program is an author, his books are files, the names of books by one author are fragments. To get an idea of the writer's work (collected works), you will need to collect all his books together. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand what gives disk defragmentation. This process also allows you to combine program files in one location, so that you can select the desired file and fragment for quick launch.
What gives a defragmentation of a hard disk in practice?
The above example is the easiest to understand defragmentation processes, however, in practice, everything looks much more complicated, although there is some analogy. But let's see what gives disk defragmentation, based on the needs of an ordinary user. Operations performed during the defragmentation process are not limited to organizing file structures.
It is often recommended that defragmentation be performed for the reason that the frequently used files are moved to the fastest areas of the hard drive, which not only accelerates the launch of applications or opening documents, but also extends the life of the hard drive, because it takes less time to find the necessary file, and all mechanical actions associated with moving the reading head over the surface are also minimized (in this case, the user can be compared with a reader that requires trachivat less energy to find the right book). All together, it allows to achieve and increase the productivity of the entire computer system (and even regarding the loading of the OS).
Do I need to defragment solid state drives?
Recently, the latest models of hard drives in the form of SSD standard solid-state drives have become increasingly popular.
Therefore, it’s worth separately saying a few words about what the disk defragmentation provides for such media. A paradox, but absolutely nothing! This will not affect the performance of a computer system in any way, and defragmentation is contraindicated for some devices of this class in general! Therefore, if your SSD is installed on your computer or laptop, defragmentation is not necessary at all, especially since the whole process takes a lot of time and, depending on the total volume of all partitions, can take several hours, and the device itself already has a high speed of reading and writing information.
How to defragment using Windows?
To fully appreciate what disk defragmentation provides, on Windows 7 or any similar system of this family you need to perform it, after which you can judge the performance increase in your computer.
In all OSs, in order not to wander in the wilds of system tools, you can use the standard "Explorer" for this, where through the PCM menu on the selected drive or partition you need to go to the properties, and then click the optimization button on the service tab. In the window that appears, select the necessary sections, and then click the start button for the defragmentation process.
Note: you do not need to perform analysis, since it is only required if you defragment the medium periodically, but at the moment you just want to know the degree of fragmentation. When you start the process for the first time or after a long break, a status analysis will still be performed automatically. You can monitor the process in real time using a special diagram in the center of the window, where different fragments correspond to squares of different colors. At the same time, both the place, the analysis of which is currently being performed, and the general view corresponding to the ordering of the file structure are indicated.
Third party programs
For some reason, many users do not like the means of the system. In most cases, this applies only to the exorbitant duration of the process. Therefore, users prefer to use similar narrowly targeted software products from third-party developers. Almost all utilities of this class work approximately the same, although the methods and end results can vary quite a lot. This is due to the fact that in some programs you can independently configure process options that can be applied to ordering, for example, components of user programs or background applications, large files or free space. But in use, they really look simpler and faster.
One of the most interesting programs is the SmartDefrag utility from iObit. It is not always advisable to set custom settings in it, but you can even use those that are offered by choice by default. In practical terms, this program (according to the most conservative estimates) runs twice as fast as a similar tool in Windows systems.
How often do you need to defragment?
What gives disk defragmentation, in general terms, should be clear. But all users are interested in how often to perform such actions. It is generally accepted that with active everyday use of a computer with creating, deleting and saving information, installing and uninstalling programs, or with constant Internet surfing, you need to perform defragmentation at least once a week. If the computer is not used often, the period can be extended to one month. But you need to perform such operations in any case, since the same Windows systems constantly install all kinds of updates, which is equivalent to installing new programs, and update files can also be scattered throughout the disk. For SSDs, as mentioned above, this maintenance is not required.
Schedule Setting
It remains to add that both the "native" Windows tool and third-party defragmenter applications provide the ability to configure the schedule.
Such processes can be automated, however, consideration should also be given to setting the time to perform maintenance. It is best to set the time period when the computer is in a state of inactivity (you are not working for it). Some set options to start defragmentation at system startup. But this is far from the most rational solution, since the system will slow down, and during the maintenance process no other actions related to changing, creating or deleting files and programs are strongly recommended, since the process itself, in a sense, will go down the drain. Yes, and constant use of the hard drive also does not add to its longevity.