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Kymmy · 11-02-2009, 15:00

A HDD stores all your files...these files might be as one chunk of data but could be broken up to fit into spaces left by deleted files... Obviously if a file is in one piece the HDD takes so many milliseconds to find it and then reads it in one continuous sweep. If the file is broken up then each section has to be individually found and then individually read. Defrag tries to sort out your data so that all the files are pieced back together and also placed near beginning of the HDD so faster to access..

If you do a lot of reading from the HDD (for example outlook having a large PST file or a large graphics file or even playing games) defragging your HDD on a regular basis can speed things up..

Personally I defrag once a month and leave it overnight..

11-02-2009, 15:00	#2
Kymmy Inactive Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 18,385	Re: Defrag or not? A HDD stores all your files...these files might be as one chunk of data but could be broken up to fit into spaces left by deleted files... Obviously if a file is in one piece the HDD takes so many milliseconds to find it and then reads it in one continuous sweep. If the file is broken up then each section has to be individually found and then individually read. Defrag tries to sort out your data so that all the files are pieced back together and also placed near beginning of the HDD so faster to access.. If you do a lot of reading from the HDD (for example outlook having a large PST file or a large graphics file or even playing games) defragging your HDD on a regular basis can speed things up.. Personally I defrag once a month and leave it overnight..