Purpose of Disk Defragmenter

@neha-3vibjn • Oct 25, 2024

Oct 25, 2024

2.0K

Start> All Programs> Accessories> System Tools> Disk Defragmenter

What does it actually do?

When Windows writes a file to disk it doesn't just write one big physically continuous area of the disk. Rather, it write discrete chunks called "clusters", and these need not be near each other. If a file contains a lot of clusters that are physically distant from each other, the disk drive has to seek back and forth all over the place to read that file - theoretically taking longer than reading the file whose clusters are all in one continuous stretch.

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Rahul Jamgade

@rahul-yHGH3D • Nov 19, 2006

Hi,

The hard drive is formatted in such a way that you can save data in a form of 512 Bytes chunk. So any file getting copied on machine is copied in small chunks. Files also get deleted from machine as per our needs. When the files are deleted from the hard drive the chunks are made free. When you copy new data on hard disk the free chunks are used to copy teh data which are generally randomly distributed on hard disk due to copy/delete operations of files.

So data is randomly distributed on hard drive. i.e. in fragmented form. Hard drive being mechanical device the for file reading you need to seek diffrent chunks distributed all over hard disk to read any file or data. This eventually slow down the operation of reading or writing of data on hard drive.

The disk is defragmented so that the files get copied in contiguos chunks and can be read in continuation so that less mechanical movement are sone and teh access becomes faster.
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aashima

@aashima-eO93l9 • Nov 20, 2006

Well when we save a particular data on to the memory drive, as said it is saved in clusters which are at some distance from each other and this distance cannot be used to save another file. Moreover, when any of these clusters is then deleted, the space becomes limited and is not feasibly located by the system to save another data.
This results in unnecassary wastage of memory space. Disk defragmentation however reduces the distance between these clusters and makes the remaining space available for future purpose thus increases the system efficiency as well as the available free space.
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desijays

@desijays-2SqnUc • Nov 20, 2006

Neha
Start> All Programs> Accessories> System Tools> Disk Defragmenter

What does it actually do?

When Windows writes a file to disk it doesn't just write one big physically continuous area of the disk. Rather, it write discrete chunks called "clusters", and these need not be near each other. If a file contains a lot of clusters that are physically distant from each other, the disk drive has to seek back and forth all over the place to read that file - theoretically taking longer than reading the file whose clusters are all in one continuous stretch.

Pour Comments..
You seemed to have answered your own question neha. Is there a doubt in what you know or did you just post it just like that.

I'm not trying to be overtly bashful, but is there a reason for your post? just curious...
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Kaustubh Katdare

@thebigk • Nov 20, 2006

desijays
You seemed to have answered your own question neha. Is there a doubt in what you know or did you just post it just like that.

I'm not trying to be overtly bashful, but is there a reason for your post? just curious...
The purpose, I guess, is knowledge sharing. We should welcome more such posts, what say? 😀

-The Big K-
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Neha

@neha-3vibjn • Nov 20, 2006

desijays
You seemed to have answered your own question neha. Is there a doubt in what you know or did you just post it just like that.

I'm not trying to be overtly bashful, but is there a reason for your post? just curious...
As Biggie said, the purpose is knowledge sharing, the thread is good for a section like this and it will definitely increase knowledge level.
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desijays

@desijays-2SqnUc • Nov 21, 2006

Neha
As Biggie said, the purpose is knowledge sharing, the thread is good for a section like this and it will definitely increase knowledge level.
i aint taking a chance refuting that. 😀

My 2 cents on the subject.

Although regular use of the disk defragmenter is necessary in windows box, its not required for a linux box since it uses the ext3 file system... not that it wont help... but isnt that necessary.

on the contrary, for the mac OS, it is not recommended i heard. Im not sure abt this piece of info but i heard so...

A suggestion:

Any defragmenting program is not 100% efficient. It will always leave out a few discrete parts of the hard disk that are not contiguous. But i presume that is enough for most users.

But for perfectionists who want nothing but perfect defragmentation don't use a defragmenting program at all.

A spare hard disk is necessary though.

1) copy all the contents of your fragmented hard disk to your spare.
2) format the fragmented hard disk
3) copy all the data back to the hard disk that was initially fragmented.

This gives 100% defragmentation because on a formatted hard disk the files are arranged contiguously by default.

i sometimes do the above if i have some time to spare. But using a third party program is no less time consuming.
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SudhaKar Arjunan

@sudhakar-iXoJlR • Jan 5, 2007

Orgainze our hard disk and Make a perfect arrangement.

First when ever we store some thing in our hard disk.

The Head will copy and save the msg current where it was.

So there wont be apt orgainized among files.

So the defragmention helps to organize and categorized files.

So that your hardisk would process datas soon.

Note that atleat 25% of hard disk is required to do a disk defragmentation.

Hope so you got it.

Regards,
A.SK...
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emaa

@emaa-GWNDrK • Apr 27, 2007

it really helped me alot in my prject thx 2 all can u plz try 2 speak abt file system?????😁 😁 😁
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dayanandavt

@dayanandavt-oxochS • May 20, 2007

[FONT=&quot]Well,

Whenever we save the data then that will be transferred/copied to harddisk from main memory. Then that data will be organized & loaded to the disk clusters, it may be contiguous or not. But this information will be tracking in another system file i mean to say where else the data is residing (which blocks). So whenever if we do defragmentaion first this file will be verified to ensure whether the blocks of clusters are contiguous or not, if not then it format that portion of the disk & make contiguous with updating that file too about the cluster/block pointers info.

Hi emma,
Wat info do u need in file system....????

- daya[/FONT]
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thin_master

@thin-master-ixHY5m • May 30, 2007

The old defragmenter in windows 98 had a good interface. You can see the defragemention graphically. It was a satisfying experience. But To me no visible performance increase occured after defragmenting, just the mental satisfaction that now my data is arranged and will be fetched faster.
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Ashraf HZ

@Ash • Jul 11, 2007

Oh man, did you sit at the computer staring at small boxes turning red-green-blue for nearly an hour? 😛

But then again, so did I *sigh* Is it okay to recommend free defrag software here?
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mathaias

@mathaias-XgFmkh • Jul 27, 2007

Neha
Start> All Programs> Accessories> System Tools> Disk Defragmenter

What does it actually do?

When Windows writes a file to disk it doesn't just write one big physically continuous area of the disk. Rather, it write discrete chunks called "clusters", and these need not be near each other. If a file contains a lot of clusters that are physically distant from each other, the disk drive has to seek back and forth all over the place to read that file - theoretically taking longer than reading the file whose clusters are all in one continuous stretch.

Pour Comments..
Fragmentation when its severe and sustained can really kill the performance of a computer. This is all the more significant for 'power' users who run a lot of disk intensive programs and on servers where there are potential risks of crashes and boot issues. There are several debates on whether it is a serious maintenance issue. I just read this #-Link-Snipped-# on fragmentation in todays scenario.

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Vector

@vector-yVxfTU • Jul 30, 2007

A SudhaKar
Note that atleat 25% of hard disk is required to do a disk defragmentation.
You do not need 25% free space. 15% is sufficient, and third party defraggers can work in even lower free space conditions, especially if the files to be defragged are relatively small compared to the amount of free space.

File fragmentation occurs when files are arranged in a physically non-contiguous way on the hard drive platter. File modification, deletion and creation resulting in changes in file size causes 'gaps' between existing files so when the OS writes new files, it may put pieces (or fragments) of the new files in these gaps, resulting in the file laid out as multiple fragments on the drive. This increases disk I/O time, and increases wear on the hard drive. FAT was particularly susceptible to fragmentation, and although NTFS handles fragmentation in a better manner, it is still not immune.

So defrag regularly to maintain performance and prolong the life of the drive. These days, defragging is not the headache it used be, since there are excellent third party defraggers (eg Diskeeper) that run automatically once set. Even if you have only the built-in windows defragger, remember to defrag atleast once a week or once every two weeks.;-)
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harddisk_techie

@harddisk-techie-Q8KSyy • Aug 17, 2007

It's essential that an operating system be able to maintain your disks at peak levels of reliability and performance. The WindowsÂ® 2000 operating system does this through a built-in system tool called Disk Defragmenter. Disk Defragmenter was developed through a collaborative effort between Microsoft Corporation and Executive Software International. Read on to learn more about disk fragmentation and defragmentation, and how Disk Defragmenter supports the maintenance of disk efficiency.
Disk Defragmenter works to optimize your disks and keep them running efficiently by:
1.
Locating the fragments of each file throughout the disk.
2.
Copying them contiguously to a new location.
3.
Verifying that the copy is an exact duplicate of the original.
4.
Updating the Master File Table (MFT) so that the new file location is set.
5.
De-allocating the old location and reclassifying it as free space.

#-Link-Snipped-#

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