Defragment - what is it?
If your computer slows down over time, defragmenting your hard drive can help. But what is that actually? We'll tell you in our practical tip.
Defragment: Tidy up the hard disk
- Your computer stores files in the form of data blocks of the same size (fragments) on the hard disk.
- Large files, such as videos, consist of many, smaller files of fewer blocks.
- Your hard disk arranges these blocks in the reading direction, that means - figuratively speaking - from left to right.
- When you delete a file, there are gaps between occupied blocks that can be reassigned.
- If you now save a file that is larger than the first "gap", your PC divides the file into several free, unrelated blocks. One speaks of fragmentation.
- The same happens if you edit a document, for example a text file, after a while: the file gets larger and your PC saves the additional data in the next free blocks.
- The fragmentation affects the reading speed of your hard disk because your PC has to "search" the fragmented files.
- When defragmenting, the individual blocks are re-sorted, logically related blocks are arranged one after the other.
Defragment hard disk under Windows 7 and 8
If your PC takes a long time to open files and programs, defragmenting the hard drive can help.
- Start the Explorer (My Computer) and switch to "This PC" or "Computer".
- Right click on the hard drive you want to defragment and select "Properties".
- Under the "Tools" tab, click "Defragment Now" (Windows 7) or "Optimize" (Windows 8).
- In Windows 7 click on "Defragment disk", in Windows 8 the process is called "Optimize".
Please note that defragmentation is particularly useful for ordinary HDD hard drives. Read in the next practical tip whether and when defragmentation of SSDs is necessary.