Very dumb question but...

[Anon]

...I would like to know what Defragmenting one's HD actually does...I know it helps performance but how? heheh...thanks

 

[A.B.Normal]

It puts all the parts of associated data next to one another.Commonly when data is stored/changed its (bits) are placed wherever available space can be found ,fragmenting it,this FRAGMENTATION can be fixed by defragmenting the drive.

 

[Kawaii]

Yep. I get the problem a lot 'cause i'm constantly downloading stuff off ABC and DC... I fill my HD every week or so. Bleh. Gotta format soon.

 

[catocom]

What A.B. said..., but
there are also defraggers that will optimize the swap (virtual memory)
space and that also help with the speed. (in some vers. of windows)
It seems to me that it's not quite as noticeable on the 7200rpm drives
as mush as the 5400 or slower drives, unless they are Really fragmented.

 

[Inkara1]

The reason fragmentation can slow things down is because the hard drive has to get data, then move the heads to the next bit of data, get that data, then move the heads to the next bit of data, and so on. If all the data is next to each other, you don't have to wait for the heads to move back and forth.

 

[Mirlyn]

If you have XP, it'll do something similar automatically on reboots.

Otherwise, check out Bootvis (again, XP-only).