What is defragmentation and how to defragment a hard drive. Disk defragmentation: all typical questions from A to Z

Good morning! Whether you want it or not, in order for the computer to work faster, you need to spend time from time to time preventive actions(clean it of temporary and junk files, defragment it).

In general, I can say that most users very rarely carry out defragmentation, and in general, do not pay due attention to it (either out of ignorance, or simply because of laziness)…

Meanwhile, by doing it regularly, you can not only speed up your computer a little, but also increase the service life of the disk! Since there are always a lot of questions regarding defragmentation, in this article I will try to collect all the main things that I myself encounter quite often. So …

FAQ. Questions about defragmentation: why do it, how often, etc.

1) What is defragmentation, what is the process? Why do it?

All files on your disk, while being written to it, are written sequentially in pieces onto its surface, often called clusters (many have probably already heard this word). So that's it for now HDD empty, then clusters of a file can be nearby, but when there is more and more information, the scattering of these pieces of one file also grows.

Because of this, when accessing such a file, your disk has to spend more time reading the information. By the way, this scattering of pieces is called fragmentation.

Defragmentation is aimed precisely at collecting these pieces compactly in one place. As a result, the speed of your disk and, accordingly, the computer as a whole increases. If you have not defragmented for a long time, this may affect the performance of your PC, for example, when opening some files or folders, it will begin to “think” for a while...

2) How often should you defragment the disk?

Enough frequently asked question, but it’s difficult to give a definite answer. It all depends on how often you use your computer, how it is used, what drives it uses, what file system it has. In Windows 7 (and higher), by the way, there is a good analyzer that will tell you what to do defragmentation , or not (there are also separate special utilities that can analyze and notify you in time that it’s time... But about such utilities - below in the article).

To do this you need to go to control Panel, enter “defragmentation” in the search bar, and Windows will find the desired link (see screenshot below).

3) Do I need to defragment solid states? SSD drive And?

No need! And even Windows itself (at least new Windows 10, in Windows 7 - this can be done) disables the analysis and defragmentation button for such disks.

The fact is that an SSD disk has a limited number of write cycles. This means that with each defragmentation, you reduce the life of your disk. In addition, SSD drives do not have mechanics, and after defragmenting, you will not notice any increase in operating speed.

4) Do I need to defragment the disk if it has an NTFS file system?

In fact, there is an opinion that the NTFS file system practically does not need defragmentation. This is not entirely true, although it is partly true. It’s just that this file system is designed in such a way that defragmenting a hard drive under its control is required much less frequently.

In addition, the speed of operation does not drop as much due to strong fragmentation as if it were on FAT (FAT 32).

5) Is it necessary to clean the disk of junk files before defragmentation?

If you clean up the disk before defragmenting, then:

• speed up the process itself (after all, you will have to work with fewer files, which means the process will complete earlier);
• you will do more fast work Windows.

6) How to defragment a disk?

It is advisable (but not necessary!) to install a separate special. a utility that will deal with this process (about such utilities below in the article). Firstly, it will do it faster than the utility built into Windows, and secondly, some utilities can defragment automatically, without distracting you from your work (for example, you started watching a movie, the utility, without disturbing you, defragmented the disk at this time).

But, in principle, even the standard one, built into Windows program, does defragmentation quite well (although it does not have some of the “goodies” that third-party developers have).

7) Should I defragment a disk other than the system disk (i.e., the one on which Windows is not installed)?

Good question! It all depends again on how you use this disk. If you only store movies and music on it, then there is not much point in defragmenting it.

It's another matter if you install, say, games on this disk - and during the game, some files are loaded. In this case, the game may even begin to slow down if the disk does not respond to it in time. As it should be, with this option, it is advisable to defragment such a disk!

How to defragment a disk - step by step steps

By the way, there are universal programs (I would call them “harvesters”) that can carry out complex actions to clean your PC of junk, remove erroneous registry entries, configure your Windows OS and perform defragmentation (for maximum speed!). You can talk about one of them .

1) Cleaning the disk from debris

Windows cleaning programs -

For example, I can recommend CCleaner. Firstly, it is free, and secondly, it is very easy to use and there is nothing superfluous in it. All that is required from the user is to click the analyze button, and then clean the disk from the found garbage (screen below).

2) Removing unnecessary files and programs

By the way, it is advisable to remove programs through special utilities: (by the way, you can use the same CCleaner utility - it also has a tab for removing programs).

At worst, you can use the standard utility built into Windows (to open it, use the control panel, see the screenshot below).

3) Start defragmentation

Let's consider running the disk defragmenter built into Windows (since by default it eats me of everyone who has Windows :)).

First you need to open control Panel, then section system and safety. Next, next to the tab “ Administration" there will be a link " Defragmentation and optimization of your disks"- go over it (see screenshot below).

An alternative way to run defragmentation in Windows

1. Open “My computer” (or “This computer”).

3. Then in the disk properties, open the “Service” section.

4. In the service section, click the button “ Optimize disk"(everything is illustrated in the screenshot below).

Important! The defragmentation process can take quite a while long time(depending on the size of your disk and how fragmented it is). At this time, it is better not to touch the computer, not to run resource-intensive tasks: games, video encoding, etc.

The best programs and utilities for disk defragmentation

Note! This subsection of the article will not reveal to you all the capabilities of the programs presented here. Here I will focus on the most interesting and convenient utilities (in my opinion) and describe their main differences, why I chose them and why I recommend trying them...

1) Defraggler

A simple, free, fast and convenient disk defragmenter. The program supports all new Windows versions(32/64 bit), can work both with entire disk partitions and with individual files, supports all popular file systems(including NTFS and FAT 32).

By the way, regarding defragmentation of individual files - this is, in general, a unique thing! Not many programs can allow you to defragment something specific...

2) Ashampoo Magical Defrag

To be honest, I like products from Ashampoo- and this utility is no exception. Its main difference from similar ones of its kind is that it can defragment a disk in the background (when the computer is not busy with resource-intensive tasks, which means that the program is running and will not hamper or interfere with the user in any way).

What is called - once installed and forgotten this problem! In general, I recommend paying attention to it to everyone who is tired of remembering defragmentation and doing it manually...

3) Auslogics Disk Defrag

This program can move system files (which need to be the fastest) to the fastest part of the disk, thereby speeding up your Windows operating system somewhat. In addition, this program is free (for ordinary home use) and can be configured to automatic start during PC downtime (i.e., by analogy with the previous utility).

I also want to note that the program allows you to defragment not only a specific disk, but also separate files and folders on it.

The program is supported by all new Windows OS: 7, 8, 10 (32/64 bits).

4) MyDefrag

Developer's website: http://www.mydefrag.com/

MyDefrag is a small but convenient utility for defragmenting disks, floppy disks, USB external hard drives, memory cards, and other media. Perhaps that’s the only reason I added this program to the list.

The program also has a scheduler for detailed settings launch. There are also versions that do not require installation (it is convenient to carry with you on a flash drive).

5) Smart Defrag

This is one of the fastest disk defragmenters! Moreover, this does not affect the quality of defragmentation. Apparently, the program developers managed to find some unique algorithms. In addition, the utility is completely free for home use.

It is also worth noting that the program treats data very carefully, even if during defragmentation some system error occurs, a power outage or something else... - then nothing should happen to your files, they will still be read and opened. The only thing is that you will have to start the defragmentation process again.

The utility also provides two operating modes: automatic (very convenient - set it up once and forget it) and manual.

It is also worth noting that the program is optimized to work on Windows 7, 8, 10. I recommend it for use!

This is a process during which the location of files on the disk is optimized. This optimization allows you to increase the speed of working with files, and therefore improve the performance of your computer as a whole. In this material we will talk about how to defragment a disk using tools built into Windows, as well as using third-party programs.

Tips for performing defragmentation:

• Do not defragment drives. For SSD drives Defragmentation is an absolutely useless action. It only reduces the service life of the SSD drive, but does not provide any gain in operating speed.
• To perform defragmentation, you need free disk space. The more free space, the faster and better the disk defragmentation will be performed. The minimum amount of available space is considered to be 15 percent of the entire disk.
• If you want to get stable high speed work, then use scheduled defragmentation.
• Avoid using a drive that is being defragmented.

How to defragment a disk using Windows

operating room Windows system has a built-in mechanism for disk defragmentation. To use it, open “My Computer” and call the properties of the partition that you want to fragment.

In the window that opens, go to the “Services” tab and click on the “Run defragmentation” button.

After this, the “Disk Defragmenter” window will open in front of you. Here you need to select the disk that you want to fragment and click on the “Analyze disk” button.

After the analysis of the selected disk is completed, you will see the percentage of fragmented data on the disk. If this percentage is significant, then you need to defragment. For example, I analyzed the “E” drive and the percentage of fragmented data on it is zero. There is no need to defragment this disk. But after analyzing the “C” drive, it turned out that it was fragmented by 36 percent, which means it needs to be defragmented.

In order to defragment the “C” drive, select it in the list of drives and click on the “Disk Defragmentation” button.

After this, the defragmentation process will begin. The time it takes to defragment a disk depends on the amount of data defragmented and the speed of the disk itself. As a rule, this takes at least several hours.

In addition to manually starting defragmentation, you can use scheduled startup. To do this, in the “Disk Defragmentation” window, click on the “Enable Schedule” button.

After this, a small window “Disk defragmentation: change schedule” will appear in front of you. Here you need to enable the “Run on schedule” function and configure the schedule.

Defragmentation can be performed daily, weekly, or monthly. After setting the schedule, close all windows by clicking on the “OK” button.

Disk defragmentation using third-party programs

You can also defragment the disk using third-party programs. Now there are many quality ones. The most popular free ones are Piriform Defragger, Auslogics Disk Defrag, MyDefrag, IObit Smart Defrag. There are many more paid programs, the most famous of them are: O&O Defrag, Ashampoo Magical Defrag, Raxco PerfectDisk, Auslogics Disk Defrag Professional.

For example, let's look at the process of defragmenting a disk using the free program Auslogics Disk Defrag Free.

After starting the program, check the boxes next to the disks that you want to defragment and start analyzing them.

After analysis, the program showed that drive “C” was 46 percent fragmented. In order to defragment this disk, check the box and click on the “Defrag” button.

This is all that needs to be done, all that remains is to wait for the defragmentation process to complete.

Like a built-in defragmentation utility, Auslogics Disk Defrag Free allows you to defragment disks on a schedule. To do this, open the “Settings” menu and select “Scheduler”.

After this, a window with a defragmentation schedule will open. Here you need to enable the “Defragment automaticaly” function, select the defragmentation time and disks.

After this, Auslogics Disk Defrag Free will defragment automatically at the specified time.

Hello, dear friends! Many people have probably heard more than once about such a thing as defragmentation computer disk

But from my own experience I know that almost no one or very few users do it. The reason is simple - they don’t know why this long and tedious process is needed, that is, what determines the need to use it in general.

Today I will tell you why this defragmentation is needed and how (and with what programs) it can be performed, where and why.

So, let's get started.

Why is defragmentation of computer disks necessary?

How often should you defragment hard drives?

It all depends on how intensively you use the hard drive: copying, installing, deleting, transferring, etc., etc., information, but personally I recommend defragmenting it at least once a month.

Sometimes this process should be set to use on a schedule, that is, a script (or program) defragments on the fly, say, once a day. This may be necessary on systems where frequent work with files occurs, for example, file servers large companies.

How to defragment a hard drive?

In the most Windows There is a built-in defragmenter, which, in general, can also be used. However, I do not recommend doing this for the simple reason that it copes with defragmentation rather poorly, which is why the final performance suffers. Therefore, I recommend using third-party programs, and there are quite a few of them.

What is the difference between defragmentation programs?

Different programs have different analysis algorithms and, accordingly, the quality of subsequent defragmentation. Due to sometimes weak algorithms, not all defragmenters (as well as the built-in one) are able to well identify the fragmentation of files, the location of fragments of these files, and also adequately put them in order, collecting them together.

In general, it’s not a matter of third-party program capabilities (such as scheduled defragmentation, etc.), but rather the quality itself.

Personally, I use a powerful defragmenter O&O Defrag Free, or, when you’re too lazy to install, something simpler, like Defraggler. I wrote about both in detail in the articles “Program for defragmentation” and “”.

Afterword

Now you know why defragmentation is needed and how to do it. I will touch on this topic more than once, telling you about good (especially Russian and free) defragmentation programs.

As always, if you have questions, additions, or anything else like that, please write in the comments to this article.

Stay with me ;)

Disk defragmentation is a procedure for merging fragmented files, which is mainly used to Windows optimization. In almost any article on speeding up your computer you can find advice about defragmentation.

But not all users understand what defragmentation is, and do not know in which cases it is necessary to do it and in which it is not; what software should you use for this - is the built-in utility sufficient, or is it better to install a third-party program?

When doing disk defragmentation, many users don’t even think about or try to find out what it is all about. The answer can be found in the name itself: “defragmentation” is a process that combines files that were broken into fragments when written to the hard drive. The image below clearly shows that on the left, fragments of one file are recorded in a continuous stream, without empty seats and divisions, and on the right the same file is scattered across the hard drive in the form of pieces.

Naturally, it is much more convenient and faster for the disk to read a continuous file than one separated by empty space and other files.

Why does HDD fragmentation occur?

Hard drives are made up of sectors, each of which can store a certain amount of information. If a file is saved to the hard drive big size, which cannot fit into one sector, it is divided and stored in several sectors.

By default, the system always tries to write file fragments as close to each other as possible - in adjacent sectors. However, due to the deletion/saving of other files, resizing of already saved files and other processes, there are not always enough free sectors located next to each other. Therefore, Windows transfers the file recording to other parts of the HDD.

How fragmentation affects drive speed

When you need to open a recorded fragmented file, the hard drive head will sequentially move to the sectors where it was saved. Thus, the more times he has to move around the hard drive in an attempt to find all the pieces of the file, the slower the reading will be.

The image on the left shows how many movements the hard drive head needs to make to read files that have been split into parts. On the right are both files, indicated in blue and yellow flowers, are recorded continuously, which significantly reduces the number of movements across the disk surface.

Defragmentation is the process of rearranging pieces of one file so that it decreases total percentage fragmentation, and all files (if possible) were located on adjacent sectors. Thanks to this, reading will occur continuously, which will have a positive effect on the speed of the HDD. This is especially noticeable when reading large files.

Does it make sense to use third-party defragmentation programs?

The developers created a large number of programs that deal with defragmentation. You can find both small defragmenter programs and find them as part of complex system optimizers. There are free and paid options. But are they necessary?

There is certainly a certain effectiveness of third-party utilities. Programs from different developers may offer:

• Custom auto-defragmentation settings. The user can more flexibly manage the procedure schedule;
• Other algorithms for carrying out the process. Third-party software has its own features that are more beneficial in the long run. For example, they require less percentage of free space on the HDD to run the defragmenter. At the same time, files are optimized, increasing their download speed. There is also a merger free space so that the level of fragmentation increases more slowly in the future;
• Additional features, for example, registry defragmentation.

Of course, program functions vary depending on the developer, so the user needs to select a utility based on his needs and PC capabilities.

Is it necessary to constantly defragment the disk?

All modern versions of Windows offer automatic execution of this process on a schedule once a week. Overall, it's more useless than necessary. The fact is that fragmentation itself is an old procedure, and in the past it was really constantly needed. In the past, even mild fragmentation has had a negative impact on system performance.

Modern HDDs have a higher operating speed, and new versions of operating systems have become much smarter, so even with a certain fragmentation process, the user may not notice a decrease in operating speed. And if you use a hard drive with a large capacity (1 TB or higher), then the system can distribute heavy files in an optimal way for it so that this does not affect performance.

In addition, constantly running the defragmenter shortens the life of the disk - this is an important disadvantage that should be taken into account.

Because by default in Windows defragmentation is enabled, it must be disabled manually:

Is it necessary to defragment an SSD drive?

A very common mistake made by users using solid state drives is using any defragmenter.

Remember, if you have an SSD drive installed on your computer or laptop, do not defragment it under any circumstances - this greatly accelerates the wear of the drive. In addition, this procedure will not increase the speed of the SSD.

If you have not disabled defragmentation in Windows before, be sure to do so either for all drives or just for the SSD.

Third-party utilities also have a similar feature, but the configuration method will be different.

Features of defragmentation

There are several nuances for quality implementation this procedure:

• Despite the fact that defragmenters can work in the background, to achieve best result it is best to launch them when there is no activity on the part of the user, or when there is minimum quantity(for example, during a break or while listening to music);
• When carrying out periodic defragmentation, it is more correct to use quick methods, speeding up access to main files and documents, but a certain part of the files will not be processed. In this case, the full procedure can be done less frequently;
• Before complete defragmentation, it is recommended to remove junk files and, if possible, exclude files from processing pagefile.sys And hiberfil.sys. These two files are used as temporary files and are recreated with each system startup;
• If the program has the ability to defragment the file table (MFT) and system files, then you shouldn’t neglect it. As a rule, this function is not available when the operating system is running, and can be performed after a reboot before starting Windows.

How to defragment

There are two main ways to carry out defragmentation: installing a utility from another developer or using the built-in operating system programs. In this case, you can optimize not only built-in drives, but also external drives connected via USB.

Our website already has instructions for defragmenting using Windows 7 as an example. In it you will find guidance on working with popular programs and a standard Windows utility.

1. Do not defragment the solid state drive (SSD).
2. Disable scheduled defragmentation in Windows.
3. Do not abuse this process.
4. First, do an analysis and find out whether there is a need to perform defragmentation.
5. If possible, use high-quality programs whose efficiency is higher than the built-in Windows utility.