Computers, when used for a certain period, tend to show a decrease in speed and performance. Many factors cause this computer running slow issue and identifying the causes will help in resolving them. Fragmented files are one prominent cause for your system to slow down and lag while executing even basic tasks. For resolving this, Windows has a built-in system tool known as the Disk Defragmenter, which you can use to deal with these fragmented files and thereby increase the speed of your computer.
Defragmenting the hard drives is a necessary step to increase the speed and performance of your system. Such fragmentation occurs when free spaces are created when you delete or move files in the drive. This leads to free spaces on the disk that spread across the entire disk over time. As a result, the files are not contiguous in one area but remain scattered across the drive. This can make it harder for identifying the location of a file and thus slow down the system.
The following are three reasons why you should defragment your computer periodically.
To Boost the File Access Speed
One of the major advantages of routinely carrying out defragging of the hard drives is that it will increase the overall file access speed. Running the defragmenting tool can clear of all the fragmented files from your hard drive and group together the data. This will enable faster access to the data as it eliminates the need for searching all over the disk. Defragmenting can also decrease the startup time and enable your PC to work faster and more efficiently.
To Extend the Hard Disk Life
Defragmenting can significantly increase the life of the hard drive and minimize the occurrence of any failures or data loss. When defragmented, the read/write heads and its servomechanisms require only less work, as the data will be clubbed on a specific region of the disk. Moreover, the spinning rate will be lowered after defragmentation thus requiring only minimal actions for data access. This minimizes the mechanical wear and any chance of failure thus increasing the life of the hard drive.
To Lower the Power Consumption
The presence of fragmented files can increase the amount of work done by the disk in order to locate the file sequences stored on various sectors. This results in higher spin rate and head movement thus using more power. Meanwhile, a defragmented hard disk need only less time to retrieve the files, thus reducing the amount of work required. This reduces the power consumption of the overall system and is advantageous especially if you are using a laptop.