
If an excessively large file, such as a media or movie file, cannot fit into the empty spaces on a hard drive, fragmentation will occur.The following are a few reasons why fragmentation occurs inside a hard drive: Visual illustrates a hard drive before and after defragmentation.įragmentation happens over time and can be caused by many reasons. This means the mechanical and spinning components of a hard drive aren't used as extensively, which in turn extends the life span of a hard drive. With regular defragmentation, the files on a hard drive stay organized. Sometimes, it can also create more usable space if bits of data are left over from deleted files. Any unused space on a hard drive can be maximized by defragmentation. Defragmentation organizes the individual files, resulting in improved hard drive speed. Over time, adding and deleting files from a hard drive can make the data scattered, especially if it's running low on storage space. The following are the main benefits of defragmenting a hard drive: Once the HDD is defragmented, the system performance improves because all the jumbled-up data is reorganized and stored appropriately. Defragmentation consolidates these fragmented files so all the related pieces are aligned together.Ī fragmented hard drive is similar to a huge, jumbled-up load of laundry, where all the different clothing types and colors are mixed up. If there's not enough contiguous space to hold complete files on an HDD, files can become fragmented and the storage algorithms on the disk separate the data to fit it inside the available space. Defragmentation can solve and mitigate problems, such as slow speeds, freeze-ups and extended boot times of a computer.
