You must have heard about the word Disc Defragmentation anytime while surfing on web. Disc Defragmentation helps reorganizing the data stored on the hard drive so that related pieces of data are put back together, all lined up in a continuous fashion.
Computers that run on Windows 7, 8 and Vista, the defragmentation process is automatic and already set up on a schedule. Since nowadays most of laptops or computers run on windows 10 or 11, here we need to it manually.
Disc Defragmenting a SSD is more different than a Hard Drive. Defragmentation increases the performance of a Hard Drive but won't affect a SSD.
Regularly running the Disk Defragmenter improves your system's overall performance. When the computer saves files, it fragments the files into pieces and saves the pieces in various locations on the hard drive.
Windows takes longer to access files because it requires additional disk drive reads to find the pieces. With the help of Disc Defragmentation, we combine those fragments, thus Windows will take less time to access files and your computer's performance will increase.
Before knowing how to defrag a disc we need to know about its benefits.
Increased Performance of the Computer
Just like I said that Disk Defragmenter improves your system's overall performance by combining file fragments thus now our Windows would not need additional disk drive reads to find those pieces.
Our computer will boot much faster and would be able to open files faster thus making everything smoother and more efficient.
Extended Hard Drive Life
Since it become easier for your computer to access data, your Hard Drive will have to do less work and there will be less wear and tear of a Hard Drive thus increasing its life span but same won't be the case in a SSD.
More Efficient Antivirus Security
By Disk defragmenting your PC or laptop's Hard Drive, antivirus programs that are installed on your device will work better as it takes less time for Antivirus Programs to scan your computer and it will be done more efficiently.
Reduction in Errors
The process of defragmentation can often point out and avoid bad sectors that could potentially cause damage if your data was saved in this area. The Hard Disk stores information in sectors.
When small pieces of data that cannot be read accumulate in these sectors, they impact the performance of our computer. Over time, these unreadable sectors can damage your hard disk.
These sector errors can be detected when you run the disk defragmentation software on your computer
How to Defrag Your Hard Disc:
- Click the Start menu or Windows button
- Select Control Panel, then System and Security
- Under Administrative Tools, click Defragment your hard drive
- Click Configure schedule
- Select the schedule you want. Pick a date and time that the computer will be on but no one is typically using it. The computer can be asleep.
- Click OK