Defragmenting your hard drive or doing a “defrag” can be a headache, especially if you don’t understand the benefits of doing so. While it is a hassle to find time when you aren’t doing anything else (and your computer is on, and you have enough available disk space, and…), defragmenting your hard drive is incredibly important. So why should you defrag?
What Exactly Does Defragging Consist Of?
While a photo seems like a single file on the computer, in Windows the file is small pieces of information scattered throughout the hard drive. While Windows knows where all of the parts are kept and how to assemble them for your viewing, fragmenting the files is not necessarily an ideal way to keep your documents stored. Why does Windows insist on breaking things into pieces before storing them? It wants to use every last bit of hard drive space. Why is this not a great thing? The drive read head is working overtime to find and access all of the fragments (and causing your computer to feel sluggish while you wait for the file to open). Defragging puts together file fragments on the drive so that it is quicker and easier to access your files.
When Should You Defrag?
Just like most good things, they can be bad if you do them too often. If you defragment your hard drive very frequently, you can ultimately shorten its lifespan from all of the hard work it does during each individual defragging process. Beyond shortening your computer’s lifespan, if you defrag very frequently, your computer’s performance will not notice the same great effects that it does when you defrag less frequently. Occasionally and rarely, files can also be damaged during the process, so make sure that you are still completing separate hard drive back-ups on a trusted external hard drive.
Working Nets Can Help You Defrag and Get Rid of the Lag!
Working Nets is IT without the ego. We offer technological help and top-notch service without making you feel out of the loop or left behind. Even today’s top technology professionals still have issues with their gadgets and software sometimes, so don’t be afraid to ask for help if and when you need it!
Our specialty is helping you understand the pieces of technology you use in simple ways. By outsourcing your information technology to us (and letting us do the defragging), we will make sure that your company is up to date and safe, because technology never sleeps. Interested in finding out more about our services? Give us a call at (443) 992-7394 or visit us online. For more technology tips, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn.
