Karen (a Windows XP user) has fragmented files and wants to get rid of them
I am having problems with trying to get rid of fragmented files. Can you please advise me what I should do and can you recommend a program that may help me to eliminate these files. I truly look forward to some kind of answer. I enjoy reading your newsletter and you seem to be able to help others and now I need help. Regards, Karen
Our answer
Thanks, Karen. We’re curious as to how you know you have fragmented files? One thing you don’t want to do is get rid of them. Here’s a very simple explanation of what fragmented files are and how to deal with them.
Disk fragmentation occurs, over time, when Windows accesses programs and files and doesn’t put them all back where it found them. When this happens your system becomes unable to store related on your disk in a contiguous orderly manner. It scatters data (fragments it) storing related data it in different physical locations on your hard drive. This means it takes longer for Windows to find the data. This means, over time, your computer which slows down because it takes Windows longer to find, read and write files. When you “defragment” your hard drive, related data is put back into contiguous blocks. Open free space is also put into sequential blocks. When fragmentation starts it may only cause millisecond delays, which human beings don’t notice. But over time the delays can get longer. So you can see, having a disk with a lot of fragmentation, can slow your computer down – and over time it can slow your computer down noticeably. That’s why defragmenting your hard drive (s) once a month is a good idea. It can make your computer more responsive if your hard drives are defragmented monthly.
So if you’re sure your hard drive is fragmented (has too many fragmented files) you should download a free disk defragmenter, install it and run it. Depending on how fragmented your hard drive is, it can take an hour or two to completely defrag a large hard drive. Many newer disk defragmenters can be run while you’re using your computer, so it’s not a bother. Here is a good disk defragmenter we use on our Windows XP machines, it’s called “My Defrag” and you can get it free here: http://www.mydefrag.com/index.html .
For those using Windows Vista or Windows 7, you will find that the built-in disk defragmenter works much better than the one included with Windows XP. But you can, if you choose, install MyDefrag also. It works on Vista and Seven (32 and 64 bit) as well.