Fragmented files

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Fragmented files

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mrsnesbitt

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 1576

Posted: Fri Jan 14, 05 3:39 pm Post subject: Fragmented files
Am defragmenting my computer.it's taking ages but there are some fragmented files.what are they and what is a contiguous file? First correct answer on my desk will win a sticker! D

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Fri Jan 14, 05 3:43 pm Post subject:
A fragmented file has the information dotted about your hard drive, so it takes longer to read. A contiguous file is all together so quicker. De-fragmenting puts all the fragments together to make them contiguous. Sits back and waits for howls of laughter from people who know about computers.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45669
Location: Essex

Posted: Fri Jan 14, 05 3:44 pm Post subject:
That's more or less it

Northern_Lad

Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 14210
Location: Somewhere

Posted: Fri Jan 14, 05 3:50 pm Post subject:

sean wrote:

A fragmented file has the information dotted about your hard drive, so it takes longer to read. A contiguous file is all together so quicker. De-fragmenting puts all the fragments together to make them contiguous.
Sits back and waits for howls of laughter from people who know about computers.

Broadly true, but a coniguous file may not be on contiguous sectors on the disk - only in contiguous read positions.

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Fri Jan 14, 05 3:54 pm Post subject:
More or less and broadly are generous terms when applied to my IT knowledge.

Mrs Fiddlesticks

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 10460

Posted: Fri Jan 14, 05 4:05 pm Post subject:
so how often (if ever) should the smart IT person about town, defrag the old laptop then?

Northern_Lad

Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 14210
Location: Somewhere

Posted: Fri Jan 14, 05 4:09 pm Post subject:
Depends on what you do with it and how much space there is. If you're creating and deleting lots of large files, then quite often. If you're browzing with the occasional word document then you probably won't need to for a long time. It is a reasonably safe way to speed up an old machine though.

mrsnesbitt

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 1576

Posted: Sat Jan 15, 05 2:53 pm Post subject:
I have finished the defragmenting bit now and have a report..... not that I can understand it ofcourse! What should I look for? Dx

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28233
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Sat Jan 15, 05 3:22 pm Post subject:

mrsnesbitt wrote:

I have finished the defragmenting bit now and have a report.....

not that I can understand it ofcourse! What should I look for?

Dx

You should have some before and after figure for % gragmentation. This is what matters mainly.

jema

dougal

Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent

Posted: Sat Jan 15, 05 5:22 pm Post subject:

Fragmentation reduces the apparent speed of the hard disk, because the disk has to do more to-and-fro-ing to bring up (or store) the document you want.
The slower the hard disk, the more of a slowdown you'd see.
And laptop drives are slower than those on mains-powered machines.

The fuller the disk, the more quickly will files become fragmented. (And the longer it will take to de-frag.) Laptops tend to have smaller, hence fuller, disks.

Because the operating system (windows) uses the disk, fragmentation can slow down other things than opening/closing files.

Hence its a 'good thing' to keep your disk no more than perhaps 80% full, and, especially on a laptop, keep the % files fragmented in single figures...

De-fragging is only about efficiency. It is however a bad time to have a power cut! (Shouldn't be a problem on a laptop!)

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