Disk defragmentation - what is it and how to do it?

Information must be recorded sequentially. This is what happens in the first days of its purchase. But during operation, operations with files constantly occur on the disk - moving, copying, deleting, etc. And therefore the sequential file structure is disrupted, because... information is recorded not in whole “pieces”, but in fragments (for faster access), hence the name of this process - fragmentation those. the file is split into fragments and written to different parts of the disk.
When moving or deleting, the system removes fragments of files from sectors, and then either deletes them or moves them further to the end or to free space. Well, in the free space, it records new information. This is where we get such a confusion with information. And subsequently, when searching for the necessary information (for example, you wanted to watch a movie), the system begins to intensively search the entire hard drive for the location of these file fragments. Therefore, over time, she needs more and more time for this.
In order to “organize” fragments of files on the hard drive, there is defragmentation. After it, it is much more convenient for the system to search for file fragments, therefore it will execute them faster, which means the computer’s operation as a whole will be faster.

How to defragment a disk?
Windows has its own built-in utility for this, which is called “Disk Defragmentation”.
IN Windows XP And Windows Vista/7/8 You can start defragmentation in almost the same way:
- let's go to My computer
- select the disk that we want to defragment
- right-click on it and select Properties
- select a tab Service and click Defragment...

This window will open, in which we first select Analyze disk, and then Disk Defragmenter. If you want, you can click on Set up a schedule and make sure that defragmentation is carried out independently.

After defragmentation, nothing will be deleted from your files.
During the analysis, you will see how “squares” are scattered throughout the disk - these are fragmented files that must be located sequentially.
Carry out defragmentation once a week is recommended.

Free programs for disk defragmentation.
As always, what comes standard with Windows isn't always the best solution.
Therefore, there are many programs for disk defragmentation, and below is a list of the most well-proven and popular among users. Plus they are all free. The interface is the same for everyone and the principle is similar, so there should be no problems with use.