Defragging: What is It and Why Should I Care?
Posted by Jason Leister on: 2006-07-24 16:04:06
Self SEO > Hardware Articles
You've probably heard the word "defrag" before when talking to your resident
computer nut. If you ask 5 different technology whizzes about it, you'll probably
get 5 different answers about its effectiveness.
So what does "defrag" mean?
"Defrag" is short for "defragment," which gives you a bit of a clue as to what it does.
Think of your computer hard drive like a local bookstore. As people purchase
books, holes appear on the shelves. Now imagine that as the storekeeper receives
new shipments of books, he fills the holes on the shelves AS HE FINDS THEM instead
of reorganizing the existing books (to fill the holes) and then putting the new ones
into the appropriate section of the store. Eventually what you get is a mess of a
bookstore, with books scattered everywhere.
As you use your computer, this is what is happening with your hard drive. By
deleting files from your computer, you are creating holes or spaces where new data
can go. The only problem is that the holes are all different shapes and sizes. So
when you go to save that new document you have been working on, some of it gets
put in one spot and the rest gets put somewhere else.
This leads us to the question, "Why should I care about all of this defragging stuff?
Does it really matter?"
Let's go back to our story about the bookstore...
One day you walk into our bookstore and ask the storekeeper to help you find the
new book on real estate investing. The storekeeper says, "Sure, I know I saw it
come in. Let me go find it for you. It shouldn't take more than a few HOURS."
This is EXACTLY why you should care about defragging.
As your computer ages, the hard drive becomes more and more fragmented. Data
is scattered everywhere. The more scattered it is the longer it will take to find
anything.
Being that time is one of your most valuable assets, regularly defragging your hard
drive will reorganize all of your data and help your computer run more quickly. If
you have never defragged your computer, you will probably see quite an
improvement in your computer's speed after the first defrag.
If you use Microsoft Windows XP, you will find the defrag program by clicking on
Start-->All Programs-->Accessories-->System Tools-->Disk Defragmenter.
If you are running a Mac or use Linux, you don't have to worry about defragmenting
your disk, because it is pretty much done behind the scenes for you.
Defragmenting your hard drive every few months will save you time and money and
is a fast and easy way to make sure your computer runs as quickly as it can for as
long as possible.
Regularly defragging your hard drive (every 3 months or so) will help to keep your
computer running more quickly and will help you get more done in less time. Run
the defrag program at night so that it is done by the time you start working in the
morning.
Jason Leister, the Real Estate Technology Guru (tm), is owner of Computer Super
Guy, LLC, a Chicago-based technology firm that helps real estate professionals
profit with technology.
Visit http://www.computersuperguy.com/subscribe to subscribe to our free monthly eZine,
ProfIT, and receive a FREE copy of our special report "The Truth About Real Estate
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