The 5 biggest myths of fragmentation

Myth #1: The built-in defragmenter that comes with Windows® is good enough for most situations because it can be scheduled.

After the fact defrag solutions, including the built-in, allow precious resources to be wasted by writing fragmented files to the disk. Once a file is written, the defrag engine has to go to work to locate and reposition that file. When that file later expands, this doubling effort has to repeat itself all over again — this approach remains a reactive band-aid to a never-ending problem. Not even the built-in defrag can keep pace with the constant growth of fragmentation between scheduled defrags. Manual defrags tie up system resources, so users just have to wait … and wait … and wait.

When you are only doing scheduled defrags (or nothing at all), your PC accumulates more and more fragmentation, which leads to PC slows, lags and crashes. This problem cannot be handled with a freebie utility even if it can be "scheduled". Here's why:

• Systems accumulate fragmentation continually. When the computer is busiest (relied upon the most), the rate of fragmentation is highest. Most people don’t realize how much performance is lost to fragmentation and how fast it can occur. To maintain efficiency at all times, fragmentation must be eliminated instantly as it happens or proactively prevented before it is even able to happen. Only through fragmentation prevention or instant defrag can this be accomplished.
   
• Scheduling requires planning. It's a nuisance to schedule defrag on one computer, but on multiple PCs it can be a real drain of time and resources. Plus, if your PC isn’t on when the defrag process is scheduled; it will not run until you turn your PC on again. By then, you will need to use your computer and you will experience PC performance slows while you work – that is, if you are able to work at all.
   
• Scheduled defrag times are often not long enough to get the job done.
   

Myth #2: Active defragmentation is a resource hog and must be scheduled off production times.

This was very true with regard to manual defragmenters. They had to run at high priority or risk getting continually bounced off the job. In fact, these defragmenters often got very little done unless allowed to take over the computer. When the built-in defragmenter became schedulable, not much changed. The defrag algorithm was slow and resource heavy. Built-in defragmenters were really designed for emergency defragmentation, not as a standard performance tool.

Ever since first released in 1994, Diskeeper® performance software has been a "Set It and Forget It"®, schedulable defragmenter that backed off system resources needed by computer operations. Times have changed and a typical computer’s I/Os per second (IOPS) has accelerated a hundred fold. Because this drove the rate of fragmentation accumulation way up, Diskeeper Corporation saw the need for a true real-time defragmenter and developed a new technology, InvisiTasking® technology. This innovative breakthrough separates usable system resources into five areas capable of being accessed separately. As a result, robust, fast defrag can occur even during peak workload times – and even on the busiest and largest mission-critical servers. In the latest version, Diskeeper incorporated a new feature called IntelliWrite® fragmentation prevention technology. This new feature prevents file system fragmentation from ever occurring in the first place. By preventing up to 85% of fragmentation, rather than eliminating it after the fact, Diskeeper is able to improve system performance much more dynamically and beyond what can be done with just the automatic defragmentation approach.

Myth #3: Fragmentation is not a problem unless more than 20% of the files on the disk are fragmented.

The files most likely to be fragmented are precisely the ones relied upon the most. In reality, these frequently accessed files are likely fragmented into hundreds or even thousands of pieces. And they got that way very quickly. This degree of fragmentation can cost you 90% or more of your computer's performance when accessing the files you use most. Ever wonder why some Word docs take forever to load? Without fragmentation, they load in a flash. Files load times are quicker and backups, boot-ups and anti-virus scans are significantly faster.

Can too much defragmentation wear out your hard drive? Does a brand new computer need defragmentation? Click here for myths 4 and 5.

Myth #4: You can wear out your hard drive if you defragment too often.

Exactly the opposite is true. When you eliminate fragmentation you greatly reduce the number of disk accesses needed to bring up a file or write to it. Even with the I/O required to defragment a file, the total I/O is much less than working with a fragmented file.

For example, if you have a file that is fragmented into 50 pieces and you access it twice a day for a week, that’s a total of 700 disk accesses (50 X 2 X 7). Defragmenting the file may cost 100 disk accesses (50 reads + 50 writes), but thereafter only one disk access will be required to use the file. That’s 14 disk accesses over the course of a week (2 X 7), plus 100 for the defrag process = 114 total. 700 accesses for the fragmented file versus 114 for the defragged file is quite a difference. But in a real world scenario, this difference would be multiplied hundreds of times for a true picture of performance gain.

With the release of Diskeeper 2011, we are tracking how many I/O’s Diskeeper helps save your system, making it even easier to gauge the benefits of running Diskeeper on your computer.

In addition to proactively curing and preventing fragmentation, Diskeeper 2011 also now defaults to an optimized defragmentation method (for the fragments that were not prevented) to maximize efficiency and performance while minimizing disk I/O by prioritizing which files, folders and free space should be defragmented. This setting can be changed to a more thorough defragmentation option from the Defragmentation Options tab in the Configuration Properties for those who wish to do so.

Myth #5: I don’t need to defragment a new system right out of the box.

Some people still think that a new just-out-of-the-box computer is performing at its peak ability. Nothing could be further from the truth. Without installing and running Diskeeper on that machine, they will never know how responsive that machine could have been.

Here’s a screen of a disk analysis from a hard disk used for demonstration:

You can see that it’s got lots of fragmented files and lots of fragmented free space. In fact, it’s got over 1148 fragmented files in 5460 fragments. We simply installed the operating system to a brand new disk. Then we installed Diskeeper so we could get the picture you see above.

It’s a common misconception that a system with a freshly-installed operating system is in its best possible condition. It isn’t. A freshly-installed operating system starts off with its files so badly fragmented that a simple defragmentation can decrease the boot time from 153.9 seconds to 111.8 seconds. That’s a 27.4% reduction in elapsed time.

What’s the first thing you do when you get that nifty new machine home? That’s right; you install your favorite applications. If you don’t defragment FIRST, your favorite applications ALSO end up on your system in a fragmented state.

Diskeeper 2011 is designed to work automatically, so even the least technical of users will enjoy the simplicity of the "Set It and Forget It"® feature. Once installed, it automatically boosts computer speed by handling any existing fragmentation then goes to work proactively curing and preventing future fragmentation before it happens.

You will quickly see how little effort it takes to speed up your PC and keep your PC running fast at all times. This is one software solution, you can’t do without.

We are so sure you will love Diskeeper 2011; we want you to try it risk-free for 30 days. This is a full version trial that will allow you to experience Diskeeper in action for yourself on your own PC.