There are many serious misconceptions about fragmentation which, if believed, can lead to significant computer damage.  Defragging your computer is an important process that needs to be done consistently to prevent system failure.

 Fragmentation is one of the most serious problems in computers around the world.  It accounts for billions in lost revenue and production.  It is also one of the leading causes of a wide range of common computer problems, system failures, and early hardware replacement. Many computer users and techs don’t take computer fragmentation seriously – here are some of the reasons why:

• My system or network doesn’t have fragmentation.

This is simply not true. Over 700 million PCs actively-in-use in the world today, and every single one of them has fragmentation issues to one degree or another.  Fragmentation is an unavoidable by-product of all Window’s-based operating systems.  Thus your system or network is basically “born” with this defect from the beginning – a situation basically unknown to many users.

•  I already have defrag software already preinstalled in my operating system.

This is probably the biggest reason why people don’t pay too much attention to system fragmentation.  There IS a kind of defragmentation software that comes pre-installed with many operating systems – but it is so outdated.  Don’t be misled:  There is no comparison between the modern versions of this technology and what comes pre-installed.  I strongly suggest that you look and download / buy a more up to date defrag program.

• Defragmenting my network during work hours will causes disruptions in performance.

This is a major and legitimate concern among IT professionals.  Administrators cannot afford to take chances during the workday, and are often forced to work nights and weekends in order to do systems maintenance (like defragmentation).  But choosing a high performance defragmenter that is specifically designed for networks will allow a systems administrator to defrag the system without affecting productivity.

• I have to replace my computer due to slow performance.

Not entirely true.  Fragmentation is the scattering of data and files across the hard drive.  As fragmentation builds up, pieces of data become increasingly scattered, and the read/write head takes longer and longer to write and retrieve data.  This shows up as sluggish, slow performance, and eventually freeze-ups and systems failure.  It is very possible, however, that a defrag of the system with a high quality defragmenter will restore your ailing system or network to optimum or maximum performance.

• Using defrag software is a hassle.

Many people think that defragging their computer is a very tidious and hard task, and this feeling may have something to do with the pre-installed defrag program.  Unfortunately, the already installed version makes defragmentation a hassle because it is indeed S-L-O-W.  It takes forever to do a not-very-good-job of defragmenting your drive or server.  Modern defragmentation software is lightening fast by comparison and the best ones are so completely automatic that you can basically forget about them and not worry about fragmentation issues any longer once they’re installed.

• Defrag software is expensive. 

The internet has a full line-up of defragmentation products that one can choose from.  Whether you’re a home user, small business, government agency, or huge company with hundreds of servers and thousands of workstations, you can find a download to suit your needs and give the software a trial run.  The cost savings could potentially be enormous.  Research shows that the resultant increase in productivity, the reduction of down-time, and the increased longevity of hardware make the relatively low cost of defragmentation software insignificant by comparison.