Have you ever hear of the term “Defrag” and wondered what that meant? Defrag is actually “de-fragment” or the act of un-fragmenting. To defragment implies that something is fragmented. In the context of disk drives, fragmentation is normal. Fragmentation is a by-product of storing data and it happens over time. As data is constantly written on hard drives, data is also constantly deleted.

Here is an example that may help you understand what data fragmentation is. Think about parking spaces; when you go to a theme park with friends (when the park first opens), it is likely that you will park together. It is nice because you are all together. Then you all head out to a lunch spot outside of the park. When you all return, it is unlikely that you will be parked together. That makes meeting up and coordinating activities harder.

That is the same with data, over time, data becomes fragmented. Data is spread out to different parts of the disk. Data is broken up and shoved open data spots where other data once lived. When data is fragmented accessing data becomes slower because the disk head needs to move back and forth more to get data.

Fortunately, there is a utility built into Windows that will help you to clean up fragmentation; it is called Defragmenter. Best way to access that in Windows 7 is to go to “Start” and type in “disk defragmenter”. Then run the utility. Defragmentation is a tedious process and should be performed when the computer is not in use. Depending on how big your hard drive is and how much data you have, it can take a long time. Nevertheless, it is logical housekeeping and should be performed to keep your computer operating in tip-top shape.