Optimize Drives
Defrag is a Microsoft utility first included with MS-DOS 6.0, and in all versions of Windows. It was later renamed to Optimize Drives and is a utility designed to help order the data on the hard drive. The program places each part of a program together instead of scattered throughout the hard drive, allowing the read-write head to access the data faster on the hard drive.
Depending on the version of Windows, this utility may also be shown as Defrag, Optimize Drives, or Defragment and Optimize Drives.
Windows 98 and later includes a version of Defrag that places commonly accessed data at the beginning of the drive. Doing so may increase the efficiency of HDD performance. However, unless the hard drive is seriously fragmented, you will not notice a significant difference after defragging the hard drive.
The picture shows Microsoft Windows Defrag. As shown, this hard drive is seriously fragmented (each red portion is fragmented files). In this example, if the Defrag was allowed to be completed, you would notice a significant improvement in performance.
New computers with an SSD (Solid-State Drive) instead of an HDD no longer need to Defrag. Instead of doing a defrag look into TRIM.
Cluster, Defragmentation, Disk, Disk cleanup, Drive management, File, Fragmentation, Hard drive terms, Optimize, Partitioning, ScanDisk, Sector, Windows Accessories