Most people accept the fact that the quicker you solve a problem the more time, energy and money you will save. Of course that’s if you want to wait until you have a problem; in actuality you’re better off taking the steps to avoid a problem in the first place. That may sound idealistic but the reality is it’s absolutely possible. While we may not be able to prevent all of our problems, the ones that we can we should.
This should always be the case when it comes to our computers; something that we rely on everyday yet in a moment could throw our life into chaos. Think about all the things we store on our computers, the pictures, files, documents, etc… now think about what would happen if your computer crashed. The amount of time, energy and certainly money that you would spend to try and retrieve all of that information is substantial. Fortunately you don’t have to find yourself in that situation if you take the proper steps to prevent such an occurrence.
In many ways we do a lot to prevent problems with our computers; we install spyware, make sure our virus protection is up-to-date and keep a close eye on what shows up in our email. While these are all positive steps in preventing computer problems they aren’t a safeguard against everything. Perhaps the biggest problem facing your computer is fragmentation; something that gets little attention from most computer users yet can do incredible damage.
Unlike a computer virus or attack which can be noticed almost immediately and addressed, the damage caused by fragmentation develops over time and if it’s not addressed it could destroy your hard drive. The problem with fragmentation is that it’s methodical and as it slowly drains the speed of your computer and makes your hard drive work harder your once reliable computer is now a source of frustration and unpredictability.
It’s important to understand that fragmentation is a natural result of how your hard drive has been designed. Nothing is more important to a hard drive than space and because of this every time you save a file it gets placed directly behind the preceding file. That may sound alright but when a saved file gets recalled, modified and then saved again it will no longer fit in the original space in which it was saved. The hard drive’s solution is to fill that original space and then any excess information gets placed in the next available space.
Once a file has been fragmented it causes the computer to work harder to recall that file the next time you want it. Because there is no limit to how many times a file can be fragmented your hard drive can be littered with thousands of pieces of information from a single file. As more and more files become fragmented and strewn about the hard drive the slower its response becomes, causing those frustrating episodes where you’re waiting for pages and applications to load, you’re trying to access your email or send messages, or you’re trying to browse the Internet.
As damaging as all of this can be to your computer there is a simple solution that can be put in place to eradicate the problem. This solution is known as defragmentation software and it can not only repair your files but also prevent future fragmentation and in turn restore your computer’s speed and reliability.
Just as you would ensure the proper anti-virus software was installed, take the time to make certain you have effective defragmentation software running on your computer. There are a number of products to consider when selecting the right defragmentation software, among them Diskeeper 2010. Keep in mind when you’re shopping for defrag software that you’ll want the product that best suits your needs and can prevent fragmented files before they ever happen.
