Atlanta 11/13/2010 12:32:57 AM
Bolster Your Computer’s Performance Ability and Protect Yourself from a Computer Crash with Defragmentation Software
Most people don’t give a second thought to how their computer actually works; they just assume that when they need it to work it will. Of course this can be a dangerous attitude to adopt as ignorance certainly won’t protect you from a computer crash or the painful realization that you have just lost all of your files on your hard drive. This isn’t to say that you should learn how to build a computer; rather you should learn about how to keep it running at its best. By understanding the potential problems your computer might face you have a better chance of maintaining its health, reliability and speed, the same characteristics that make it so valuable in the first place.
One of the most commonly overlooked problems facing computers is fragmentation, a computer disease that will eventually paralyze your hard drive and cause it to crash, wiping out all of the files you have saved. It would seem that such a devastating disease would be well known among computer owners yet that just isn’t the case. Much of that can be attributed to a failure to understand the difference between a computer virus and a computer disease like fragmentation.
Mention viruses to a computer owner and they will likely rattle of the name of the anti-virus software they have installed and the importance of protecting their hard drive from outside attacks. Viruses grab headlines and instill fear simply because they are coming from an outside source that is undoubtedly trying to wreck havoc to some degree. Knowing that if you fail to protect your computer with anti-virus software your computer will be exposed is often times enough to motivate an individual into action.
On the other hand fragmentation is an inside job, something a lot of people can’t wrap their head around. While a virus originates from outside of your computer, fragmentation is born and bred right below your finger tips. Every action you take contributes to its progression and ultimately its crash. It’s hard for somebody to grasp that the same computer they have in front of them was designed in such a way that it can destroy itself.
This self-destruction is tied directly to how your hard drive saves and stores files and because fragmentation is a progressive disease it gets worse without treatment. Simply put, your hard drive saves and stores files in a contiguous manner, placing each new file directly behind the previously saved file. That sounds harmless enough but it’s that perception that leads to computer crashes. The reason this method is so damaging is because each time you recall one of those saved files, make changes and then resave it the file will no longer fit in its original space. Your hard drive’s answer is to cut the excess information and store it in the next available space, now your file is fragmented.
Again that may not seem like such a big deal but understand that every time you pull that file up and hit save it becomes fragmented even more. Because there is no limit to how many times a single file can be fragmented it’s not uncommon to have hundreds if not thousands of pieces of one file littered across a hard drive. Each time you try to recall that file your hard drive has to locate those pieces, put them together and then deliver it to you, a time consuming task that is also extremely taxing.
As fragmentation progresses and your hard drive becomes a collection of pieces the speed of your computer will continue to slow. This will be obvious in your attempts to boot up your system, browse the Internet, pull up files or applications as well as access and send emails. The longer you go without addressing fragmentation the worse the problem will become as not only will you lose speed but reliability as well.
It’s important to remember that you probably have a lot more files saved on your hard drive than you think as your computer is constantly saving temporary files, multiplying the effects of fragmentation significantly.
Fortunately the solution to fragmentation is actually easier than the solution for virus protection. By simply installing a defragmentation product like Diskeeper 2010 you can repair all of your fragmented files, prevent future fragmentation and restore your computer’s health, speed and reliability. Unlike virus protection software there are no monthly or yearly fees for renewal or danger of a potential breach in security.
Just as you know a computer without virus protection is vulnerable to an attack, the same is true for a computer that is without defragmentation software. If you value the pictures, music, documents, etc. that you have saved on your hard drive and appreciate the speed and reliability that your computer provides then take the simple step of installing defrag software and keep it protected.
