defragment

de·frag·ment

D0097350 (dĭ-frăg′mənt)tr.v. de·frag·ment·ed, de·frag·ment·ing, de·frag·ments Computers To reorganize (a storage device) to eliminate or reduce fragmentation.

de·frag′men·ta′tion (-mən-tā′shən, -mĕn-) n.de·frag′ment·er n.

defragment

(diːfræɡˈmɛnt) vb (tr) the full form of defrag

defragment

Past participle: defragmented
Gerund: defragmenting

Imperative
defragment
defragment

Present
I defragment
you defragment
he/she/it defragments
we defragment
you defragment
they defragment

Preterite
I defragmented
you defragmented
he/she/it defragmented
we defragmented
you defragmented
they defragmented

Present Continuous
I am defragmenting
you are defragmenting
he/she/it is defragmenting
we are defragmenting
you are defragmenting
they are defragmenting

Present Perfect
I have defragmented
you have defragmented
he/she/it has defragmented
we have defragmented
you have defragmented
they have defragmented

Past Continuous
I was defragmenting
you were defragmenting
he/she/it was defragmenting
we were defragmenting
you were defragmenting
they were defragmenting

Past Perfect
I had defragmented
you had defragmented
he/she/it had defragmented
we had defragmented
you had defragmented
they had defragmented

Future
I will defragment
you will defragment
he/she/it will defragment
we will defragment
you will defragment
they will defragment

Future Perfect
I will have defragmented
you will have defragmented
he/she/it will have defragmented
we will have defragmented
you will have defragmented
they will have defragmented

Future Continuous
I will be defragmenting
you will be defragmenting
he/she/it will be defragmenting
we will be defragmenting
you will be defragmenting
they will be defragmenting

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been defragmenting
you have been defragmenting
he/she/it has been defragmenting
we have been defragmenting
you have been defragmenting
they have been defragmenting

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been defragmenting
you will have been defragmenting
he/she/it will have been defragmenting
we will have been defragmenting
you will have been defragmenting
they will have been defragmenting

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been defragmenting
you had been defragmenting
he/she/it had been defragmenting
we had been defragmenting
you had been defragmenting
they had been defragmenting

Conditional
I would defragment
you would defragment
he/she/it would defragment
we would defragment
you would defragment
they would defragment

Past Conditional
I would have defragmented
you would have defragmented
he/she/it would have defragmented
we would have defragmented
you would have defragmented
they would have defragmented

Translations

desfragmentar

defragment

(tool, file system)/dee-frag(-ment)'/ (Or "defrag") Tocoalesce files and free space on a file system; to reducefragmentation.

defragment

To reorganize the disk by putting files into contiguous order. Because the operating system stores new data in whatever free space is available, data files become spread out across the disk as they are updated. Large files may be broken into thousands of fragments, causing the read/write head to move back and forth numerous extra times to read the data. A "defragger" or "optimizer program" rewrites all the files and stores them in adjacent sectors.

Windows comes with the DEFRAG.EXE utility, which can be activated by the Run dialog from the Start menu. Other popular defraggers, such as Diskeeper, offer enhanced capabilities.

Users Run the Gamut
Some users are fanatical about defragging their disks on a regular basis. Others rarely do it, if ever. After defragmenting, performance increases are most noticeable on very large databases that had been heavily fragmented. Because today's computers are so fast, users may not notice any increase in speed with routine applications such as word processing and spreadsheets, especially if the files are small.

A Good Habit
Nevertheless, defragmenting disks regularly is good practice because it reduces wear and tear on the drive mechanism. In addition, should the hard disk ever crash and you did not back up important files, data recovery experts will tell you that a defragged disk is much easier to restore.

Before and After

Diskeeper is one of the most popular defraggers on the market. The red in the drive map at the top shows all the fragmented files. After defragmenting, the new drive map was pasted on the bottom for comparison. Diskeeper can be set up to defrag the disk whenever the machine is idle. As soon as the user clicks the mouse or presses a key, the defragging is suspended.