What is defragmentation?The Disk Defragmentation tool "Defragmenter" analyzes local *volumes and consolidates fragmented files and folders so that each occupies a single, contiguous space on the volume. As a result, your system can access files and folders and save new ones more efficiently. By consolidating your files and folders, Disk Defragmenter also consolidates a volume's free space, making it less likely that new files will be *fragmented. The process of consolidating fragmented files and folders is called *defragmentation.The amount of time that defragmentation takes depends on several factors, including the size of the volume, the number and size of files on the volume, the amount of fragmentation, and the available local system resources. You can find all of the fragmented files and folders before defragmenting them by analyzing the volume first. You can then see how fragmented the volume is and decide whether you would benefit from defragmenting the volume. Disk Defragmenter can defragment volumes that are formatted with the file allocation table *FAT) file system, the FAT32 file system, and the *NTFS file system. Analysis and Defragmentation displays Each bar on the Analysis and Defragmentation displays represents a grouping of dozens or even hundreds of *clusters, depending on the size of the volume and the cluster. The analysis and defragmentation displays are not large enough to depict each disk cluster in a volume as a vertical colored bar. Because fragmented files, contiguous files, files that cannot be relocated from their current positions on the disk (unmovable files), and free space can all reside in the same group of clusters, the color of each vertical bar is determined by the following rules: Color Description Red: Most of the clusters are part of a fragmented file. Blue: Most of the clusters are contiguous files with clusters in the group that contain only free space and contiguous clusters. Green: Most of the clusters are part of a file that cannot be moved from its current location. White: Most of the clusters are free space and contiguous clusters. The Analysis and Defragmentation displays provide an approximate view of a volume's fragmentation. They show less detail than the reports. Therefore, if you compare the results, you might notice discrepancies. For precise, numerical figures, use the Analysis and Defragmentation Reports. Analysis and Defragmentation Reports You can view the Analysis and Defragmentation Reports after analyzing or defragmenting a volume. The Analysis and Defragmentation Reports provide detailed information about the volume that was scanned for fragmented files, including the volume size, the amount of free space available, the number of fragmented files and folders, and the average number of fragments per file.
Analysis Report You can view or print the Analysis Report only after you analyze a volume. The Analysis Report dialog box displays detailed information about the volume that was scanned for fragmented files and folders, including the path and name of the most fragmented files on the volume, and the number of fragments those files are in, the volume size, the amount of free space available, and the average number of fragment per file. If you use these files frequently, the impact on your system performance might be greater than indicated in Average fragments per file. The average number of fragments per file is a good indicator of how fragmented the files on the volume are. The following table describes the possible averages and what they indicate: Average fragments per file Description 1.00: Most or all files are contiguous. 1.10: About ten percent of the files are in fragments of two or more pieces. 1.20: About twenty percent of the files are in fragments of two or more pieces. 1.30: About thirty percent of the files are in fragments of two or more pieces. 2.00: Most or all of the files are in fragments of two or more pieces. Defragmentation Report You can view or print the Defragmentation Report only after you defragment a volume. The Defragmentation Report dialog box displays detailed information about the volume that was defragmented. The second half of the Defragmentation Report lists any files that were not defragmented. If the volume is formatted with the NTFS file system and a file is open and writable, the defragmentation report might show small files (for example, 1 KB in size) with a large number of fragments. This is because when a writable file is open, NTFS attempts to allocate additional space to help prevent fragmentation as the file grows. Because Disk Defragmenter does not allow the extra space to be moved and consolidated while the file is open, the extra space is shown as additional fragments in the report. Descriptions above from Microsoft
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