How Often To Defrag

If defragging your computer results in a performance increase, it would seem that frequently defragmenting your computer would keep it in top form at all times. But exactly how often should you defragment your hard drive?

This question is often hotly debated because the answer is relative to what you use your computer for. Any computer use (even simply turning on your computer and turning it off again) creates a degree of file fragmentation. To know how often you should defragment your hard drive, you first need to know what kind of a computer user you are. Most computer users can be sorted into three categories: minimal users, moderate users, and advanced users.

Minimal. A minimal computer user only uses a computer for a certain fixed task, such as typing a letter or playing solitaire. Most often, a minimal user does not use email or the Internet and is on his computer less than a few hours a week. Minimal users should defragment their hard drive once each month at minimum. While additional defragmentations will not hurt the drive, the performance gained through the process does not justify the time or effort.

Moderate. A moderate user uses his computer on a daily basis for Internet, email, word processing, or other productivity tasks. Digital photography activity, music downloading, and frequently adding and removing programs can lead to significant file fragmentation in a short period of time. A home office user would easily fit into this category. Moderate computer users should defragment their hard drive once each week. The temporary Internet files that are stored and subsequently deleted can lead to significant file fragmentation. In addition, desktop publishing applications or other productivity tools tend to create significantly large temporary files that are frequently modified and then deleted once the application is closed. The holes left behind by these deleted files are known as free space fragmentation.

Advanced. An advanced user is defined as a computer user who uses his computer for several hours each day for intense activities. These activities can include high-end video gaming, video- or audio-editing, advanced photo manipulation, and software development. Advanced users should defragment their hard drive(s) daily or every other day. The typical advanced user activities create enormous temporary files that are almost constantly modified before eventually being deleted. In addition, the massive audio or video files that are created by these users tend to be broken up and stored in every available nook and cranny on the drive. Advanced users who do not defragment their drives frequently will see rapid and dramatic reductions in performance as a result of file fragmentation.