How to delete a file that is fragmented

[Itsme]

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How a file can be deleted that is still fragmented after defragmentation, which is fragmented more and more and which is unusable by the system. Thank you

[Viceman]

Files are stored on a hard disk in individual chunks called clusters. If a file is fragmented that means the individual clusters that make up the file are scattered over the hard disk. When the hard disk is de-fragmented, a file's individual clusters get lined up next to each other, like ducks in a row.

Whether files are fragmented or contiguous, the operating system knows where to find all the clusters and how to put them together in the right order. The benefit of defragmenting a disk is that the read/write heads don't have to go running all over the hard disk to find the individual clusters of a file...they're lined up nice and neat. This makes accessing the files that much faster, so your computer appears to run faster.

Fragmentation is a completely normal part of computing. The second after you finish defragmenting a hard disk it starts to get fragmented again. So not to worry. And don't feel bad for those read/write heads. They are very quick and will last for many years.

[JAMES_911]

You do not want to delete Fragmented files. They are files that are just not contigious(aligned in the proper order). You need to defragment the drive to get things in order. If you start deleting files that are fragmented they could be part of the operating system which means you will have problems with the computer not running correctly or even not starting up at all.

[Expertz]

You don't really remove them, you just defragment the files. Click on Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and then Disk defragmenter and run it.

Since you've forgotten to mention which Platform you're using, I'm assuming that it's Windows XP.

These two articles from Microsoft's Knowledge Base and others are relevent to your question; and I'd suggest that you study them.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...storeperf.mspx

http://www.microsoft.com/atwork/gets...speed.mspx#ENH