Fragmentation Risks?

[Aramax]

Hey!
I know there have been a lot of debate on this topic. But does fragmentation really damage the hard disk? or does it affect the disk performance? Help guys! I haven't defragmented my drives since a year...!

[FaMe FacToR]

Hey!
I don't know what are the causes and effects of fragmentation cause i haven't defragmented my old computer for atleast 20 something months and it is going along very nicely with its low specs, nothing has happened to the system files that i can see....!

[SmirnOFF]

Hey!
The only other serious problem with fragmentation is of file recovery. Chances of full recovery [with any utility] are more if the file is in contiguous space than if its all over the place... All the best...!

[Rudra.J]

Hey!
The logic of disk getting affected due to fragmentation is simple. When you save a file that is large enough to get fragmented, it will be scattered on the disk in a non-contiguous manner. To read the file the disk must move its head positions every time. This makes the access slow and time consuming...
Hope thi helps you...! All the best...!

[Dr. V]

Basically, two types of fragmentation occurs:

• Internal fragmentation
• External fragmentation

Internal fragmentation

Internal fragmentation occurs when storage is allocated without ever intending to use it. This space is wasted. It is often accepted in return for increased efficiency or simplicity.
The term "internal" refers to the fact that the unusable storage is inside the allocated region but is not being used.

External fragmentation

External fragmentation is the phenomenon in which free storage becomes divided into many small pieces over time. It is a weakness of certain storage allocation algorithms, occurring when an application allocates and deallocates ("frees") regions of storage of varying sizes, and the allocation algorithm responds by leaving the allocated and deallocated regions interspersed. The result is that although free storage is available, it is effectively unusable because it is divided into pieces that are too small to satisfy the demands of the application.
The term "external" refers to the fact that the unusable storage is outside the allocated regions.
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