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defragmentation

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by jardinier

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Can someone explain to me while in all Windows OSs, after an application is started, when it is closed, instead of returning all the bits of the application to their original locations on the hard drive, they are seemingly spewed randomly across thehard drive, thus requiring regular defragmentation?
Additionally, is there any truth in the commonly held view that Macintosh computers, because they use a "hierarchical filing system," don't become fragmented?

3 replies

by thechas

I have never seen program files become fragmented from running the program.

Documents, YES!

But, program files, only when updates are installed are the files moved about on the hard drive.

When you run a program, you DO NOT move the files from the hard drive into memory.
What happens is that the software code, and the operating system execute command statements in memory.

One of the best ways to reduce fragmentation on a Windows PC is to create a seperate drive for the swap/paging file (virtual memory)

Most file fragmentation happens because the swap file dynamically changes in size, and uses different parts of the resident (C:) drive.

Chas

by jardinier

Thanks, TheChas, for your prompt and insightful reply. I have long been in the habit of creating a permanent swap file on Windows 3.1, but apparently, suggested by your advice, I have been naive enough to believe the advice on Windows 95 and up, to let Windows manage my virtual memory.
I still await a response to the second part of my question: is it true that Macintosh hard drives do not become fragmented?
Again, many thanks.
I note from your profile that your hobbies, music and science fiction, match two of mine, the others being gardening, writing and religion/philosophy.

by knye

mac hard drives become fragmented. boot to a utilities
cd (techtool, norton) and run speed disk. the difference
here that macs will not defrag the active OS, you must
boot from a different partition, drive, cd........

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