Older computers would slow down due to that clogging, which is obviously annoying. Isn’t the contents of sectors/clusters then neatly rearranged, so that massive blocks on the disk are again created that are more quickly “accessible”?
Asker: John, age 67
Answer
Indeed, older computers – especially those running on the Microsoft Windows operating system – do tend to slow down over time. For the purposes of this answer I will assume that you are indeed talking about a computer running the Microsoft Windows operating system.
One of the reasons for this – as you correctly quoted – is the fragmentation of files.
Larger files are then divided over various disk space freed up by previous operations, which means that reading them in takes longer (after all, the read head on a hard disk must then have time to switch between the different parts of the disk).
You can indeed remedy this by regularly ‘defragmenting’ a disk, so that all files are neatly placed next to each other again, and larger/frequently used files are optimally placed on the hard disk.
Other reasons are more programmatic in nature:
- when you install new software, new central software libraries are also installed, new values ​​are added to the central program registry, etc…
- When these programs are uninstalled or upgraded, remnants of that code often ‘hang’, so that the computer has to ‘remember’ a lot of information that it no longer needs.
- when errors are discovered in the software, they are fixed by installing so-called ‘patches’. Parts of the instructions (code) of that program are replaced by other pieces of code.
This makes executing the commands more complex for the operating system, slowing it down. Usually these latest changes are integrated into a ‘Service Pack’ over time. When you purchase software, there is usually a mention of which Service Pack has already been integrated (you can tell by the SP1, SP2, etc… designation).
Over time, it may therefore be appropriate to completely reinstall the computer from the original source, or from a source that has already integrated previous service packs.
You will notice that the computer works more smoothly afterwards. Don’t forget to make a backup of all your data first, including saved email files and passwords.
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