When businesses experience a slowdown in their computer network system it often results in an overall slowdown in their productivity. The reliance that we have placed upon our computers has grown so much that the slightest deviation from its normal functioning capabilities can be the difference between a productive work environment and one heading in the opposite direction.
We often take our computers for granted and expect them to execute our demands at the click of a button. Very little thought goes into what makes our computers run at optimal speed and, even more problematic, what could cause our computers to slow down. As we place more and more emphasis on the role our computers play in day-to-day business operations it becomes imperative that we become more proactive in taking care of those systems.
For most businesses the idea of securing the health of their computers is limited to installing virus protection software and spam filters. No doubt these two actions are important to protecting your computer but they are not the be-all and end-all in keeping your computer running quickly.
Businesses experiencing slow computer response times in booting up their system, loading applications or accessing their files are likely to be working on a computer with a fragmented hard drive. The symptoms of fragmentation are typically overlooked by most users who will dismiss the slowdown as just a byproduct of age. The truth is there is an easy solution to restoring your computers speed and it doesn’t involve investing thousands of dollars replacing the system.
Go into any computer retail store and right next to the latest anti-virus software and spam blockers will be defragmentation software. By running defragmentation software on your computer you effectively clean your hard drive of the fragmented files that have slowed your computer to a crawl.
Fragmentation is a subtle foe for many computer users. Because we use our computers on a daily basis it becomes easy for us to overlook a slight computer performance problem when it comes to speed. The slowdown is minimal at first but over time we can become hostages to the delay time involved in our computers speed issues. Before we know it the computer that once performed with lightning speed has practically shut down our ability to be productive.
It’s important to recognize that fragmentation is a normal experience for our computers yet it doesn’t have to become an issue that frustrates us to no end. Fragmentation occurs as a result of how our computers organize files on the hard drive. Our information is saved in a “block” that contains a designated amount of space to store information. Early on those blocks are kept in order but over time, as we modify and delete files from those blocks, they no longer mirror the cohesiveness that they once sustained.
When we retrieve a file from a block that is full and then modify that file and save the changes we run into problems. The newly saved file no longer fits into the space that the original occupied and now your computer is forced to cut the file and place the excess information into another block. The next time you try to retrieve that file your computer is forced to search for the pieces that comprise the entire file, thus the delay.
By installing defragmentation software you can clean your hard drive of fragmented files. Defrag will re-piece the fragmented data and information and save it in one space. This allows your computer to carry out your requests in a much faster manner. Defrag will also create larger blocks on your hard drive to store your saved files. These blocks will also be able to facilitate changes to existing files meaning you can modify a file without worrying about it becoming fragmented.
So for businesses who are experiencing a slowdown in their computer speed the best decision you can make is a quick stop at the computer retailer near you and pick up some defrag software.
