The more frequent the file deletion, the more fragments. The large files you downloaded will be divided into several small files and stored on the hard disk. The virtual memory management program frequently reads and writes on the hard disk, which can result in a lot of fragments. The hard disk space will be occupied by these files that have been virtualized into memory. Generally, the OS will generate temporary swap files on the hard disk.

If a program wants to read the files again, the relevant component must go to a different storage place to read, which is why your computer gets slower than before. When the HDD is used for a long time, the files will be scattered to discontinuous positions in the disk.

After a brief reading about the working details of your external HDD, you can select the appropriate solution according to your situation. Should I defragment my external hard drive? May that hurt my external hard drive? In this part, we’ll explain how HDD works, where fragments come from, and how defragmentation performs to improve the hard drive performance.

Windows 10 disk defragmenter