However, as you create, delete, and modify files over months or years, gaps appear. The cabinet becomes messy. When you later save a large file, there may not be a single gap large enough to hold it. The operating system is forced to and stuff each piece into different available gaps around the disk.

False. Weekly or monthly is plenty. Over-defragging wears out an HDD’s mechanical parts.

1. What is Fragmentation? To understand defragmentation, you must first understand fragmentation.

Never power off or force reboot during a defrag. You can corrupt the filesystem. Let it finish or cancel properly.