CompuClever Blog

Hard Disk Drive Basics

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An effective disk defragmenter is a vital utility for all PC users who take an active role in improving system performance. We have created two informational articles to cover this important topic thoroughly but in terminology that all computer users can understand. This article examines Hard Disk Drives and how they become fragmented. The follow up article will detail how fragmentation can impact system performance and how defragmentation and best practices can restore PC performance.

The Hard Disk Drive (HDD) is the main storage device for your PC; it is the mechanism that writes and reads data on the hard disk.  The HDD components consist of one or more drive platters sealed within a casing.  These drives connect to the motherboard of the computer through the use of internal data transfer and power cables.

The components within the drive include:

  • Head Actuator: controls the actuator arm.
  • Read/Write Actuator Arm: is similar to the arm of a record player; as the platter is spinning the arm locates and accesses the data needed so it can be read, written (edited), and deleted.
  • Read/Write Head: this is the device at the end of the actuator arm and is used to write or read the data on the platter.
  • Spindle: holds the platter in place.
  • Platter: one or more disks (aluminum, glass, or ceramic) that stores the data.  These are coated with a magnetic media and platters rotate at various rotations per minute based on the model of the Hard Disk Drive.

Another critical component is the Disk Controller which contains the necessary instructions for the drive.

Here’s How It Works: Data is transferred to and from the HDD and interpreted by the Disk Controller which acts like the conductor as it instructs the hard drive in terms of what to do and how the internal components needs to function.  When you instruct your PC to read or write data, the operating system examines the hard drives’ File Allocation Table (FAT) to examine the available space and location.  Once the space is identified, the Disk Controller gives instruction to the Read/Write Actuator Arm and to align the Read/Write Head.  Files are often spread out in different areas and the Read/Write Head needs to travel to each location to access the required data.

In this process, the data is stored magnetically like how a cassette tape works.  In fact, both use the same recording techniques.  The magnetic medium can be erased and re-written easily.  If your PC needs data it would read the magnetic polarities on the platter.  One side is a “0” and the other a “1” – this is referred to as binary data.  Unlike cassette tapes, the Read/Write Head never touches the disk and consumer PC platters typically spin at 7,200 rpm; a speed of up to 3,000 inches per second.  Also, much more information can be read to a disk in much smaller space than cassettes.  Both speed and precision account for the ability to record so much data in such small magnetic domains.

The Platter:  The data that is written onto the platter is stored in tracks and sectors.  A track is a concentric circle on the platter and a sector is a wedge, a pie-shaped section on the platter.  Where these two shapes intersect is a single section on a single track which is known as a “track sector”.  File systems, which work to organize these massive amounts of data, will organize groups of sectors into clusters.  These terms are useful to familiarize yourself with when looking at the process of fragmentation.

Fragmentation

Disk fragmentation is a condition which occurs when files are stored in scattered sections throughout the disk.  This occurs as a result of frequently creating, deleting, and modifying files.  The operating system uses what free space is available including those areas of the disk that become available when items are moved or deleted.  When files do not fit exactly they are broken into pieces; into non-contiguous clusters.  Working with large files and numerous files can exacerbate this condition.  One of the negative results of this is performance degradation.

How it happens:  Storing new data, deleting data, and making modifications to files are all normal day-to-day occurrences with PC use.  Disk fragmentation occurs over time as a result of these activities.  Here is an example.  You download a Word document from email.  It is stored in available free space on your disk.  Each time you make a change to the file and save the changes, the data is stored in a location different from the original.  Further revisions to the file are again stored in different locations.  Not only is the disk fragmented over time, so are the files that are modified in this way.  The PC has to search for these fragments in different places and as a result the computer performance is slower than what it could be if the files were stored in a sequential fashion.

In other cases one file may be written to the disk in numerous places of the disk as a result of the size of the file or the available space on the disk.  Also, groups of files that are needed to be read sequentially (audio/visual gaming media, resource files for an application, and more) are often stored in a non-contiguous or fragmented order. Over time even files that are stored in a contiguous fashion may become fragmented as some files are deleted or updates are made.  In these cases files that are unrelated are filled into the gaps that are created.  Many of the modern systems on the market today suffer less from fragmentation due to the size of the disk with respect to capacity.  If there is considerable free space available, fragmentation is less likely to be as severe.

Summary

Fragmentation occurs with regular PC use.  While some activities such as installing / uninstalling large applications and media files can result in more rapid fragmentation, gradual fragmentation can occur from online surfing and the use of office applications.

To learn how a performance degrades when a PC experiences fragmentation and be proactive with regular defragmentation that suites your computing day-to-day use, read the following articles:

 

Defragmentation and Optimization

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An effective disk defragmenter is a vital utility for all PC users who take an active role in improving system performance. The previous article on this topic examined how Hard Disk Drives become fragmented. With this general knowledge we can now describe how fragmentation can impact system performance and how defragmentation and best practices can restore PC performance.

Hard Disk Drive (HDD) performance is measured in the following manners:

  • Seek time:  This is the time from when the processor (CPU) makes its request to when the data is first delivered.  Common seek time rates fall between 10 to 20 milliseconds.
  • Data rate:  This is the rate at which data can be delivered to the CPU.  Data rate times typically range from 5 to 40 MB per second.

The size (capacity) of the drive and the amount of free space is another key factor with respect to HDD performance.

The performance of the HDD can be a bottleneck for your PC even if you have plenty of RAM and are using a very high-end processor (CPU).  This is especially true and perhaps noticeable when you have to open and use data files that are very large such as movies, database files, .ISO files, and other media files that can be gigabytes in size and stored in numerous areas on the platter.  With continued use of you PC this degradation of performance can be more apparent compared to when a PC is new or freshly formatted.

The reason:  From the information presented in the previous article (Hard disk drive basics) we can visualize how much more the Read/Write Actuator Arm has to physically move from track to track on the platter.  To locate each sector the arm has to move to the specific track and wait for the disk to spin to the correct position.  In terms of PC speed, this physical movement is vastly slower than processing and memory access speeds.   It is easy to imagine that if a large file is stored in hundreds or thousands of locations, the time to complete a task is increased exponentially.  The result is slower access of data due to increased seek time and data rates.  Another term that characterizes this condition is rotational latency of the Read/Write Head.  Minimizing this physical action is the goal of defragmentation and performance optimization.

What you experience:  The effects of HDD fragmentation include a slowdown in overall PC speed and responsiveness of basic functions.  This means that files take longer to open, scans take longer to perform, and applications can take longer to perform their operations.  Some generalized degradation occurs for all user and system activities.  PC experimentation and testing proves this to be the case:

“In my lab, I was able to demonstrate that fragmentation has a moderate to very severe impact on common desktop activities such as word processing, email, Web browsing, anti-virus scans and anti-spyware scans. In some cases, the performance impact resulted in activities taking almost 15 times longer than the same activities on non-fragmented drives”.

When you continue to perform operations on a fragmented drive the condition worsens.  For example, if you install new software or install a service pack, the newly installed data will be placed throughout the drive.  When the newly installed software is called upon, performance is poor as data is retrieved from multiple areas of the HDD.

Disk Defrag – Optimization

The process of defragmentation involves the reduction of fragmentation by physically re-arranging the scattered data fragments into areas that are more contiguous.  That is to say, the data is more sequential and more easily accessed by the HDD.  In this process larger sections of available free space are created.  In doing so seek time is reduced as data rates are enhanced.

How it works: Good defragmenters use sophisticated technology including algorithmic processing to use available free space to best re-arrange scattered data.  In effect, it is re-arranging broken files back together using what free space is available.  To do this it re-writes the data in a consecutive sequence.  In order for it to be successful some amount of free space is required.  As we will point out, free space is a key concern for defragmenters.

Benefits: There are realized benefits to be gained from regular defragmentation of the HDD.

  • Free space is now organized rather than scatted throughout the drive. This means that files that are installed can be installed in a non-fragmented manner.  This includes groupings of files as mentioned previously with multimedia files, resource files, and the like.
  • Defragmentation of you PC results in faster PC performance. There is a reduction in time it takes to load programs, open files, and perform routine operations (including program scans).

Concerns: There are a number of concerns that are important to be aware of.

  • Free Space: You need the minimum amount of free space in order for defragmentation to work successfully.  See the next section for more information.
  • Frequency:  Excessive defragmentation can result in damage to your HDD; you can shorten the lifespan of the hard drive.
  • Duration:  It takes time to run a defragmenter and during this time regular PC operations need to be put on hold.
  • Difficult of use:   Some PC users worry that running a defragmenter is difficult and requires expertise.
  • Other rare concerns:  Some defragmenters can delete System Restore points.  The defrag process can cause the Microsoft Shadow Copy service to delete some of the oldest Restore Points.  In rare cases, files can be damaged as a result of defragmentation.

Best Practices

There are a number of best practices to consider especially in light of the concerns that are listed in the previous section.  For the purpose of this article we will keep the coverage of these items relevant to the points addressed.  Other best practices (such as removal of unwanted “junk” files will be covered in more detail in our blog article: “How to defrag your hard drives“.

  • Free Space:  For most all defragmenters such as the Windows Defrag tool, a minimum of 15% free space is required.  CompuClever’s PC TuneUp Maestro requires less free space; a minimum of 3% is required.  However, as free space is made more available, defragmentation can be faster and more efficient.  We recommend removal of unwanted files followed by running the Disk Defrag tool.  This needs to occur proactively rather than experiencing the condition of having very little free space available.  Poor system performance is most greatly experienced in such cases where there is very little free space.
  • Frequency:  How often you defragment your PC depends on your computing usage and the rate of fragmentation that occurs.  For example, if you use larger multi-media files, editing and deleting large data files, or use resource-laden applications, or if you install and uninstall a lot of applications, then you will need to defragment more often.  Having a defragmenter identify the level of HDD fragmentation is very useful in determining the need for defragmentation.
  • Duration:  It is best to leave the PC alone during the defrag process.  Not only will you experience poor system performance during this time (as the HDD is engaged in reorganizing data), but the act of changing files from the operations you make could be challenging for the defragmenter as it has to deal with unexpected file and data revisions.  It is best to shut down all running programs and run the Defrag tool in a “down time” such as late evening or at night.  Having a Defrag scheduler is very handy in these cases.
  • Expertise:  We recommend using PC TuneUp Maestro Disk Defrag tool.  It includes easy-to-follow steps, offers a clear visual representation of the fragmented space, and provides clear direction with respect to when and how to use it.  You can become an expert in how to defragment your HDD and benefit from dramatic performance improvements and ongoing PC good health.

Summary

Fragmentation occurs with regular PC use.  When a PC becomes fragmented the performance degrades.  You can begin to notice slower response times in many of the regular operations such as opening programs, saving changes to a file, and even shutdown times can be affected as your PC reads each piece of data before it shuts down.

Regular defragmentation can result in numerous benefits including the optimization of performance and overall health of your PC.  In some cases, for those operating high-volume business enterprises, it can even prolong the need for hardware upgrades.  Being proactive with regular defragmentation that suits your computing day-to-day use constitutes best PC practices.

 

How Defrag Hard Drives to Speed Up Your PC

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One of the most effective ways of speeding up your PC is to defrag your hard drive. This article contains a full layout of how to dramatically improve the health and performance of your PC by using the PC TuneUp Maestro Defrag Disk utility. We will cover, in brief, preparing your PC by removing unwanted files. Next we will lay out step-by-step instructions for using the Disk Defrag tool. To wrap up, we will cover some additional tips and features such as frequency of defragmentation and automation of the Defrag tool. So, let’s begin.

Download free defrag tool

You can get lots of information on the subject of defragmentation in the following articles:

Best Practices

There are a few best practice recommendations to outline from the start.

Clean Up: Before you can organize, it is always best to do a quick clean up.  This is also true with your Hard Disk Drive (HDD).  If you stop to think about it, the defragment process works to organize scattered data caused from installing, modifying, and deleting files and software.  Before doing a defrag is the best time to do a quick removal of junk items including files in the recycle bin, temp files (unwanted items that are created as temporary storage), outdated cache items, log files, and more.  With even the free trial version of PC Clean Maestro you can do this quickly and easily.

Close Applications: It is best to close down any applications that are running.  Software programs can be a challenge for Defrag tools as files are altered or created through regular program operations (even ones that occur behind the scenes from a running application).

Give it Time: We recommend leaving the PC alone during the defrag process.  Not only will you experience poor system performance during this time (as the HDD is engaged in reorganizing data), but the act of changing files through the operations you make could be challenging for the defragmentation process as it has to deal with unexpected file and data revisions.  It is best to shut down all running programs and run the Defrag tool in a “down time” such as late evening or at night.  Having a Defrag scheduler is very handy in these cases and we will cover this at the end of this article.

Download free defrag tool

Steps to Defrag

We have outlined four easy steps with screenshots to guide you easily through the defragmentation process.

    1. Clean up unwanted “junk” files

As stated above, we highly recommend cleaning all unwanted files with the use of PC Clean Maestro.  The steps to take are easy – it involves scanning your PC, examining the list of detected items, and cleaning the items.

    1. Select the volume

You can select any and all volumes that are listed.  In the case that your hard drive has several distinct partitions, each one will be displayed here.  External drives and storage media devices (such as flash cards, USB sticks, external hard drives, etc.), are not included in the list of identified volumes.  In the case of Solid State Drives (SSD), – these are data storage devices that employ integrated circuit assemblies as memory to store data in a persistent manner.  They are also characterized by not having any moving mechanical parts and can often be found in laptops – PC TuneUp Maestro does not differentiate these from other volumes.

PC TuneUp Maestro – Defrag : Select disk volume

Recommendation: Do not include an SSD to be fragmented.  These types of drives are not meant to be defragmented.  Defragmentation will cause wear as additional writes are made to the flash cells which have a limited cycle life.  Also, these drives experience very little fragmentation.

    1. Scan for fragmentation

The first stage of defragmentation involves scanning the selected volume (or volumes) to assess the amount of fragmentation.  In this way you can make an informed choice of whether to go ahead with the defrag process.  When you are ready you can click the “Start” button.  While the scan is being performed you can see a visual representation of the data secotrs on your disk.  Each of these is assigned a color to identify it as empty, not fragmented, unmovable, fragmented, busy or reserved space.

PC TuneUp Maestro – Defrag: Scan for disk fragmentation

When the scan is complete the results are displayed. The most important piece of information is the overall percentage of fragmentation.  If there are only a few percentages of fragmentation you can rest easy and run this process another time (in a few weeks for example).  If more defragmentation is identified you need to continue to the next step.  For a PC that has been in use a long time and has not been defragmented, you will likely experience considerable fragmentation.

One other point to mention… you need to examine how much free space is available.  There is a column in the summary table that displays this as well.  While many Defrag tools require 15% free space, PC TuneUp Maestro can get the job done with at least 3% free space.  If you have very little free space (less than 3%), you need to re-visit step 1.

    1. Defrag – Quick and Full

You can now begin to defragment your HDD. You can click the “Defrag Now” button and the default action (Quick or Full Defrag) will initiate. Keep in mind that you can choose to perform a Quick or a Full Defrag and you can select which of these you want as the default action by using the drop down arrow (when you first run the program the default action is set to Full Defrag).

PC TuneUp Maestro – Defrag: Quick vs. Full
  • Quick Defrag: You have the option of saving some time by performing a Quick Defrag – a good choice if there is a lot of available space, the percentage of fragmentation is low, and you do not have a lot of free “down” time and want to use your PC.When performing a Quick Defrag, PC TuneUp Maestro does not re-allocate free space on the volume in order to defrag items. The best example to visualize is having ten fragmented files and only three can be moved to areas where the free space already exists. It would be like having a picture puzzle and only moving joined pieces to free space rather than shuffling empty space to create larger free space.
  • Full Defrag: This option is more thorough and will take more time. When performing a Full Defrag, PC TuneUp Maestro will re-allocate free space on the volume to get the job done. It would be like having a picture puzzle and efficiently organizing the free spaces so that all joined pieces can be moved to space that has been made available.The time this process takes depends on many factors including how defragmented the files are, how large the defragmented files are, and the number of files. Keep in mind the point made above: it is best to leave your PC alone during this process. You need to set aside some time for this to complete. If you want to perform the Full Defrag another time then cancel the procedure. Simply pick a time when you are away from the computer. You can even use the Disk Defrag Schedule to automate all of this.

Download free defrag tool

Additional

You now have the fundamental knowledge required to perform defragmentation on your PC.  There are only a few additional tips to pass along as you get better and better at performing this function.

  1. Regular Defrag – Frequency: How often to defragment your PC is going to depend on how often you and your family use your PC and what kind of activities are performed. If there is a lot of time being spent on the PC with a lot of installation of software and downloading and editing of large files (such as multi-media files), you will need to examine the fragmentation levels on a regular basis – maybe every week or two weeks. If you notice that you need to do this on a regular basis and would prefer to have this run when your PC is on and you are not using it, we recommend using the Schedule tool.
  2. Schedule / Automate: You can schedule PC TuneUp Maestro to run on a regular basis. There are several options you can set including which volume(s), what time of day, day of the week, and whether you would like to simply scan your PC to assess the defragmentation or you would like to have an automatic scan and defragmentation.

    PC TuneUp Maestro: Schedule automatic disk defrag scan

Now that you know the process of defragmentation, you are well underway to taking on one of the most influential steps in improving your PC performance – disk defragmentation.  We plan on providing you even more PC optimization skills.  It is our hope that this and future articles are useful to you and together we can optimize the functioning and overall health of you PC.

A Close Brush with McAfee

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“Safe is not a privilege.  It is a right.  Safe never sleeps.”

This is the message that McAfee delivers on their home page.  They claim to provide comprehensive anti-theft protection.  So what is theft?  What kind of price do we expect and are asked to endure in order to get “protection”?  Let’s look at the details which we at CompuClever experienced first-hand.

McAfee

  • Prior to Sept. 17 2012:  We were contacted by McAfee Web Security team about renewing our web security monitoring service for the next two years.  We had been using this service for the past four years, but given there are comparable services with better pricing plans, we decided not to renew.  The expired American Express credit card information was stored on our McAfee account.  The card expired in May 2012 and we decided to not update the card record, thinking that no one could do anything using a credit card with invalid expire date.
  • Oct. 22, 2012:  We discovered a transaction of $3,910.44 was charged by McAfee on Sept. 17th 2012, for a two-year web security monitoring service that we didn’t want to renew.  No bill, invoice, or notification of any sort was sent by McAfee.  After reviewing our account information, we also discovered that McAfee had altered the credit card expiry date by adding one year to it.  We immediately contacted our McAfee Account Manager by email and asked him to reverse the charge.
  • Nov. 8, 2012:  We did not receive any reply from McAfee.  We called our account manager, who transferred us to the Renewals Account Manager.  She replied that we should have provided a written notice to cancel our renewal and since we are beyond the 30 day period she would not reverse the process.  She also stated that we have to play according to the “terms” and there was nothing at all she could do.
  • Nov. 8, 2012:  We filed a complaint with the McAfee Ethics Point group, which is McAfee’s corporate business ethics governance department, and McAfee’s PR department.
  • Nov. 9, 2012:  Someone from the McAfee Security team called us and offered us a partial refund.  We refused.
  • Nov 13, 2012:  McAfee Ethics Point sent an email saying that they are looking into the case.  This is the last piece of communication we received from McAfee.

American Express (AMEX)

  • Oct 22, 2012:  We contacted AMEX to report the case.  At the beginning the AMEX agent tried to brush us off after she learned that we had had a previous relationship with McAfee.  Then we pushed the fact that McAfee had forged our credit card expiry date and AMEX actually let this illegal charge go through.  AMEX then agreed to establish an investigation to look into the matter.
  • Nov 2, 2012:  AMEX notified us that the charge was temporarily suspended while they were investigating the incident.
  • Nov 21, 2012:  AMEX informed us about the result of the investigation – they revoked the illegal charge and credited our account.  More specifically, AMEX stated that “the merchant (McAfee) has not provided us with information required to resolve this matter”.

In this cyber age when a good portion of us purchase products and services online by providing and entrusting our credit card information to vendors like Amazon and eBay, this awakening experience provoked us to think twice about “Who Can You Trust“.  As individual PC users who interact with the online world through our computers, we need to practice caution before storing credit card information with a vendor, even if that’s with McAfee, a supposedly trustworthy business entity.

This experience has hit close to home for us at CompuClever as both product users and product suppliers.  As a product vendor and service provider, we see the need to scrutinize our practices to insure our business ethics are upheld and adhered to while at the same time we are driven to create revenue and profit for our stakeholders.  Correspondence and communication with our users enables a two-way relation which stands in stark contrast to dealing with clientele as faceless entities within a system; clientele that are required to play according to a one-sided set of terms.  We hope this article has been of use to you and we encourage your feedback.

Who Can You Trust?

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There are software producers that are dedicated to security, safety, and to combat online crime.  One of the guiding principles for CompuClever is to assist users in making their PC secure by removing confidential and private information such as banking and credit card data.  There are many security vendors that protect our computers from viral attacks – viruses and malware and the like.  We come to rely on these companies and trust they employ high standards of ethics.  However, when it comes to the “bottom line” – money and the pursuit of profits – you need to be vigilant and you need to take precautions.  In some cases, such as the example described here, you need to take a stand.

McAfee Forges Credit Card

McAfee is a security software company based in California which was purchased in 2010 by Intel for $7.68 billion.  We are no less than shocked to experience first-hand that McAfee, a company whose objective is to protect its clientele from fraudulent behaviour, would go as far as to force a transaction by arbitrarily picking a new credit card expiry date.  This was done all for the purpose of renewing a software service license.  In this article we will provide an overview as follows.  The specifics and details of this case can be seen in detail in our blog (provide link).

  1. We had been a McAfee Secure customer for the past four years until September 2012.  We made a conscious decision to not renew our service contract by not updating our credit card information which had expired.
  2. McAfee went ahead to make the charge anyhow without notifying us or presenting us with the bill or invoice.
  3. The charge went through based on a forged credit card expiry date.  American Express had accepted the charge and processed it without due diligence of the altered expiry date.
  4. We followed up with both McAfee and American Express.   Refer to the blog article for details.

The Response

What has been the response from McAfee when confronted?  Rather than apologizing and reversing the wrong-doing we had some alarming comments back from McAfee representatives.  We were told that the onus was on us to provide a written notice to cancel our renewal.  We were told that we needed to: “play according to the terms”.  We were also told that the change to the credit card expiry date was the result of adjustments that occur within “the system”.  These responses are indicative of a failure to take responsibility and to practice good ethics when conducting business.

McAfee has taken measures that resemble the classic case of a “bad cop” – someone who is on the take and have put themselves above the law.  Their actions and lack of good practices (such as providing clear measures to exit the license subscription), are a form of entrapment.  This transgression either reflects unethical business practices or in fact willfully fraudulent and illegal action.  In either case, trusting the very businesses that prides themselves on protecting you from malicious and malevolent actions, is fundamentally taking advantage of the good faith we place in our day to day relationships and transactions.

How to Protect Yourself

The following list includes recommendation on how you can prevent these kinds of occurrences from happening.

  1. Be careful of entering a renewable products/service contract.   Examine the details of how the renewal of a software license occurs.  Be especially clear if it happens automatically with online banking.
  2. Be very clear of the cancellation policy.  If you want to cancel it is best to have some evidence of this.  Use email, fax, or write a letter to the service provider.
  3. Always review your credit card bill.  Be vigilant for any items that are not authorized.
  4. Do not store credit card information with vendors and service providers as they can be misused as is clear in this case presented here.
  5. Guard your credit card information.  Do not leave sensitive personal and private information on your PC or in any place that it can fall into the wrong hands.

Good Business Practices

There are business practices that we must expect from the companies we do business with.  We need to set a standard.  We need companies to gain our permission – explicit permission – when renewing licenses.  We need to demand that companies not store our credit card information.  One only has to recall how Sony was the victim of online theft not only once but twice in the beginning of 2011.  The first time data thieves pilfered personal information that was not encrypted.  The second time was a security breach that involved theft of over 12,000 credit card numbers.

At CompuClever we provide perpetual software usage (the user can continue to use the software indefinitely), that comes with one year of product updates and customer support which can be renewed.   Prior to the expiration of the one year subscription, the user makes the explicit decision to renew product updates and customer support.  We also make it our business to not store payment information.  Every renewal is treated like a new transaction using trusted e-commerce service providers to keep confidential information safe and secure.

On Your PC

On a final note, securing credit card information and other confidential data needs to be a part of your security routine.  If online theft can break through whatever systems Sony had in place, it’s a sure bet you could be a victim of online theft.  The safest action you can take is to NOT store confidential data on your PC.  PC Clean Maestro can assist you in keeping information from falling into the wrong hands.

Safety and ethical business practices go hand-in-hand.  That is to say, you need to keep your information safe and be certain that the companies you deal with are using ethical business practices.  We at CompuClever make it our business to re-define quality of service; we dedicate ourselves to re-establishing trust.