Mac OS X Defrag: Is It Really Necessary?
April 8, 2011
Mac OS X defrag is not necessary all the time because the operating itself has its own built-in journaled files system that already handles defragmentation automatically. But it is still advisable to choose the right third party defragmenting applications that will deal with the files in the hard drive and reorganize it together and improving the system’s performance in the process.
File Fragmentation: What Is It?
Fragmentation of files happens when it is scattered on different locations on the hard drive. This happens when large files are frequently created, modified and deleted. This is quite true when you create new files and delete the third one. If the new file that has been created is larger than the third file, the Mac OS X file system will store the new file to the space occupied by the third file and the remaining will be stored to other locations. If you want to access this file, the system will have to look at different places thus taking longer time to access this file.
Is There a Need To Defrag Mac OS X?
For Mac users they don’t need to worry about their hard drive getting defragmented because the system itself does not need to be frequently defragmented because it is already built with routine maintenance that deals with defragging process automatically. Although fragmentation happens in the system but this does not affect the entire performance of the Mac system. But if you still frequently create and delete large files this can really bring significant degradation in the Mac performance.
How to Defrag Mac OS X?
If you already notice that the Mac system already slowed down its performance it is about time that you use and install third party defragmenting applications for Mac OS X. Although the Apple itself does not recommend any defragmenting tool for their Mac but you can choose from the widely available defragging software in the market and even the Macintosh Products Guide will tell what defragging software to choose for your Mac system.
When it comes to defragging the Mac OS X, one of the best and recommended tools is the iDefrag that is quite easy to use and uses five different defragging algorithms. It even supports journaling, case sensitive filenames and HFS+. You can also use its free trial version and you can purchase the application at a price of $37. If you plan to run defragging software in your Mac make sure that you are not using your Mac because it can take several hours to defrag Mac OS X.
When defragging Mac hard drive it really requires large amount of data to be reorganized and rearranged. There is a larger risk that you might lose some important data in the process so it is important that you backup all the important files before defragging the hard drive. Once the defragmentation process is done, you will notice that the Mac’s performance has greatly improved and accessing files takes faster time.
Mac OS X defrag is quite beneficial in the process because this can tweak the performance of your Mac system and even resolve the issues on fragmented files. You only need to select the right defragging software that will work effectively on your Mac system and make sure that you backup all your important files before you proceed to defragging the Mac system.
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Defrag Macbook: How to Do It?
April 6, 2011
When large files are created and deleted frequently chances are they become fragmented and even results to slow down of Mac performance. If this happens it’s about time to defrag Macbook and you can do this by either using third party defragging applications or doing it the manual way which is quite risky.
Defrag MacBook with Third Party Applications
The newer versions of Mac operating system has already built in routine techniques that is needed in optimizing the hard disk. It uses the HFS+ (Hierarchical File System Plus) that defrags the hard disk automatically. No matter how frequent you create and open files it has great impact to the file system performance. Once the Macbook slows down its performance then chances are this is already fragmented and even degrade the whole Mac system performance.
It is quite recommended to defrag Macbook when the operating system already slowed down. Although the Apple Company doesn’t recommend the necessary applications that will defrag the hard disk but with the wide variety of third party software you can choose which one will deal with defragging process effectively. There are several companies that offers defragmentation applications for Macbook system itself. One of the recommended tools for Mac is the iDefrag. This can be downloaded readily from the developer’s site and is offered at a price value of $35.00. But then you can try its trial version also and see what it can do to your Macbook system. This applications is quite easy to use and even scan the hard disk before determining whether you need to defrag the Mac system or not.
Once the iDefrag application is installed in the Mac, it is needed to create the boot disk with the use of CD, then boot from the disk to run the iDefrag applications. Once running it will scan the hard disk and start performing the defragging process. You can choose from the different algorithms offered by the application from Compact, Full, Quick, etc. Once the defragmentation is done, restart the Mac and you will see an improve performance afterwards.
Other Ways to Defrag Mac Disk
If you have slow down Macbook performance but don’t want to purchase third party applications to defrag the hard disk, you can try alternate ways to defrag Macbook and this can be done by:
- Backing up all the important data then installing again the Mac OS X and then install and recover all the files back to the hard disk. But doing this can take a longer process.
- Back up all the files from the hard disk to external data storage such as USB or hard disk. Then trash the files in the Mac. And then retrieve back the files from external drive back to the Macbook.
Once the Macbook is getting slow on its performance this will tell you that the Mac system is already fragmented. It is quite recommended to defrag Macbook and you can either do this manually by backing up all the files in the hard disk and reinstalling the Mac OS X and the other is installing third party applications that perform defragging process. The latter process is quite recommended way to do it.
