Why Your Computer’s Registry Is More Important Than Disk Defragmenting

The windows registry is a database that stores settings and options for an operating system of Windows. It contains information for all hardware attached to the computer, as well information on  the operating system and its users 

Whenever a change is made in Control Panel settings or when a new software or hardware is installed this changes are stored in the registry.

Though initially the system was made from INI files, they were spread all over the system what made them hard to track, now we have only one INI files in a centralized registry with the fallowing advantages:

»     The registry keep machine configuration separate from user configuration.

»    Group policy allows administrators from a computer network to manage policy settings and different programs. They are able to set what an entry in the registry will be available for all the computers in the network, something impossible with INI files, stored all over the computer

»    The registry can be accessed from all over the network as one item

»    They can be backed up more easily

»    Accessing the registry does not need, they can be read and written more quickly than a text file

»    Registry changes can be tracked; this is a big advantage for debugging problem, and for generating scripts.

On the other hand, in administering computer system, defragmentation (aka defragging) is a process that reduces the quantity of fragmentation in file system. This is done by physically reorganizing the contents of the disk so it can be able to store the pieces of each file close together.

It also makes more free space using compaction to block the return of fragmentation. Some defragmenters keep smaller files in a single directory, if they are often accessed.

Fragmentation appears when the operating system will not allocate enough space for storing complete file as a unit, so it puts parts of it in gaps between other files (those gaps exist because the operating system allocated too much space for files in the first place).

A great number of files and larger files contribute to fragmentation and performance loss. Defragmentation resolves these problems. A defragmentation program must move files around the free space to undo fragmentation. This operation cannot be performed on a file system full, with no free space. The reorganization of the files in the defragmentation process does not change the logical location of the files.

They are some defragmentation issues: the presence of fixed system files, especially those named swap file, can blocks defragmentation. Is necessary to keep computer performance very good, and to avoid excess defragmentation, it can be bad for the computer. 

It can easily be seen why computer’s registry is more important than disk defragmenting. While computer registry keeps important settings of the file system, the disk defragmenting makes free space on your computer.