Disk Cleanup and Defrag: Which One Should Be Used First?

Disk cleaning and disk defragmentation: Two ways to improve computer performance

To improve computer performance, disk cleaning and disk defragmentation are commonly used tools. But what is the difference between them? How to choose? This article will explain in detail the difference between disk cleaning and disk defragmentation, helping you optimize your computer.

Comparison between disk cleaning and defragmentation

Both disk cleaning and disk defragmentation optimize computer performance, but they have different functions.

What is disk cleaning?

Disk cleaning is a tool that comes with Windows, which is used to delete unnecessary and temporary files on your computer, including temporary Internet files, DirectX shader cache, temporary files, Windows error reports, thumbnails, etc.

A large number of cached files will be generated during use of the computer for quick access. However, these cached files and corrupted data can take up a lot of disk space. Running disk cleanup regularly can clear this data and free up disk space, thereby improving the performance of your computer and applications.

When using disk cleaning to delete files, important files may be deleted by mistake. If this happens, you can try to recover lost files using a data recovery software such as MiniTool Power Data Recovery.

What is disk defragmentation?

Disk defragment (defragmentation for short) is a utility for rearranging data on a hard drive. When large files are modified or saved, fragmentation occurs if there is not enough continuous free space, meaning that data is scattered in different locations on the hard drive. Fragmented data will reduce computer performance.

Defragmentation helps to properly reorganize fragmented data. Since computers no longer need to spend longer to collect scattered files, computer performance has been significantly improved. In addition, after defragmentation, the files are well organized, which also helps extend the life of the hard drive.

The difference between disk cleaning and disk defragmentation

To better distinguish the two utilities, here are their functional differences:

• Purpose: Disk cleaning is designed to clear redundant files to free up disk space, while disk defragmentation is designed to rearrange file fragments so that they are in order.
• Applicable objects: Disk cleaning can be used for HDD and SSD, but disk defragmentation can only be used for HDD. Defragmenting the SSD will shorten the life of the SSD.
• Frequency of use: Disk cleaning can be used as needed or every few months. For disk defragmentation, because modern computers are equipped with optimization tools, there is no need to manually defragment the HDD. Alternatively, you can choose to defragment the disk once a month.

In addition, to improve computer performance, you can also try using system optimization tools (such as MiniTool System Booster). This multi-function tool contains many features, including fixing computer problems, deleting junk files, managing computer settings, and more.

Run disk cleanup or defragment first?

Which tool is right for your situation? Which one should be run first? These problems have troubled many computer users. If you are one of them, this section may provide some useful information.

When you find that your computer is running slowly or requires more disk space, you can use disk cleaning and defragmentation. It is highly recommended that you run disk cleanup first, as it can delete unwanted files. Once this process is complete, your disk drive will have more space to perform defragmentation. Otherwise, insufficient space and a large number of unnecessary files can make the defragmentation process difficult to complete.

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Summarize

This article explains the definitions and differences between disk cleaning and defragmentation to help you differentiate between these two utilities. In addition, it is recommended that you use disk cleaning first when trying to improve your computer performance.

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