Symantec 11022527 manual About optimization

76Monitoring your system's performance About System Insight

2In the Performance window, do one of the following:

1To view the CPU graph, click the CPU tab.

1To view the memory graph, click the Memory tab.

3Click at any point on the graph to obtain a list of resource-consuming processes.

4Click the name of a process to obtain additional information about the process in the File Insight window.

About optimization

The data storage space on a disk is divided into discrete units. These units are called clusters. When files are written to the disk, they are broken up into cluster-sized pieces. When all of the file pieces are located in adjacent or contiguous clusters, the file can be accessed quickly.

Your computer’s hard disk stores all of your files, applications, and the Windows operating system. The bits of information that make up your files gradually spread over the disk. This process is known as fragmentation. The more that you use your computer, the more fragmented the hard disk gets.

When a fragmented file is accessed, the disk performance is slower. The performance is slower because the drive head locates, loads, saves, and keeps track of all of the fragments of the file. If free space is also fragmented, the drive head might have to track adequate free space to store temporary files or newly added files.

Optimization rearranges file fragments into adjacent or contiguous clusters. When the drive head accesses all of the file data in one location, the file is read into the memory faster. Optimization also maximizes the usable free space on a disk by grouping most frequently used files and infrequently used files. Optimization consolidates free space to avoid fragmenting newly added files. It adds extra space after major data