Can i delete some files or programs while defragmenting? Is it gonna cause some problems or slowdowns? EDIT: Slowdowns referring to the defragmenter taking more time.
2 Answers
It is perfectly safe to delete files while defragmenting your drive. If a file is in use by the defragmenter, it will not be able to be moved. And conversely, if the file is being defragmented, it wont be able to be delted. But the crossover window is likely to be small. You might get an error, however nothing nothing bad will happen. Obviously, two programs accessing the disk the same time while slow each program down. However, deleting files is relatively fast. You would probably not notice a difference.
It is not recommended to use your system while it is defragging. Reason being you can inadvertently cause file corruptions and not just with the file you are editing, since files are being physically moved around on the Disk. If you modify a file and it grows in size it is possible it can overwrite data in another block that the defragmentor moved a file/files to or the file you just modified gets overwritten with data.
As for deleting files, yes you can generally delete files without causing much problems unless the defragmentor is currently moving the file you are trying to delete. Also, you shouldn't delete files while defragging files as you can cause more fragmentation especially free space fragmentation. Also sometimes deleting/modifying files can cause the defragger to slowdown.
You should delete files first before you defrag so that your defragger can more optimally do its job since there will be more free areas the defragger knows about as most generally scan the HDD for such areas before it starts doing its job and not as it is defragging.
