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Running a Fragmentation Benchmark

The benchmark compares unbuffered sequential reads of a contiguous test file with reads of a fragmented test file on the same drive. It creates temporary test data and removes it afterwards.

Start a measurement​

  1. Open Fragmentation benchmark.
  2. Choose Drive, File size, Fragments and Read passes per file.
  3. Read the estimated temporary-write amount below the settings.
  4. Choose Measure now and confirm the temporary writes.
  5. Wait while VisualDisk prepares the drive, writes and reads the contiguous file, writes and reads the fragmented file, and removes the test data.
  6. Review the verdict and charts. Choose Copy report to preserve the result.

Close unrelated disk-intensive applications for a more comparable measurement. Ensure enough free space for both the test data and normal Windows activity. The test is not a cleanup or defragmentation operation and does not reorganize your existing files.

Cancel or repeat​

Cancel finishes the current pass and removes temporary test files, so it may not stop immediately. Let cleanup complete before closing the application.

Use Measure again for another run. If you change the setup, the previous result is marked as belonging to the earlier settings until you measure again.

If the benchmark uses the same drive as Write activity, you can observe the test-file writes on that page.