In this day and age businesses rely heavily on their computer network to store and retrieve information about their products and services, client accounts, invoices and so much more. Each time an employee accesses a file and edits that information it adds to a growing problem that many businesses are forced to address, slow computer fragmentation.

We've all seen a co-worker sitting in front of their computer, tapping their fingers, ruffling through papers, all while hoping that the file they tried to access will finally appear on their screen. Their attempts are often interrupted by a run to the snack machine or a conversation with a fellow employee as the computer searches to piece together a fragmented file and deliver it in one piece.

It's a growing problem among businesses and the truth is it's a costly one as well. Not only do employers lose productivity from their staff, they could also lose impatient clients who are waiting on the phone for account information or product details. In the end, if a business isn't careful, they could find their bottom line dramatically slashed due to a problem that could easily be corrected.

Businesses often provide their employees with heath care options. By offering a good health care plan employer's see a staff that is more productive and efficient in the workplace. While it's obvious that employer's need to take care of their employees it is an often overlooked fact that taking care of our computers is just as important.

Part of that health care for computers is cleaning the hard disk of fragmented files. Over the course of time a business's computer network can slow exponentially due to the problems related to slow computer fragmentation. Because your hard disk is designed to store files in blocks of space, each time those files are edited or deleted there's a shift in available space for data.

When we edit an existing file and try to save the changes it no longer fits in the same space it originally occupied so the computer begins to look for new space for the pieces of data added to the file. This means that a constantly changing file can take a long time to load because the data has been distributed to several different blocks. In essence, this is fragmentation.

The good news for employers is that fixing a fragmented hard disk is a lot less painful than paying insurance premiums for health care. The solution to a slow computer often lies in the equivalent of something as simple as a flu shot. Try using defragmentation software as a means of improving the speed of your business's computers. Often referred to as defrag, this software works to piece together your fragmented files as well as create larger blocks of space so that future files won't become fragmented.

This will enable your computer to retrieve files in a faster manner, thus keeping your employees working and your clients happy.

When it comes to computer protection software we often hear bout the importance of anti-virus programs and spam blockers but the truth is if we don't take care of our fragmented files the results could be just as damaging as an infected hard drive.