What occurs in a system when file fragmentation is high?

When file fragmentation is high, system performance may degrade because fragmented files are scattered across the disk rather than being stored in contiguous blocks. This scattering causes the read/write head of a hard drive, or the management processes of a solid-state drive (SSD), to move more frequently and over greater distances to access different parts of a file, leading to longer access times.

High levels of fragmentation can result in slower file retrieval and increased load times for applications that need to access these fragmented files. This inefficiency is particularly noticeable during operations involving large files or systems with limited processing power, ultimately impacting the overall performance of the system.

Although managing fragmentation can help optimize disk space usage, a high level of fragmentation does not automatically lead to better data organization or reduced space utilization, making the correct choice about performance degradation.