Answer:
Fragmented. When a file is broken up into small parts and stored in different locations on a hard disk, the hard disk becomes fragmented. This can slow down the performance of the computer because the system has to search for and retrieve all of the pieces of the file from different locations in order to access the entire file. Defragmenting the hard disk can help improve its performance by rearranging the files on the disk so that they are stored in contiguous blocks, which reduces the amount of time the system has to spend searching for the pieces of the file.