I have noticed that the Master File Table for my XP Pro grows from 3 sectors to over 2 dozen after I install MS updates. This happened repeatedly over the past 6 months. It also happens on other computers running Win XP that I maintain. Once this apparent fragmentation occurs, the computers run very slowly and the hard drive appears to be working overtime. I suspect that the updates create fragmented MFT entries and the HD has to poll each fragment fo find the addresses it seeks. (My best guess, but I don't know a lot about hard drives.) Running IObit Smart Defrag or the defrag program that comes with Windows does not return the MFT to its original size. To solve this I have to run chkdsk C:\f Does anyone know why this happens and whether there is a way to prevent this from happening each month?