Which problem does disk defragmentation reduce in a traditional hard disk?

Correct answer: File fragments being scattered across different locations

As files are created, changed, and deleted on a traditional hard disk, their blocks can become fragmented across different physical locations. Defragmentation rearranges related blocks into a more continuous arrangement, reducing unnecessary head movement and potentially improving sequential access. Thus option B is correct. Screen brightness, microphone noise, and paper jams are unrelated problems. Defragmentation is generally unnecessary for SSDs because they have no moving read/write head.