Eight Tips for a Faster Hard Drive

Have you uncovered the secret to a faster drive yet? It's removing unnecessary files and defragging your drive. I've got the tools and tricks, so read on...

The Hassle: I ran the Windows Disk Defragmenter, but when I tried another defragging tool, it said that my drive was still mostly fragmented. Which one should I believe?

The Fix: Windows, right? Please. For one thing, the Windows tool misses Restore Points--files that are created and deleted each day, take up 13MB each (on my PC), and are scattered all over the drive. Also, third-party tools permit you to decide how to defrag--say, by packing the files tighter.

One defragger I recommend is Golden Bow Systems' $40 Vopt 8. This program is compatible with Vista and XP, and it defrags Restore Points. Among Vopt's neat extras are tools for deleting temp files; a slick feature that closes unnecessary apps, including Windows Services; and a way to automatically defrag multiple drives and then shut down the system. Get a trial .

No matter which program you use, get a better defrag with these simple tricks:

• Defrag early and often. Theoretically, defragging improves performance. PC World's lab hasn't found that to be consistently true. But here at Bass International labs, it's a different story. I didn't defrag my drive for six months and had thousands of fragmented files scattered about my hard drive. After defragging, my system seemed faster.
• Open applications don't get defragged, so close them all before you begin. Ditto for tools that reside in the system tray.
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