By Cheryl Currid

If your PC isn’t as perky as it once was, do you know how to fix it? Common advice from most PC techies tells you to add more memory, or upgrade the processor. But, in certain cases those time honored fixes won’t help.

If your work hasn’t changed much and you haven’t picked up any big graphics programs or games, then the likely culprit is a hard drive bogged down with fragmented files.  

Here’s what goes wrong: When a PC saves a file to a hard disk, it puts the data down on a single track in contiguous clusters. When you erase a file, it flags those clusters as being available space. Over time, especially when you are Web surfing, you make and erase temporary files all over the disk.

As new files are saved, the disk stores them in several parts, on different tracks, and usually not clusters of contiguous space. Then, when the PC opens a file, the drive has to search out all the broken bits of a file, reassemble it, and then use it.  Depending on the level of file fragmentation, it can make an incredible difference in the speed of the computer.

While some versions of Windows come with a basic disk defragmenter, there’s a small utility software package that makes life much easier. It’s called Diskeeper, and is made by Executive Software.  

Diskeeper is fast – usually about 3 to 5 times faster than the built-in defragmenter. It also monitors your disk performance, and then customizes defragmentation runs so that you’ll get peak performance. It can even run in the background while you are working on your PC.

Diskeeper has a great “Set It and Forget It” mode that automatically defragment the hard drive, at prescheduled times – even if you don’t remember to check it.

You can also set it to monitor your disks at all times, but not defragment it during peak periods. This will keep the software out of your way at certain times when you need all the processing power you can get.

One of my favorite features of the software is called “Frag Guard.” Once enables, this option prevents critical system files from becoming fragmented in the first place.

You are not alone if all this sounds new to you. Many experienced users even forget to check for file fragmentation when looking at “sick PC.” And, if you use the built-in defragmenter, you’ll likely spend so much time with it you’ll probably “forget” to do it again.