How often do you defragment your hard drive? Twice a year? Never? ZDNet recommends running the ScanDisk and Disk Defragmenter utilities once a week or anytime your computer seems a bit sluggish. Windows users can find these utilities by clicking on the Start button in the bottom-left corner of the screen, then click on Programs, Accessories, and Systems Tools.

ScanDisk checks files and folders for errors and enables you to fix those problems it detects. Disk Defragmenter shifts files around on your hard drive in order to maximize the available space and speed up your computer's performance. Just don't start to defragment your drive if you need to work on anything soon. The process can take more than an hour depending on your system's current state.

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