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Sort Your Files (p.2)

13. Control Your PC From Anywhere

GoToMyPC, Expertcity, $20 per month

When you're on the road, a laptop usually suffices to get the job done. But wouldn't it be nice if you had full access to the files and functions of your primary PC when you needed them? That capability is just what remote-access software delivers; and for ease of use, the remote-access star is GoToMyPC.

The $20 per month (or $180 per year) service from Expertcity takes only about 5 minutes to set up. It lets you use your main PC as if you were sitting in front of it from any Web browser. The service's primary drawback is that it can be cumbersome to use over a dial-up phone connection. Other potential snags: GoToMyPC requires an "always-on" connection for your primary computer, and it may not work across some firewalls. Fortunately, you can try out the service for 60 minutes at no cost.

14. Squish 'Em Down

WinZip, WinZip Computing, $29

When it comes to storing or moving files online, less is definitely more. Compressed files are faster to send and can be encrypted for security. Windows XP's built-in zip utility is adequate for compressing the occasional file or folder, but demanding users will want a more powerful tool. We recommend WinZip from WinZip Computing, which makes the compression process easy and provides a choice of either a wizard-based or a more conventional drag-and-drop interface.

Another option is StuffIt from Aladdin. This program amply justifies its extra cost ($70) if you frequently have to exchange files with Mac users who employ the .sit format. Try before you buy: Free, stripped-down versions of both WinZip and Stuffit are available for downloading.

15. Repartition Your Drive

PartitionMagic 8 , PowerQuest, $70

Keeping everything on a massive hard drive with just one partition is like storing files in a file cabinet the size of a small room: As you accumulate data and software, files get lost in the morass. One way to simplify things is to carve out multiple partitions in your hard disk, each of which shows up in Windows as a separate drive letter. For this task, PartitionMagic from PowerQuest is the best utility around. Its simple graphic interface and software wizards make repartitioning a drive easy. Although $70 may seem like a hefty sum of money to spend on software that you'll probably run only a few times, you'll benefit every day from having done so.

16. Move Your Data

LapLink Gold 11, LapLink, $89

If you need to shift data from one machine to another, you can't beat LapLink Gold 11. This classic lets you copy files from one machine to another, either over included serial and parallel cables, or over the Net. You can also take control of one PC from the other, as if you were at the other PC's keyboard. You don't even need to have LapLink installed on both machines: With the Surf Up feature, you can get to files on your home or work PC from any computer that has Web access.