Cover Story: Tools for Trouble-Free Computing

Defraggers

Best Bet: Windows XP Disk Defragmenter

As you create, delete, and edit files, they become increasingly fragmented--scattered in pieces all over the hard drive. A defragger reunites these pieces. We used to say that defragging would speed up a system, but with today's larger, faster hard drives, that no longer seems true.

The PC World Test Center's tests reveal that defraggers don't actually improve performance. And Steve Gibson, president of PC consulting firm Gibson Research Corporation, confirmed our findings.

Nevertheless, regular defragging is still a good idea to aid disaster recovery. The more fragmented the files on your drive are, the more likely a disk error is to destroy them.

But while there is reason to use a defragger, there's no reason for you to buy one. Symantec's Norton SystemWorks has a defragger called Speed Disk, and Ontrack SystemSuite 4 includes JetDefrag (apparently both companies still want you to think of their defraggers as speedup tools).

Windows XP's Disk Defragmenter, on the other hand, not only comes with the operating system, but is simple and fast.

The only reason we can see to use a defragger other than Windows' own is to make scheduling easier. (Windows' Disk Defragmenter has no built-in scheduler.)

Pretty to look at, Speed Disk has lots of accoutrements, but they're of questionable value. For example, you can specify where on the disk files will go, though we haven't found evidence that such optimization enhances performance.

Ontrack's JetDefrag may not be as fancy as Speed Disk, but it gets the job done. It doesn't let you choose where on the disk particular files go, though Ontrack claims to place files intelligently for quick access.