Scandisk = "Check Disk" in Windows XP is very good as it is Microsoft's Native disk checking utility - (it should be good because Microsoft should know by now how to integrate and optimize an error checking utility into their "own" OS.)

Disk Defragmenter = "Defrag" utility is very good also. Be careful NOT to Defragment your Hard Drive too often as it can also cause complications if you do. In other words there should be NO need to Defragment your Hard Drive if it is LESS than 10% Fragmented. (If you run Windows XP Defragmenter just use the "Analyze" feature first and Defrag will tell you beforehand if your Hard Drive needs Defraging. If it does, Defrag it. If it doesn't then there is no need to Defrag it basically. PS: If you do Audio Recording on your PC with Multi-track software you should try to use a separate Hard Drive for your Music Recording and the other Hard Drive for everything else. If you find an 'unusual' slowdown in the performance of your PC Defraging the Hard Drive would be a good idea regardless. Sometimes other problems will slow down your PC though, NOT just because it has a moderately fragmented Hard Drive.

Best regards,
Mike


[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 12-14-2003).]