Speeding up access to data can be accomplished by removing the fragmentation on the disk drive. This fragmentation can slow down the overall performance of your computer. When files are scattered all over the hard drive it forces the computer to search and piece it back together in order to open it. This can take significantly more time that if the files are not fragmented.

The Disk Defrag utility is provided by Windows to automatically consolidate fragmented folders and files that exist on the computers disk drive. It will rearrange these files and folders so that they occupy a single space on the drive. When file are arranged in this manner it will help improve the speed of the PC.

It is recommended to run the Disk Defrag utility weekly as a part of your routine maintenance routine. However, you should also run it when you add a large number of files, your have less than fifteen percent of total free space available, you install a new program or update the operating system.

Detecting and repairing disk errors is another maintenance process that will help to improve the speed of your computer. The Error Checking utility will verify the integrity of the files on your computers hard drive. Over time and use the hard drive of a computer can begin to develop bad sectors. These sectors will slow down the performance of your computer. They may also make it impossible to write to or save a file. This utility will search for these sectors as well as scan for other file system errors.