If you are a Windows user, you have probably had to defragment your hard drive at one time or another.  However, even if you have never heard about defragging, this article is still for you.

It should come as no surprise that the built in defrag program “Windows Disk Defragmenter” isn’t the best program out there.  There are several other programs that are far more efficient and have more options than the default Windows program.  This article is going to cover Defraggler, a program from the same company as CCleaner.

Defraggler is one of the best defrag programs for Windows, and the best part is it’s FREE!  While you can’t beat the price, this isn’t the only selling point. Some other notable features include:

• The ability to defrag individual files as well as the entire drive
• Vista support including 64bit!
• Small enough to run on a flash drive (Setup file is less than 1MB)

Below is a screenshot of Defraggler at the main screen:

As you can see, the interface is pretty straight forward.

To begin, simply click on the hard drive or partition you wish to defrag and click the ‘Analze’ button in the bottom left corner.  When the analysis is complete, it will show you how many files are fragmented and the number of fragments.  You can also see a list of the fragmented files by clicking ‘View files.’

Once you are ready to defrag, simply click the ‘Defrag’ button. Can’t get much easier than that :-) .

This will analyze and defrag your entire hard drive. If you wish to only defrag a certain file or folder, click ‘Action’ and then make the appropriate choice.

Also, once you analyze the hard drive, you can click ‘View files’ and select individual files to defrag.

TIP: If you have more than 1 hard drive (or partition) don’t forget to defrag it as well.

Last but not least, Defraggler has the ability to check your hard drives for errors.

This is similar to running the “Error-checking” program in Windows.  This will check to make sure your drive is running in tip top shape.

Today’s post is one that all Windows users should read (we would love to have all that traffic :-) ). If you want to keep Windows running in tip top condition, you need to take some precautions. Since Windows has a problems with spy-ware and viruses, you will need to have some programs in your arsenal to keep everything running smoothly. Lastly, it is always a good idea to fix problems in the registry as well as clear temporary files.

Whenever I install Windows on a computer, whether it is for me or for a friend, one of the first things I do is download and install the following programs.

1) AVG Anti-virus Free Edition – is one of the best FREE anti-virus programs I have ever used. I hate using some of those name brand programs, since all they seem to do is slow down your computer. If you think free anti-virus programs don’t provide the same protection as paid versions, you haven’t tried AVG Free Edition yet. AVG Free Edition has everything most users look for in an anti-virus program. For me, the biggest advantages are it is FREE and it protects my computer without slowing it down. Another great feature is AVG will automatically update with the latest detection information. AVG Free gives you options to scan any part of your computer as well as a complete scan that scans the whole system. If a virus is detected, you have the options to quarantine the item, try and heal the item, or simply delete it. You can set AVG to run in the background on boot-up so you wont forget to scan regularly. I however do not do this in fear that it will bog down my system. All-in-all, this program is top-notch and definitely worth a download, especially if the subscription on your name brand software has run out.

For more FREE products from the makers of AVG Anti-virus Free Edition, visit their website.

Another great FREE anti-virus program I recommend is AVAST Anti-virus, which has a 64bit version for FREE as well.

If you are afraid of using free anti-virus programs, look at the folowing articles.

• Free or Paid Antivirus, Any Difference?
• Free Antivirus Comparision
• How Good Are Free Security Programs

2) Spybot Search and Destroy – is a great FREE program to remove spyware. This is another program that merely protects your computer without slowing things down. Full system scans only take about 5-15 minutes depending on your system and what else is running at the time of the test. Spybot-S&D provides FREE updates to help detect new threats. However, the update is not automatic, you have to ask Spybot to check for updates. Spybot has a couple great features including a “Tea Timer” that monitors Windows and alerts you when a program is trying to edit your system. This can become very annoying when it notifies you every 30 seconds. However, this can be very helpful when trying to diagnose what program is causing your problem.

For more information on Spybot-S&D feature as well as a getting started tutorial visit their website.

3) HijackThis – is a FREE advanced tool for scanning and removing spyware. When you run HijackThis, it will scan your registry and hard drive and return a log of settings that may have been changed by spyware, malware or other unwanted programs. WARNING- this program is recommended for advanced users only. If you are unsure how to use the program or the meaning of the results, I suggest you post your log file on a support forum, where someone can suggest which entries to remove. Removing the wrong entries could render your computer unusable.

4) CrapCleaner – is a FREE system optimization and privacy tool. CCleaner removes temporary files allowing your computer to run faster, as well as free up hard drive space. CCleaner has the ability to remove temporary files created by Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Windows Media Player, MS Office, Nero and many more. It also erases your online activity such as your Internet history. With CCleaner, you can even repair your registry. One of the best features of this software is it allows you to backup your registry before making any changes to it.

For more information of CrapCleaner, take a look at Michael’s post “How to use CCleaner“.

Now its time to hear from you. What do you use to protect your computer from threats? Let us know in the comments!

Images taken from the following website respectively:
http://www.mgcr.com/images/AVG_Antivirus_System_logo.jpg

http://www.moradnet.ca/images/SpybotSD_Logo.jpg
http://tweakers.net/ext/i/1183761414.jpg
http://www.wikipedia.com

http://ccleaner.com

CCleaner is a powerful program that will clean all of your unused system files and will also clean your internet history. I use this program every week to remove all the crap from my computer. CCleaner can also be used to fix registry files and remove programs.

Download CCleaner here

Once you have unzipped the folder and installed the file you should see a program that looks something like this:

The analyze button will show you the files that it would delete, and the Run Cleaner button will just delete the files. I usually click the analyze button and then click the Run Cleaner button.

If you click Registry on the left, it will offer you the option of checking for errors in your registry files and it will fix them for you.  Be sure to have CCleaner backup your registry just in case something were to go wrong.  It would look something like this:

The Tools option on the left will allow you to uninstall any program. So if you ever have a problem uninstalling something the usual way then CCleaner can help.