25 Steps to a Faster PC
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9.  Defragment your hard drive regularly.

startdefrag
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MorphaSystem's autodefrag -

Microsoft Article -

Systernal's PageDefrag -

Defragment your hard drive by choosing Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Defragmenter.  This should be done every week if possible and can take several hour, so again do it at night or while your at work.  There are some free disk defragmenter scheduler solutions, so you can "set it and forget it."  They are startdefrag (excellent little program), autodefrag (you need to use Windows Scheduler to start), Lexun Freeware Drivecare (Windows Scheduler needed again).  There is a Microsoft article that tells you how to use Scheduler (Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Scheduled Tasks) to schedule defragmentation.

Also defragment your page file.  This step is not done by the native Windows defragmenter nor any commercial defragmenter (I think -probably wrong though).  the SysInternals one does it for free.