Semi offtopic, but I'm going to be putting in some components i recently purchased, including a new mobo, cpu, ram, and a hard drive. The hard drive is new, was wondering, at what point do I specify that I'd like it partitioned, so that I can put XP on that partition and everything else on the rest of it? It's a 120gb sata drive, any tips you guys can offer would be great.
Also, when formatting/installing xp, will it automatically set it up to a proper amount for the xp partition, or do I have to set that manually? And how much would be a good amount of space?
<!--QuoteBegin-Jimmeh+Feb 7 2005, 01:13 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Jimmeh @ Feb 7 2005, 01:13 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> The thing that MonsE posted... Is there anyway to know it's actually defragging or do I just trust MonsE's h4x? <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> I know Its an actual DOS command that you can do with just about any program so unless its giving you a bad command message its probably for sure that it will run when you set it to(if the computer is on), but I'd like to add a question to this... is there a command to turn it off once you've set it to run with the AT command? My friend and I are actually just starting to try and learn DOS and debugging well...hopefully Ill be able to put more effort into it after my exams <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-DragonMech+Feb 5 2005, 06:31 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (DragonMech @ Feb 5 2005, 06:31 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Actually I need to finish seeding a bunch of game torrents and then delete the data off my HD.
I just wish I could get more than ~40 Kbps upload speed... >.< <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> I know how you feel man. Mine is capped at 35kBps. So I can barely contribute to a good torrent, as a seeder.
<!--QuoteBegin-Jimmeh+Feb 7 2005, 01:13 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Jimmeh @ Feb 7 2005, 01:13 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> The thing that MonsE posted... Is there anyway to know it's actually defragging or do I just trust MonsE's h4x? <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> Yessir!
On any command you run that outputs to STDOUT, you can typically add the following:
So this server was 16% fragmented, and when it completed, it was 0% (not really, but it rounds nicely). As a side note, the command-line defrag is usually much faster than the GUI one (like most things).
And those hard drive frag reports were beyond heinous... <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-Aries8+Feb 7 2005, 01:32 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Aries8 @ Feb 7 2005, 01:32 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> I know Its an actual DOS command that you can do with just about any program so unless its giving you a bad command message its probably for sure that it will run when you set it to(if the computer is on), but I'd like to add a question to this... is there a command to turn it off once you've set it to run with the AT command? My friend and I are actually just starting to try and learn DOS and debugging well...hopefully Ill be able to put more effort into it after my exams <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> Do you mean turn it off like remove the job from AT?
So this server was 16% fragmented, and when it completed, it was 0% (not really, but it rounds nicely). As a side note, the command-line defrag is usually much faster than the GUI one (like most things).
And those hard drive frag reports were beyond heinous... <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> Thank you kind sir <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Omega_DeathSith apprentice to a box of CerealJoin Date: 2003-08-06Member: 19042Members
edited February 2005
Yeah I Really Really REALLY recommend Diskeeper. I mean go get that program right now you can set it to schedual defrag times and it does it much better and more importantly quicker than the nilla windows defragger. If you don't feel like buying it, <span style='color:orange'>*snip* piracy is <i>heavily discouraged</i> on these forums. You should know this by now.</span>
<!--QuoteBegin-MonsieurEvil+Feb 7 2005, 03:09 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (MonsieurEvil @ Feb 7 2005, 03:09 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> <!--QuoteBegin-Aries8+Feb 7 2005, 01:32 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Aries8 @ Feb 7 2005, 01:32 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> I know Its an actual DOS command that you can do with just about any program so unless its giving you a bad command message its probably for sure that it will run when you set it to(if the computer is on), but I'd like to add a question to this... is there a command to turn it off once you've set it to run with the AT command? My friend and I are actually just starting to try and learn DOS and debugging well...hopefully Ill be able to put more effort into it after my exams <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> Do you mean turn it off like remove the job from AT? <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> Sorry for not being clear, but you did assume correctly. I was wondering how you would remove a scheduled task, in this case defrag: "AT 04:00 /every:t,th,s defrag c:", from the AT command in DOS so it stops performing the task every t,th,s. Not stop the defrag in the middle of the operation.
<!--QuoteBegin-Aries8+Feb 7 2005, 09:22 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Aries8 @ Feb 7 2005, 09:22 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> <!--QuoteBegin-MonsieurEvil+Feb 7 2005, 03:09 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (MonsieurEvil @ Feb 7 2005, 03:09 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> <!--QuoteBegin-Aries8+Feb 7 2005, 01:32 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Aries8 @ Feb 7 2005, 01:32 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> I know Its an actual DOS command that you can do with just about any program so unless its giving you a bad command message its probably for sure that it will run when you set it to(if the computer is on), but I'd like to add a question to this... is there a command to turn it off once you've set it to run with the AT command? My friend and I are actually just starting to try and learn DOS and debugging well...hopefully Ill be able to put more effort into it after my exams <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> Do you mean turn it off like remove the job from AT? <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> Sorry for not being clear, but you did assume correctly. I was wondering how you would remove a scheduled task, in this case defrag: "AT 04:00 /every:t,th,s defrag c:", from the AT command in DOS so it stops performing the task every t,th,s. Not stop the defrag in the middle of the operation. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> <!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->To get rid of a job, type AT. That will show you the scheduled job numbers. Then type:
AT # /d
(substituting your job number for the # sign in the example).<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-Swiftspear+Feb 7 2005, 04:48 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Swiftspear @ Feb 7 2005, 04:48 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Do you need to have 15% free for a command line defrag the same way the stupid GUI one requires? <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> You can override it with '-F'. But your results may vary in how well it actually works. If your drive is that full, I would definitely recommend cleaning the gutters. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
SloppyKissesomgawd a furreh!VirginiaJoin Date: 2003-07-05Member: 17942Members, Constellation
<!--QuoteBegin-MonsieurEvil+Feb 7 2005, 05:38 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (MonsieurEvil @ Feb 7 2005, 05:38 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Yes... you 'beat' us, in a contest of disk drive poop.
<!--QuoteBegin-MonsieurEvil+Feb 7 2005, 04:51 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (MonsieurEvil @ Feb 7 2005, 04:51 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> <!--QuoteBegin-Swiftspear+Feb 7 2005, 04:48 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Swiftspear @ Feb 7 2005, 04:48 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Do you need to have 15% free for a command line defrag the same way the stupid GUI one requires? <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> You can override it with '-F'. But your results may vary in how well it actually works. If your drive is that full, I would definitely recommend cleaning the gutters. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> I have a 120 gig partition for C: so we are talking like 17 empty gigs in order to get 15% free, I'm currently at 14.9 free gigs.
SloppyKissesomgawd a furreh!VirginiaJoin Date: 2003-07-05Member: 17942Members, Constellation
<!--QuoteBegin-CForrester+Feb 7 2005, 05:41 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (CForrester @ Feb 7 2005, 05:41 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> You might be interested in investing in a DVD-RW drive. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> I have one, a dual layer one or WTHever... Im just too lazy to use it! <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-Swiftspear+Feb 7 2005, 05:42 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Swiftspear @ Feb 7 2005, 05:42 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> <!--QuoteBegin-MonsieurEvil+Feb 7 2005, 04:51 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (MonsieurEvil @ Feb 7 2005, 04:51 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> <!--QuoteBegin-Swiftspear+Feb 7 2005, 04:48 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Swiftspear @ Feb 7 2005, 04:48 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Do you need to have 15% free for a command line defrag the same way the stupid GUI one requires? <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> You can override it with '-F'. But your results may vary in how well it actually works. If your drive is that full, I would definitely recommend cleaning the gutters. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> I have a 120 gig partition for C: so we are talking like 17 empty gigs in order to get 15% free, I'm currently at 14.9 free gigs. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> CLLLEAAANZZZ000RRR!!!!!
You can use the Disk Cleanup wizard to remove cached temporary files and recover a lot of junk usually (under start | programs | accessories | system tools). It will tell you what each category of space is that's being wasted and how much. That may give you some more space back.
You can also do something as simple as search for personal files that are very large and save them off to a CD-R or compress them with a zipping program. Just make sure they are files *you created*; never delete/remove/zip up files that you are not sure are important to the system's stability.
Finally, there are two other free utilities out there which are excellent for defrag purposes:
Contig can be used to defrag single files which are constantly getting fragmented (cough cough *STEAM CACHE* cough), and where you don't want to have to run a full-on defrag. Pagedefrag can optimize system files which most defrag utilties cannot, such as the page file, the event logs, and the registry. They are actually defragged before the full machine bootup completes, so they are not yet in use.
Comments
The hard drive is new, was wondering, at what point do I specify that I'd like it partitioned, so that I can put XP on that partition and everything else on the rest of it?
It's a 120gb sata drive, any tips you guys can offer would be great.
Also, when formatting/installing xp, will it automatically set it up to a proper amount for the xp partition, or do I have to set that manually? And how much would be a good amount of space?
I know Its an actual DOS command that you can do with just about any program so unless its giving you a bad command message its probably for sure that it will run when you set it to(if the computer is on), but I'd like to add a question to this...
is there a command to turn it off once you've set it to run with the AT command? My friend and I are actually just starting to try and learn DOS and debugging well...hopefully Ill be able to put more effort into it after my exams <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
I just wish I could get more than ~40 Kbps upload speed... >.< <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
I know how you feel man. Mine is capped at 35kBps. So I can barely contribute to a good torrent, as a seeder.
Yessir!
On any command you run that outputs to STDOUT, you can typically add the following:
> c:\something.log
So in this case it would be:
defrag c: > c:\defrag.log
When it's done, you'll have what was going to be output to the screen instead output to that file. Here's a sample
<i>Windows Disk Defragmenter
Copyright © 2003 Microsoft Corp. and Executive Software International, Inc.
Analysis Report
15.99 GB Total, 13.63 GB (85%) Free, 16% Fragmented (33% file fragmentation)
Defragmentation Report
15.99 GB Total, 13.63 GB (85%) Free, 0% Fragmented (0% file fragmentation)</i>
So this server was 16% fragmented, and when it completed, it was 0% (not really, but it rounds nicely). As a side note, the command-line defrag is usually much faster than the GUI one (like most things).
And those hard drive frag reports were beyond heinous... <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
is there a command to turn it off once you've set it to run with the AT command? My friend and I are actually just starting to try and learn DOS and debugging well...hopefully Ill be able to put more effort into it after my exams <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Do you mean turn it off like remove the job from AT?
Yessir!
On any command you run that outputs to STDOUT, you can typically add the following:
> c:\something.log
So in this case it would be:
defrag c: > c:\defrag.log
When it's done, you'll have what was going to be output to the screen instead output to that file. Here's a sample
<i>Windows Disk Defragmenter
Copyright © 2003 Microsoft Corp. and Executive Software International, Inc.
Analysis Report
15.99 GB Total, 13.63 GB (85%) Free, 16% Fragmented (33% file fragmentation)
Defragmentation Report
15.99 GB Total, 13.63 GB (85%) Free, 0% Fragmented (0% file fragmentation)</i>
So this server was 16% fragmented, and when it completed, it was 0% (not really, but it rounds nicely). As a side note, the command-line defrag is usually much faster than the GUI one (like most things).
And those hard drive frag reports were beyond heinous... <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Thank you kind sir <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
is there a command to turn it off once you've set it to run with the AT command? My friend and I are actually just starting to try and learn DOS and debugging well...hopefully Ill be able to put more effort into it after my exams <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Do you mean turn it off like remove the job from AT? <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Sorry for not being clear, but you did assume correctly. I was wondering how you would remove a scheduled task, in this case defrag: "AT 04:00 /every:t,th,s defrag c:", from the AT command in DOS so it stops performing the task every t,th,s. Not stop the defrag in the middle of the operation.
is there a command to turn it off once you've set it to run with the AT command? My friend and I are actually just starting to try and learn DOS and debugging well...hopefully Ill be able to put more effort into it after my exams <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Do you mean turn it off like remove the job from AT? <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Sorry for not being clear, but you did assume correctly. I was wondering how you would remove a scheduled task, in this case defrag: "AT 04:00 /every:t,th,s defrag c:", from the AT command in DOS so it stops performing the task every t,th,s. Not stop the defrag in the middle of the operation. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->To get rid of a job, type AT. That will show you the scheduled job numbers. Then type:
AT # /d
(substituting your job number for the # sign in the example).<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
AT /d does that.
defrag c: /f
Though defragging with that less free space is pretty pointless.
You can override it with '-F'. But your results may vary in how well it actually works. If your drive is that full, I would definitely recommend cleaning the gutters. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
i beat you all!!11
<!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
thats all my stuff......
=o
You can override it with '-F'. But your results may vary in how well it actually works. If your drive is that full, I would definitely recommend cleaning the gutters. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
I have a 120 gig partition for C: so we are talking like 17 empty gigs in order to get 15% free, I'm currently at 14.9 free gigs.
I have one, a dual layer one or WTHever... Im just too lazy to use it!
<!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
You can override it with '-F'. But your results may vary in how well it actually works. If your drive is that full, I would definitely recommend cleaning the gutters. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I have a 120 gig partition for C: so we are talking like 17 empty gigs in order to get 15% free, I'm currently at 14.9 free gigs. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
CLLLEAAANZZZ000RRR!!!!!
You can use the Disk Cleanup wizard to remove cached temporary files and recover a lot of junk usually (under start | programs | accessories | system tools). It will tell you what each category of space is that's being wasted and how much. That may give you some more space back.
You can also do something as simple as search for personal files that are very large and save them off to a CD-R or compress them with a zipping program. Just make sure they are files *you created*; never delete/remove/zip up files that you are not sure are important to the system's stability.
Finally, there are two other free utilities out there which are excellent for defrag purposes:
<a href='http://Contig' target='_blank'>http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/contig.shtml</a>
<a href='http://PageDefrag' target='_blank'>http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/pagedefrag.shtml</a>
Contig can be used to defrag single files which are constantly getting fragmented (cough cough *STEAM CACHE* cough), and where you don't want to have to run a full-on defrag. Pagedefrag can optimize system files which most defrag utilties cannot, such as the page file, the event logs, and the registry. They are actually defragged before the full machine bootup completes, so they are not yet in use.