[simpits-tech] Defrag

[Matt Bailey]

Good tips, all. On a similar note, I'd like to mention a technique that can 
increase the lifespan of your hard drive (or any other computer component for 
that matter). As a drive gets older, the electro-magnetic field on the disks 
gets weaker, and eventually the drive starts loosing data. This is because as 
the field gets weaker, those 1's and 0's don't stick to the drive as well. To 
re-energize the electric field, you can expose the drive to some form, any 
form of stored electrical energy. One way to do this is to wear socks and rub 
your feet on carpet, building a static charge. Then touch your finger to the 
disks, and voila! Instant hard drive re-energization! You may hear a slight 
"pop" as you touch the drive, no worries, that's just electricity 
re-energizing the drive.

This method is typically only useful as preventative maintenance. For drives 
that are starting to loose data, you may be able to save the drive by hooking 
it to a proper power source. Placing the 12v leads from the PC's power supply 
on the disks is one way to do this, or going to some place with one of those 
static ball things that puts out a few million volts DC (note in this case 
you don't even have to physically touch the drive to the source, just stand a 
few feet away with the drive in your hand).

Of course you can re-energize any other electronic device in this manner. It 
doesn't have to be a deteriorating device either, you may actually be able to 
advance the performance of the device over what it was from the factory 
(incidentally, this is why they always say use anti-static wrist bands and 
stuff in the instructions.......they don't want you to inadvertently 
turbo-charge your equipment, they want you to have to buy the next model to 
get any increase in performance). Want to get some more oomph out of that 6 
month old CPU? Shoot the juice to it and bump those electro-magnetic fields 
up a bit.

Happy computing..............

	-Matt Bailey