Sysinternals has a command line defragmentation tool called Contig. I use this with a program called Power Defragmenter which provides a Gui for Contig. You can defragment your files in one pass or use the "PowerMode" which defragments the files twice. Their both free and its easy to set up. Just drop the Contig exe into the folder with the Gui.

After that I run PageDefrag, also from Sysinternals and free as well. This program will defragment my registry and pagefile at the next bootup.

Contig: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/contig.mspx
PageDefrag: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/FileAndDisk/PageDefrag.mspx
Power Defragmenter: http://www.excessive-software.eu.tt/

Bobby,Canmandeco and Philly, Thanks guys I'll have a look at your suggestions. Norton certainly does not seem to be as good as it used to be and the XP fragmenter does not seem to have been upgraded in years. Thanks, again guys.   

Your welcome Leo. The key here is to try several defrag programs. Like all the other suggestions that you see here, settle on one that provides you what you want.

An extra hint, the user interface (GUI) should be easy to use and understand.  

Defraggler does look very promising, I'll definitely be trying it out. Thanks

Thanks bobbyhundreds for the info on Defraggler.
Has anyone given it a try yet? If so, Did you like it?

Jelvis, I have heard several ggod things about this program too and it seems the makers have been updating the program recently   

I'm trying out the Tune Up utility suite at the moment and I must say I am very impressed. It cleared out nearly 2 GB of crap off my drive and found several issues. My machine is running as quick as ever and so this looks like it could be a purchase. Also trialing PerfectDisk Suite too which also looks good.

By the way......a new version of CCleaner came out today so hit your update buttons   

Thanks for the link Leo. Comparisons of software are always a good start for someone looking to change what they are currently using. Information is the key here. Can never have enough

I'm still using O&O Defrag 4, it's free and they offer a discount if you want to upgrade. Seems to work well for me.   

Good to hear that some of the info was useful. I am just about done testing some of this software on my machines and it looks like I will shell out some cash on PerfectDisk and TuneUp Utilities. I have been using the 30 day free trials. I also tried some of the other trials and freeware too.

PerfectDisk has a lot of options and it also defrags your page file etc on reboot. Some of the defrag utilities don't do this. Diskeeper ran it a close second.

TuneUp Utilities is amazing. This piece of software cleared out 2GB of crap and unused stuff off my drive and as a result a fairly quick machine is now a lean, mean fighting machine. Together with PerfectDisk it has made my machines so much quicker and responsive. There are many other utilities within the suite, all designed to speed up your machine and keep it clean. I think it was CNET or PCMag who called it Norton Systemworks on steroids and I am inclined to agree.

I also use CCleaner but this 'little beauty' may have to go with the purchase of TuneUp.   

Yep, mate you are totally right. It's an area that a lot of PC users neglect and I can honestly say that about 90% of the PC's that I have seen - some very high spec - are full of 'crud' and are hugely under-performing. Some people rely on the Windows utilities that are included in the OS to do the job but they are simply not enough or not good enough for todays machines.In the last few days I have looked at a friends PC which is a 'top dollar' model and about four months old. It seemed to be running fairly quickly but I knew it could do better. After downloading and running the progs I watched his face and the wow effect. The machine booted up quicker from standstill and was fully loaded in the half the time that it had been doing previously. He was 'gobsmacked' and was even more thrilled when he loaded programs like Office 2007 and Nero and found they were loading so much quicker than they had before. Two of my machines are really rocking now and like you I am pleased with the result and I hope this thread helps others in our community look carefully at this sometimes neglected area. You mentioned the progs that you had running and I dare say that many others on this site have just as many progs, if not more running and with a little bit of TLC they can get some outstanding performance improvements too.

The reason I started this thread was I was 'Norton Systemworks Boy' for many years and I came away from computers and skinning etc to do other things. I started to get interested again about two months ago and I noticed that Systemworks was just not 'cutting the mustard' as we Brits say. I spent quite a bit of time doing my investigation - talking with others,looking a reviews and listening to others opinions and then tried out a few products and sure enough my gut feeling was right - There is life after Systemworks - and there are some fantastic products out there which are far better.......some free/some you have to pay for.......but the benefits from the right product are incredible and have to be seen to be believed.   

well Leo, after reading your last reply + considering your credentials + track record, out of respect + admiration for your knowledge in this matter + experiencing the results I already have from the contributor's submissions + recommentdations to this thread, I am definitely up for a trial + eval of your highly recommended TuneUp Utilities...don't know how much better my lap could perform than it is already but I am up for 'seeing to believe'...will let you know the result...rest assured

I use "DiskTrix Ultimate Defrag". It's very clever, it takes the data that you use the most and places it at the edge of the disk platters so that it can be accessed faster. Cool eh?