Macintosh owners are in luck, as the HFS+ filesystem used by Mac OS defragments files on the fly, as they are accessed. Generally, most Mac users don't need to use a third-party defragmenter, but there are a handful of them out there. Because of the way HFS+ operates, we recommend making a backup and running Disk First Aid at a minimum before attempting to run a third-party Mac defragger.

If you're a Linux user doing some video production on the cheap, there are some defragmenters for the Ext2 filesystem, though most Linux gurus we know say that you will generally never need to defrag your Linux box.

You definitely need to keep your system defragmented if you have any hope of getting the best performance and longest life out of your hard drives. Trying out third-party defragmenters is also one of the steps that will bring you further into the realm of being an advanced computer user, and when your friends see how much faster your system is compared to theirs, they'll probably ask how you did it. If you don't want to start geeking out, just show them this article. It's OK with us.

Charles Fulton is Videomaker's Associate Editor.