disk

Defragging your hard drive is an important part of system maintenance; regular defragging can improve performance by making sure that all the parts of each file are stored together, which makes it faster to access them. Auslogics Disk Defrag is a simple way to take care of this task. With a straightforward interface and a few useful extras, Auslogics Disk Defrag is a great choice for users of all skill levels.

The program's interface is plain and intuitive, featuring the classic cluster map that displays fragmented, unfragmented, and empty space. Auslogics Disk Defrag took 14 seconds to run a … Read more

Apple is sticking with most of its component providers for the latest iPhone, an IHS iSuppli teardown shows, but it has made some "critical changes" and updated most chips.

A physical teardown by IHS, released today, shows Apple is using parts from many of the usual suspects -- Samsung, Qualcomm, Broadcom, Murata, Dialog, Texas Instruments, STMicro, Cirrus Logic, Avago, Skyworks, NXP and AKM.

But it also has made some additions, like flash memory maker SanDisk, and almost every component has been updated. And IHS' supplier list indicates a reduced reliance on Samsung, the chip and handset maker that … Read more

COLOGNE, Germany -- There's room for a higher-end flash card format that's faster and more capacious than SD Card, and for years, CompactFlash has occupied that market niche.

But CompactFlash is running out of steam, and finding a successor to CompactFlash just got a lot messier courtesy of a new standard that arrived this week at the Photokina trade show here.

Last year, Nikon and Sony carried the XQD format to market as the would-be CompactFlash successor, with Nikon's flagship D4 camera accepting the cards and Sony making the cards. But Canon and professional camera maker Phase … Read more

To make sending multiple files by e-mail or other means easier, Apple includes a quick Finder contextual menu option to zip a selection of files and folders into an archive, which not only will ensure that the files stay together, but can also greatly reduce their size for the file transfer. While convenient, Apple does not provide a means to encrypt or secure the contents of the ZIP archive with a password; however, there is a way to do this if needed.

To place a file or folder into a ZIP file that is encrypted, you will need to use … Read more

USB disks let you add unlimited storage to your desktop or laptop (especially laptops!) for movies, songs, images, backups, and other bulky data. USB thumbdrives and portable storage devices let you carry gigabytes of data with you. The USB interface means compatibility with almost every PC. And here's the problem: huge capacity, total portability, universal compatibility, and absolute indispensability work together to render your USB disks and devices especially vulnerable to viruses and other malware. USB Disk Security from Zbshareware Lab is an effective solution for securing your USB disks and data. This easy-to-use shareware is widely compatible with … Read more

After more than a month in beta state, Synology's final latest version, version 4.1, of the DiskStation Manager operating system for its NAS server, was released today.

Synology is one of a few NAS vendors that regularly releases new versions of the operating system, which improves and adds features to its existing NAS servers. DSM has been by far the most advanced operating system for network-attached storage servers, which offers not just a vast amount of features and ease of use, but also the most robust user interface that resembles a native operating system. Like all NAS operating systems, DSM is accessed via a Web interface using a connected computer.

DSM is one of the main reasons Synology NAS servers, such as the DS1511+, or the DS412+, have been the best on the market, for both home and small business environments.… Read more

Generally, the term "hard-core" and external hard drives don't go together. This is because external, portable hard drives are probably the most popular and casual type of consumer storage.

But some of them can get really serious, too.

These are external storage devices that are not just fast or rugged, but also are likely to make you think before purchasing due to their cost. In other words, they are not for everyone, but only those who have the need for them and can appreciate their value.

If you are one of these people, the following five drives are totally worth the investment.… Read more

TestDisk and PhotoRec from CG Security are freeware utilities bundled together in one portable download. TestDisk is a simple but powerful tool for analyzing and recovering disk partitions, including some unusual selections such as Xbox and Mac partitions. PhotoRec is designed to recover lost files from your digital camera's memory or any similar memory device. It can handle most memory types, including USB, CompactFlash, MMC, and SmartMedia as well as optical disks and your hard drives. Though PhotoRec and TestDisk are bundled, they're separate utilities with separate executables.

PhotoRec is designed to be totally safe to use, and … Read more

Even if you happen to have a good backup solution, a hard-drive failure can be a major inconvenience. If you don't have a good backup solution, then a drive failure can be catastrophic. There are clues, however, that can help you predict problems with your hard drive.

DiskCheckup for Windows uses your drive's S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology) info to monitor its health and help you notice problems before you experience a complete failure.

In order to use DiskCheckup, you have to have at least one drive that supports S.M.A.R.… Read more