Tutorials

• Free up hard drive space, fast

  Your hard drive is full. Normally that isn't such a big deal, but what if you need to grab a coworker's files before she leaves for a vacation, or what if you want your massive overnight file download to go off without a hitch? Here are some short-term tips for clearing space on your hard drive until you have the time to do a proper cleanup.

• Disaster-proof your PC: image your drive

  Last week I told you how to make a new computer hassle-free; to wit, I described how to create a system-repair disc, dump the junkware, and set up security. Now that you've got your PC just the way you want it, it's time to perform what I consider to be the ultimate hassle-prevention steps: imaging your hard drive and setting up a backup routine.

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  Securely wipe a dead hard drive

  Hard drives almost always contain some potentially compromising information, such as credit card and social security numbers. You should always wipe a hard drive before turning it over to someone else. But that job is particularly difficult if the hard drive no longer works.

• When the backup drive gets full

  Rat74136's external hard drive is full. He asked the Answer Line forum how to keep backing up.

• Why is my computer slowing down?

  A41202813 asked the Answer Line forum why his once quick PC is slowing down

• How to: Reletter a drive

  Windows turned drive F: into drive G:, so the PC's owner asked the Answer Line forum how to change it back.

• Play music from an external hard drive

  Daniel Shaughnessy wants iTunes and Windows Media Player to see the music on his external USB hard drive.

• How to: safely get rid of your hard drive

  After reading "Remove sensitive data before you sell an old PC," Joel Edillon wants to know if it's a good idea to physically destroy a hard drive instead of wiping it with special software.

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  Replace a laptop's crashed hard drive

  Don Homan's hard drive crashed the day after his laptop's warranty expired. What should he do?