External Hard Drive/clean-up, Defragmentation, apps, FW hard drives Options

[jarret the gobli...]

Hi,
Can anyone recommend to me a website that sells decent external hard drives (firewire/about 160GB) that wont cost me to much?
Im running Mac OS 10.2.8, soon to move to 10.3.

Also does anyone know of any derag/clean-up applications that i can use on my cluttered hard drive?

Thanks.

[nreyes]

There is no need to defrag in the windows sense when using Mac OSX. It takes care of itself (generally speaking).

However, you should use tools like Onyx make sure you use the correct version for 10.2.8, and then install the Panther one when you move to 10.3).

This program allows you to run the OSX in-built maintenance scripts (which are scheduled to run at night, but generally do not because your computer is switched off). It also allows you to verify and repair permissions etc. (though you can always do this using Disk Utility in the Utilities folder on your mac).

There are other similar programs, some free, some not. Most do the same, but Onyx is free & performs its function well.

For more 'extreme' optimisation, I know that Tech Tool & Disk Warrior are often quoted in forums. However, the primary function of these is a diagnostic tool and backup utility. They are, nevertheless, very useful too if you value your data.