The Best Free Disk and File Software for PC category is one of the largest on the site, as it combines two very busy areas: disk management tools and file utilities for Windows.

Disk tools are utilities that, among other tasks, help to maintain your hard drive in good working order or allow you to perform operations that are impossible within the operating system. Many of these disk tools are designed to do jobs that the OS does, but more efficiently. In general, 3rd-party applications like this can often be more efficient as they specialize in one area instead of trying to cover everything, as the OS has to do. For example a defragmentation utility, or defragger, can homogenise data blocks on the disk and help the computer run faster; and a disk imaging utility, or cloner, can grab the entire contents of the disk for a one-shot backup and reinstall: OS, apps, and data all in one hit.

File utilities allow you to perform useful tasks such as encryption, file comparison, and Search & Replace.

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