Is there a "rule of thumb" so to speak regarding how much free space you should keep open on a hard drive in order to get the maximum performance - ie: speed ?? I have heard from 50- 100 MB to needing 50% of the drive. This is a very large range of suggestions. What is the correct percentage? I have a Pentium (Toshiba Portege 300 CT) Windows 95, 64 RAM and a 1.5 gig hard drive. I keep MS Word, FMPro data base, Outlook 98 open on my desk top. My Word file is huge. Right now I have about 200 MB free space. And- Word runs very slow, others OK speed, but not up to my expectations. Thanks for any help.

You need atleast 3 times your real memory for your virtual memory swap file, plus a "cussion" about the same size for programs to write to. So in your case I would recomend always keep between 300 and 400 MB free. Al

G'day Jude, to add to A1's advice it is also helpful to clear out your Temp folder and Internet Temp folder and recycle bin if none of these are needed now and then. Have you considered an additional HD as well, they are very cheap depending on where you live and a reasonable size would be about a 4.3gb to 8.4gb and you can run programs from them as well. A 1.5gb is itsy bitsy by todays standards. p.s. if you do get another Hd, we are here to help you install it!!!