if I defrag and/or do other "space saving" maintenance, wil I lose the
several hundred photograghs I have saved on my computer?
Several points:
1. Defragging does not save any space. It rearranges the used space so
that all space for each file is contiguous, and the files can
therefore be accessed faster than when spread out.
2. Defragging does not delete anything on the drive, and there is no
reason to expect that it will cause the loss of any files.
3. Exactly what do you mean by "other 'space saving' maintenance"?
Neither I nor anyone else can answer that question for sure unless we
know what you are talking about.
4. Regardless of what you do, and whether or not it should result in
the loss of any files, it is always possible for something to go
wrong, and the loss of some or all of what's on the drive *could*
result. It is normally very unlikely, but that doesn't mean
impossible.
5. The question you ask suggests to me that you do not have any backup
scheme in place for your files. If my guess that that is so is
correct, you are playing with fire, since there are always risks to
your data.
So if those several hundred photographs are important to you, and you
have no other copies of them, it is virtually guaranteed that sooner
or later you will lose them.
You might be interested in reading this article on backup I recently
wrote: "Back Up Your Computer Regularly and Reliably" at
http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=314