This sort of software is always useful, whether you are new to computers, or have been using them for years. Every computer user stores documents on their system, but no matter how good their filing system is, they will either fill up their hard drive, or if they have a 1 TB disk, wonder how they've filled up half of it. It doesn't help that files generally are getting larger. Documents used to be simple text documents or spreadsheets, but nowadays, people create folders worth of digital photos or movies. Its easy to create a 'backup' of a file before making crucial changes, or alternative versions. After a while, the folder can get more and more full of old dusty files - just like the cupboard under the stairs gets full of 'stored here just in case' items, and that kitchen drawer stores more and more batteries and odd lengths of string.

This software scans your whole drive (or FTP server, as websites can also accumulate redundant files, backups and superfluous copies of documents) and gives you reports on where the space is being used up. You can right click on a folder within Windows and it will show you how much space is being used, but this is very slow and limiting. Most people have many folders under their 'Documents' folder, and it is incredibly inefficient to right click on each one to determine its size. Folder Size Pro will sort by size, so the folder taking the most room is at the top. Within that, it will sort by file type, so the backups for example, will be shown first, then those camera movies, etc. Its easy for a mail folder to be 'forgotten' about, or a log file from some long-forgotten software program to grow and grow without being noticed. This software scans your whole drive so there are no corners a file can hide into.

Giving you the details is one thing, but one area this program lets you down is the management of folders. FSAP (Folder size analyse pro) will show you your mail directory has 12 GB of files that you don't need anymore, but doesn't give you any means of dealing with this, apart from a simple 'Open directory'. You can't tag a selection of files and move them elsewhere, delete them, or archive them. management on the FTP server is even worse.

The GUI is both informative and detailed, giving you clear information in a pleasing way, but is a bit grey and corporate, rather than a friendly interface used in other programs. While the GUI gives the impression of a clean program, the rest of the application just isn't as polished. The interface gives a very 'professional' view which can be a bit daunting to home users.

There are of course many alternatives, many being much more graphical and showing the drive as a series of coloured boxes (eg, Space Sniffer
http://www.donsalva.com/2009/09/09/spacesniffer-show-disk-space-usage-the-graphical-way) but for new users or home users, these are at the other end of the spectrum to this software - so wacky and graphical, that they are more of a toy than a tool, and equally unproductive.

A well respected free alternative is WinDirStat, which provides a best of both worlds - a good indication of where the space has gone, together with a graphical view of your drive. The interface used is your boring 'windows grey' affair, and again, provides minimal file management tools. Unlike FSAP though, it doesn't scan FTP servers.

This software helps everyday users understand how their hard drive space is being used, and is an information tool rather than a management tool at seeing where the large files are on their system.
If you are low on disk space, this tool is invaluable at seeing if there are files you can remove. As with any tool, care must be taken how you use it, as you cannot simply remove system directories you think can be removed, which could be crucial in keeping your system working.

Server administrators will also find this software useful in seeing which department is using the most space, and again, highlighting directories that could be archived off, for example, finding a directory called 'Management Reports - 1999 to 2002' which contains 10 GB of movies of cats falling over.

Chris Locke  –  11 years ago  –  ¿Te ha parecido útil este comentario? si | no (+219)

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hmmm if you have a large collection of files stored in the HD of your PC or in your FTP server this tool can help you keep them organized and under control. For instance it can show you the last edited or created files and do a comparative analysis of file changes for periods.

So it looks like a pretty handy tool, but I'm wondering who would be willing to pay 24$ for a program like this which is in my view not indispensable.

BEST FREE ALTERNATIVES

* (Portable) Directory Monitor
Advanced and highly customizable FREE tool designed to monitor your local/network/private folders & directories in order to get notified whenever a specific change occurs

http://www.brutaldev.com/page/Directory-Monitor.aspx

* (Portable) Miner Mole
Excellent FREE & OPEN SOURCE File, Network, Email and Active Directory indexer which makes info retrieval a breeze.
Just take a look at the KEY FEATURES of this software to see what this tool can do for you for FREE: best of all it's also PORTABLE, so no installation is needed!!

http://www.miner-mole.com/

* Tier Type Tallier
It can analyze your folders giving you detailed info about how many files you have of each file type, as well as the highest quantity file and longest extension you have in each folder.

http://tiertypetallier.sourceforge.net/

* Portable Win7 X Folder
Great free File and Folder management utility designed to perform most common tasks on files and folders simultaneously, such as:
- batch rename files and folders using unique renaming templates
- search operation on both File, Folder Names and their content
- save a list of Files and Folders to a TXT or CSV File, sorting them with info like File/Folder Name, Size, Date of Last Modification etc...

http://www.zokali.com/win7-x-folder


If you are instead eager to create new folder structures with a great visual tree builder, just give this FREE tool a whirl:

http://47foldersapp.com/

Enjoy!!

Giovanni  –  11 years ago  –  ¿Te ha parecido útil este comentario? si | no (+95)

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Just to inform that it installs fast, no need to use e-mail address or to insert a serial key or something.

Fani Berechet  –  11 years ago  –  ¿Te ha parecido útil este comentario? si | no (+61)

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You also have free alternatives: SpaceSniffer and TreeSize Free, and they are both portable and quite small...

Luca Nonato  –  11 years ago  –  ¿Te ha parecido útil este comentario? si | no (+34)

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Make room is a wonderful freeware for this
http://majorgeeks.com/MakeRoom_d7572.html

suja  –  11 years ago  –  ¿Te ha parecido útil este comentario? si | no (+33)

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