Dinosaur
01-25-2003, 10:11 PM
There is a marvelous program called Ztree (Check www.ztree.com). It is a user friendly file manager which does not replace Windows Explorer, but which provides many very useful functions not available via Explorer or any other utility with which I am familiar. It might be available as a free download. I paid for a registered copy, and considered it well worth the modest price, which I do not remember.
If you are absolutely committed to Windows, you might not like Ztree due to its non-Windows interface. The interface is user friendly and easy to work with. It is just not a standard Windows interface. It should be noted that Ztree is the Windows version of a DOS utility (Xtree) developed at least 12-15 years ago. In all those years, it has been tinkered and enhanced to be an extremely useful utility.
Ztree has functions not available via any utility with which I am familiar. It fits on one diskette. It installs by copying the diskette to a directory or by downloading some files and storing them in a directory. You do have to be smart enough to create your own desktop icon to invoke it. I wish more Windows applications used so little space and were so convenient to install or get rid of. It is basically a file manager with the following capabilities.
With just a little fooling around, it is very easy to figure out how to use most of the functions. With a bit of experience and imagination, you can do some very handy procedures.
The default display is similar to Windows Explorer, with a tree view of directories. You can specify the display of all files in a particular partition or all files in all partitions. I do not know of a utility which does this. There is a menu at the bottom of the tree and/or file display indicating the functions available in a given context.
You can compare the contents of two directories and tag any files whose size, date, and time match exactly. You can invert the tags, identifying all files which are different. You can then copy all the tagged files. Unless you have some fancy automated backup system, this is the most convenient user directed backup I have seen. Ztree is a bit intelligent. If you compare two directories and then do a mass copy, it assumes that you are copying from one of the compared directories to the other. The file compare is also handy if , you want to undo a mass copy because you made a mistake and copied a bunch of files to the wrong directory. I only do this about once per year, but it would be a mess to unscramble without the Ztree file compare to identify the files in the wrong directory.
Ztree remembers the last 20 or so parameters to any of its functions. So any repetitive tasks can be done conveniently.
Ztree will create a list of all files in a particular partition. It will also create a list of all files in all partitions on all disks or all files in all directories in a branch (Id est: All files in a given directory or in subordinate directories). I do not know another utility which will do this in addition to doing various other useful functions.
Ztree will display files in date & time or size order, as well as in name or other orders (name order is default). It will also display files in ascending or descending order. This capability in conjunction with the ability to display all files in all directories in a partition (or all files everywhere) is handy. I use it to find all the files with zero bytes (ascending by size) or to find the files using the most space (descending by size). I use this capability to find the oldest files (ascending by date/time) or the most recent files (descending by date). I do not know of another utility which displays files in date/time order (ascending or descending) in addition to doing other handy functions.
Ztree will display only those files fitting a pattern specified by the usual * & ? Wild Card characters. This in conjunction with the display of all files in a partition or all files in all partitions on all disks is handy for various disk cleanup tasks.
If you are absolutely committed to Windows, you might not like Ztree due to its non-Windows interface. The interface is user friendly and easy to work with. It is just not a standard Windows interface. It should be noted that Ztree is the Windows version of a DOS utility (Xtree) developed at least 12-15 years ago. In all those years, it has been tinkered and enhanced to be an extremely useful utility.
Ztree has functions not available via any utility with which I am familiar. It fits on one diskette. It installs by copying the diskette to a directory or by downloading some files and storing them in a directory. You do have to be smart enough to create your own desktop icon to invoke it. I wish more Windows applications used so little space and were so convenient to install or get rid of. It is basically a file manager with the following capabilities.
With just a little fooling around, it is very easy to figure out how to use most of the functions. With a bit of experience and imagination, you can do some very handy procedures.
The default display is similar to Windows Explorer, with a tree view of directories. You can specify the display of all files in a particular partition or all files in all partitions. I do not know of a utility which does this. There is a menu at the bottom of the tree and/or file display indicating the functions available in a given context.
You can compare the contents of two directories and tag any files whose size, date, and time match exactly. You can invert the tags, identifying all files which are different. You can then copy all the tagged files. Unless you have some fancy automated backup system, this is the most convenient user directed backup I have seen. Ztree is a bit intelligent. If you compare two directories and then do a mass copy, it assumes that you are copying from one of the compared directories to the other. The file compare is also handy if , you want to undo a mass copy because you made a mistake and copied a bunch of files to the wrong directory. I only do this about once per year, but it would be a mess to unscramble without the Ztree file compare to identify the files in the wrong directory.
Ztree remembers the last 20 or so parameters to any of its functions. So any repetitive tasks can be done conveniently.
Ztree will create a list of all files in a particular partition. It will also create a list of all files in all partitions on all disks or all files in all directories in a branch (Id est: All files in a given directory or in subordinate directories). I do not know another utility which will do this in addition to doing various other useful functions.
Ztree will display files in date & time or size order, as well as in name or other orders (name order is default). It will also display files in ascending or descending order. This capability in conjunction with the ability to display all files in all directories in a partition (or all files everywhere) is handy. I use it to find all the files with zero bytes (ascending by size) or to find the files using the most space (descending by size). I use this capability to find the oldest files (ascending by date/time) or the most recent files (descending by date). I do not know of another utility which displays files in date/time order (ascending or descending) in addition to doing other handy functions.
Ztree will display only those files fitting a pattern specified by the usual * & ? Wild Card characters. This in conjunction with the display of all files in a partition or all files in all partitions on all disks is handy for various disk cleanup tasks.