Maximum PC management RSS Feed

Freeware Files: Five Apps for Dealing with Data, Data, and More Data

David Murphy — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:30:24 -0500

Dealing with your data is a critical part of the Windows experience. "No, really," you ask? I know, I know. But the kinds of file operations you perform on any given day represent the bread and butter of your operating system. You drag your pictures around, copy and paste your documents to other places, maybe send a file or two over email. It's simple stuff. That's not a value judgment, just a comment about the basic functionality that everyone uses on a modern OS.

When you're ready to step out of this minor league of file management and head into the majors, you'll find a host of freeware applications waiting to hit a pitch or two. These applications take the common elements of your Windows file operations and inject them with a dose of raw energy. For example, you can customize and jack up the very process of copying files from one directory to another. You can also beat back Windows' default system for batch file renaming and instead transform a large number of files with very specific titles and extensions. You can even map out just how much space your files take up on your drive, giving you the perfect opportunity to catch up on some spring cleaning across your battered hard drive.

While these kinds of processes are a mainstay of this week's roundup, I'm also taking a look at two additional programs that pack additional functionality into your operating system as a whole. So what are you waiting for? Quit your file transfers and get ready for a brand new world.

RichCopy

What it does: Copying files is a simple process, right? What if you're copying a ton of files across PCs and your network connection has a hiccup? What if you want to keep a specific set of attributes on a duplicated set files identical to the originals? What if you have a folder full of all sorts of files, but only want to copy those with specific file names or extensions? RichCopy eases your life in these ways, and more, by offering you the chance to customize the copying process with more parameters than you'll ever find in the good ol' Windows drag-and-drop mechanism. And the best part? RichCopy was actually developed by Microsoft's Ken Tamaru.

Download it here!

ADRC Data Recovery Tools

What it does: Saves your butt. No, really. Did you frak up and accidentally shift-delete a bunch of files you were working on? Try to recover them using this freeware collection of DIY "save thyself" tools. Not only can you possibly recover files you've deleted, but the program also comes with tools to rip the contents of a dying hard drive, as well as backup options akin to a Norton Ghost drive clone. I recommend you check out the latter instead of having to resort to the former to save your missing stuff!

Download it here!

SpaceSniffer

What it does: There are a number of graphical utilities for determining what's taking up all the space on your hard drive. So what makes SpaceSniffer unique? For starters, the program is an executable--slap this freeware file on a flash drive and carry it around to any PC you use. The intuitive, graphical view of your drive's contents teams up with powerful filtering functionality to allow you to conduct comprehensive analyses based on inputs you specify. See how much of your movie collection needs to hit the recycle bin and refine this search process to dig down into the nuances of your file archives even further! SpaceSniffer gives you a lot of options to work with.

Download it here!

ReNamer

What it does: Right-click on a batch of selected files in Windows, hit rename, and the OS will automatically append whatever name you create to the files you picked--automatically adding an ugly (1), (2), (3), et cetera, to the end of said files. Yuck. The freeware application ReNamer rips apart this sad scheme and grants you the ability to mass-rename files in a number of customizable ways. For example, you can change the cases of letters to anything you specify, develop rules for serializing the numbers that get appended to your files, and conduct find-and-replace operations for any part of the file name you want to change. When I say that the sky is the limit with ReNamer, I'm serious: this is the Up of helpful freeware applications.

Download it here!

SIW

What it does: This one isn't exactly file-related per se, however, the System Information for Windows application still gives you a ton of information about your PC as a whole. From substantial hardware and software inventory analyses, to built-in realtime monitors for your system's resources, to a fairly thorough suite of network tools, SIW is the kitchen sink of information utilities. It gives the default Windows task manager quite a workout. Best of all, this app doesn't require an installation at all--slap this on a flash drive and you'll be able to fire up a wealth of information about connected PCs with one quick double-click of the mouse. Time saved: limitless.

Download it here!

Have any awesome freeware apps that I've missed in one of these roundups? Want to talk shop? Show off a file or two that you ReNamed? I'm but one, 140-word message away: @Acererak.

How to Automate Your File Management... for Free!

David Murphy — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:05:59 -0600

Need to keep your hard drive from being crapped up? Are you a power-downloader with no organizational skills? Do you want to see exactly where the space on your hard drive is going and have your computer automatically shuffle and sort new files around?

You're in luck. We've assembled a batch of freeware utilities that are, without a doubt, the most essential file management tools you'll want to have on your PC. We use them to automate mundane tasks like file moving and deletion, and better still, to determine exactly where all the wasted space on our drives are going. We would kill to have these feature integrated into Windows Explorer, but no dice thus far. But we can't complain much, because we've saved so much time with these small utilities that we can't ever think about going back to a life without them.

Auto Delete

What it does: Specify a target folder and a time period. The utility will automatically crawl through this folder and nuke anything that falls outside of the window you specify. This is perfect for temporary file locations, default download directories, or anywhere else where you don't want forgotten clutter to fill up your machine. And you can even exclude certain files from the axe, just in case you really need to separate your mission-critical files from potential junk.

Download it here!

SysExporter

What it does: If your computer is already in dire straits, with files and directories in every possible place and stretched out to an endless amount of nested folders... chill out. SysExporter is a handy way for mapping out your directories in a different format, like an Excel spreadsheet or HTML page. It captures the nesting information of a directory tree and allows you to convert that into a searchable database. You can then parse out exactly how you've structured your hard drive and make the necessary fixes without having to click back and forth between an infinite number of folders.

Download it here!

SpaceMonger

What it does: So you just picked up that brand new terabyte drive only to find that you've filled 80% of it with your data. But you swear that you don't have that much on your drive, so where's the bulk? Enter SpaceMonger -- a utility that charts out exactly where your biggest files are residing in a graphical or table-based format. Once you've run a detailed analysis, you can make simple file commands directly in the program itself. There' s no need to switch back and forth between SpaceMonger and Windows Explorer when purging your drive of unnecessary junk!

Download it here!

WinDirStat

What it does: In essence, this program performs a similar function to SpaceMonger. We include it because we appreciate its graphical representation of your drive, which is far prettier than SpaceMonger's. If you want to chart out your storage issues with a bit of flair, opt for WinDirStat over SpaceMonger.

Download it here!

Download Mover

What it does: Here's the biggie. This tiny utility constantly scans folders you specify. When files of a given type hit the folder, they're automatically moved to a location of your choosing. If you use, say, any Internet browser under the sun, this means that you can just download all of your files to a single, default directory. Download Mover will work behind-the-scenes to make sure that your MP3s always end up in your music folder, your JPGs in your pictures folder, and your ZIPs in your... um. Compressed files folder. Hey, people can get pretty thorough...

Download it here!

Comcast Hatches Another Plan to Manage Heavy Users

Chris Moody — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:47:03 -0500

Comcast is not about to stop in its attempts to manage heavy users on its network after the hand slap from the Federal Communications Commission that found that Comcast had improperly blocked peer-to-peer programs.

Bloomburg reports that Comcast now has plans to slow Internet service to the heaviest users during periods of congestion. The internet speeds for targeted customers will be reduced for periods lasting from 10 minutes to 20 minutes, to keep the service running smoothly for other users.

How much of a slow down? Mitch Bowling, Comcast's senior vice president and general manager of online services said it would back down to “a really good DSL experience''.

Internet Service Providers need a way to control bandwidth hogs during peak times in order to keep things profitable. The only other way is to add additional bandwidth that they would never even touch the rest of the time, which comes off their bottom line. Comcast’s first mistake was being sneaky about it and not disclosing the practice to consumers.

I actually like their latest idea, but from the sounds of this, they are about to repeat their second mistake; not defining what constitutes a heavy user and what exactly is this penalty phase with the bandwidth cap? The generalities just make users uneasy. Those same uneasy users will backlash if they unknowingly get caught up in Comcast’s heavy user slowdown, with what they see as reasonable usage. That reasonable usage is completely subjective, unless Comcast chooses to define it.

What do you think? Is Comcast’s latest plan an improvement?

Screw Cable Management!

<a href="/maximumpc.com/david_murphy">David Murphy</a> — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 18:01:21 -0500

I'm not trying to pour the haterade on Mike. Believe me, I'm not. But whenever I go to build a new rig -- which happens at least once a month now, it seems -- the last thing on my mind is cable management. In fact, it's a rarity for me to even conside whether I should spend time concealing cables during the first pass of a system build.

Why is that? Because I utterly fail at the single most important element of computer upkeep, as noted by the title of this post. Screw cable management, because "screw management" in itself is far more critical. I have to stop about halfway through every system build because I'm usually missing screws -- those valuable little connectors that lock relatively important parts of your computer into place.

It must be a Murphy's Law kind of thing, because I always seem to have plenty of screws I don't need. I could attach about 30 motherboards to a case right now, but heaven forbid I have any of the little proprietary connectors one needs to stick a new hard drive in Cooler Master's Cosmos case. I could mount a billion fans in my case; i just can't keep the door locked shut. The list goes on. And it doesn't get any less complicated; I'm using a fancy cooling solution (aka: not fans), which invariably increases the chances of losing important-little-bits-that-make-the-water-cooling-work each time I remove and reattach the device to a new processor.

I used to just stick screws back into the box said parts initially came in. That worked for awhile, until I began cleaning my room / moving to a new apartment and decided to toss "all those empty boxes" in the trash. Whoops.

Even the ol' Ziploc baggie technique has failed me, which just goes to show that proper screw management -- like baseball -- is 90 percent mental and the other half is physical. But I think I've finally found a solution for my screw issues, and it's not technical in the slightest. Force of will might be the best way to phrase it; that, or sheer determination. Either way, I strongly recommend you take the following steps whenever you start adding or changing your computer's components around:

1. Buy Ziploc bags. The kind that you run through your fingers to seal shut; none of this flimsy-sandwich-bag crap. And buy a sharpie. Not a pen, a sharpie. We're going for the "permanency" of it all.

2. Put the box of Ziploc bags right next to your computer. You might be tempted to put the Ziploc bags in the kitchen and multitask or something; don't. Once you're elbow-deep in video cards and cables, the last thing you'll do is leave the sanctity of your workspace (the floor) and trek elsewhere for a baggie. No. Put them next to your computer. Hide them under a copy of Hellgate or something if you're paranoid about the aesthetics of your workspace.

3. Place the sharpie next to the box of Ziploc bags. If you're the kind of person whose desk is akin to a black hole for losing stuff, you might want to take the precautionary measure of removing a bag from the container, writing "sharpie" on it with said marker, and placing the marker in the bag. Tape the bag to your computer.

4. Whenever you go to modify your computer -- or better yet, whenever you have a screwdriver in one hand , grab a baggie with the other hand. Use the sharpie marker and write the following on the bag: the name of the part. If you're installing a new part, open the box and dump all of the screws, bits, pieces, mounting devices, whatever -- dump them all in said Ziploc bag. Be extra careful if you're replacing a part, as a single screw can seemingly have many masters. Screws that came with the case (like PCI holders) go in the case bag. Screws that came with the water cooling kit go with the water cooling bag. You get the gist.

5. Remember to put your bags in a safe place (ideally, not a box that could seem like a nondescript empty box at first glance). Then relax!

While you might feel a little obsessive-compulsive at this point, it's for the better. Trust me. There is no worse feeling than getting your computer 65 percent built, only to find that you're missing one of the mission-critical screws for your water block. It's the same feeling Charlie Brown gets every time he misses the football. Only in this case, you might very well miss out on, say, having a door for your case. And that's no fun; no fun at all.