Better Directory Analyzer

With the aid of Better Directory Analyzer you can scan your hard disk to examine files. For instance, you can find out which files take up the most space and which have more than one copy, so that you can delete or reorganize them.

This software application puts at your disposal advanced search filters and multiple viewing methods. For instance, you can filter search results by file extension, size, or duplicates. Data can be studied in text and graph format, as well as exported to file.

The setup procedure doesn't take long, and the only notable aspect about it is that Better Directory Analyzer requires .NET Framework installed in order to work properly.

On setup completion, you are greeted by a simple window split into several areas, where you can perform file scans and view results, as well as put together HTML reports.

When performing a disk scan, you can create the scan scope by picking a drive or directory, include or exclude subfolders, establish the minimum and maximum file size to take into account, and set a date range.

After the scanner finishes, you can check out the name, full path, extension and size for each file, in addition to the total size and number of files in the status bar. Plus, you can remove one or more selected objects from the computer, or visit their location in Windows Explorer.

Files in the search results list can be filtered by type, as well as sorted by items count, count percent, size, or size percent.

What's more, you can limit the number of file types and get a visual representation of the statistics, either by count (most files) or by size (largest files). The graph can be copied to the Clipboard or saved as an image file (EMF, PNG, GIF, JPG, TIF, BMP).

Another section of Better Directory Analyzer collects data from the search results to display duplicate files, so that you can delete them to free up space. By default, they are grouped by name, but you can change the sorting order by location or size.

Similarly, you can find out hidden files and the ones which take up the most space. The previously mentioned graph option with the configurable files limit is available for large items too.

Detailed information revealed for each section (search results, file types, duplicates, hidden and largest files) can be saved to file with the CSV extension for closer inspection. Otherwise, Better Directory Analyzer gives you the possibility to round up data from all these sections to generate well-structured HTML reports.

The software utility worked smoothly in our tests, without triggering the operating system to hang, crash or prompt error messages. It carried out scan jobs swiftly, showed accurate file information, and generated reports just as fast. Moreover, it remained light on system resources consumption during the whole time.

To wrap it up, Better Directory Analyzer delivers practical and approachable options to help you not only learn valuable info about duplicate, hidden, largest and other kinds of files, but also to take the necessary actions for disk space optimization. It's free to use.