14 DAY TRIAL // I don't know exactly how recent the U3 technology is, but I know it is co-developed by SanDisk and M-Systems and that it is designed to work for Windows exclusively (Win2000 service pack 4 and above) as Launchpad program does not exist for Mac OS or Linux platforms. The role of the U3 smart drive is to keep your softwares as mobile as you. For this, they will be installed on an USB drive and all you need to run them is a host computer for the necessary files to be written in the registry (these will be eliminated as soon as the U3 smart drive is ejected).
More and more programs have admitted the utility of this contraption and created softwares specially designed for mobility. FileHawk U3 Organizer is one of these softwares created to assist you by running from a U3 drive on the aforementioned Windows computers.
Unlike the version for the fixed drives, Filehawk U3 Organizer is slightly cheaper, its price being lowered to $19.95. Just like its older brother the portable release has not changed the domain to which it will be applied. It can be successfully employed to quickly finding any file on the smart drive.
The interface remains pretty much the same and there are no major changes in the looks. In fact, only the options have suffered a modification and you will no longer benefit from the automatic update feature and the enabling of the sequence number in the description under the Configuration menu.
The Configuration menu is also a bit poorer in options as U3 smart drive does not contain more than one disk to be indexed. So the options in here are only two: one for managing the index of the smart drive and one for opening the Configuration screen.
Indexing the files on the drive is done automatically from the beginning and the option can be kept automatic. Additionally, you can set the application to perform this task only when the computer is idle. This way, it will not intrude in your work and will not lower the performance of your computer.
If you want only certain files and folders to be indexed, then this is the second option in the first screen after the installation is complete. However, I recommend the automatic job as it does not take too long and you will be able to find any file stored on the U3 smart drive in no time.
On the left hand side of the main application window there is the Search panel equipped with a simple search option and an advanced one. Simple search supposes absolutely no search criteria to be entered. Advanced search on the other hand allows you to use certain parameters in order to get the most accurate results possible (exact phrase, any word, file name, date interval and size). A very important option available is the "Without These Words" one. It permits you to eliminate the files that contain the typed in words.
For an easier use of the software, in the first screen there is thoroughly explained the way the program works and the steps to be taken in order to find what you want.
To the right of the Search panel, in the middle, you will notice two tabs marked by two arrows (red and green both pointing to the right). These will enable viewing the active and fixed selection folders which can contain data of special interest. The two types of folders are part of the organizational abilities incorporated in FileHawk U3 Organizer.
Active folders will help you organize the documents according to keywords. Create a folder named after the keyword and append the documents to that folder by pressing the red diskette icon in the Search panel. Now every time you need to locate a file with that keyword all you have to do is go to active folders.
Fixed selection folders allow the user to save links to specific folders. Neither active folders nor fixed selection folders affect the way the files are stored on your computer. They simply record the location of the files and allow you to organize them differently in FileHawk.
During our testing, I experienced a minor trouble with the application. A debug error appeared out of the blue when using the search function. To remedy this, multiple actions have been taken, from restarting the operating system and ejecting the U3 smart drive to re-installing FileHawk. None of them worked. Installing the application using a different computer resulted in absolutely no problem. Returning to the first computer and trying the software again worked like a charm. My guess is that this has nothing to do with FileHawk, but with my computer.
The Good
Apart from the minor trouble, FileHawk U3 Organizer behaved beautifully. The indexing was fast (the duration of the operation depends on the amount of data to be indexed) and the search results were displayed almost instantly.
The option for setting it to refresh the indexing when the computer is idle is perfect for a user constantly needing the computer. This way, the indexing will be performed when the user takes a break and will not hinder the workflow.
The amount of help available on the publisher's website and in the application is impressive. The online PDF of 44 pages will go through all the aspects related to the software (for both portable and fix disk version).
The Bad
The debug error gave me a bit of a tough time, but the issue was solved quite quickly (my guess is that my computer was to blame). The interface needs a little work as well as the way the menus poop up (as separate windows on the screen).
The Truth
FileHawk U3 Organizer does a great job with finding the files on your computer. The operation is fast and the results are as accurate as the search criteria applied. Besides that nasty error, the software proved to be stable and reliable.
I will say nothing on the price as the U3 technology is new and there aren't too many portable applications up to now. For this reason, only I will leave the default 3 stars in the rating of the software, but as the value is quite high, the result will be 4 stars in that section.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
