Have you ever looked for a file in your computer like a madman with no success? I did that a few times. The situation occurred because I was buying hard disks very often (I put my hand on very good pieces at very good prices) and I used to keep my data there and forget on which HDD I stored it. And when I needed a file, I knew it had to be on a hard disk somewhere and I would take all six of them and spend an entire Saturday looking for a tiny file.

I also used to spend a lot of time looking for a certain disc in my collection. It took me like forever to find it. Until a friend of mine mentioned a software. The name was WhereIsIt?. The software is a Robert Galle product and the installation file is 4MB large. The price is $39.95 which in my opinion is very acceptable.

The software's interface may seem confusing for beginner level users, however, these will easily understand how the application works. The menu bar contains the File, Edit, Search, Actions and Window. The File menu covers options like creating a new catalog, opening an already created catalog, saving a catalog as template, etc.

Let's see how you can create a new catalog. Choose the New Catalog button in the toolbar (first one in the left) and a dialog box will appear, where you can name your new file, choose to create a fresh new empty catalog or one based on a saved template or another catalog. That's it. The most difficult part is to fill up the catalog.

That can be done by right clicking the newly created catalog and choosing from the context menu the first option (Add New Disk Image). The Add New Disk menu will appear and you can now choose the drive to scan. If what you need is just a single folder, press the "Folder limitations" button that is enabled once you have elected your drive and select only the files that you want to catalog.

A very useful feature is that you can create as many disk groups as you want and not only to the catalog itself, but also to all the subcategories it contains. Another useful feature is assigning pictures to the catalogs or catalog subcategories. The user can also add commentaries about certain discs to the bottom of the application window.

In Edit menu you will find a very useful option in Lending disks. This option will help you keep track of the disks that you borrow from or lend to your friends. The options in here are setting the date you have borrowed a disc from your friends or lent it to one of them. You can also write the name and little comment on the action.

Adding movie details is easy with WhereIsIt? As it allows you to import information on your favorite movies directly from the IMDB. You will get a movie plot summary and the main picture, as well as the details of the movie (running time, director, genre, MPAA, link to the movie, etc.). This is a pretty cool feature I'd say.

For file viewing options go to View menu and choose your option. The Search menu allows the user to find the desired items, comparing the files to the media (useful when cataloging hard disk drives), compare the cataloged data and the files.

The Actions menu allows the user to edit the description for the disks, add catalogs to user list (a sort of clipboard that supports all sorts of options like generating a report and printing it or modifying a description of a catalog).

The Options menu is the gate to the applications settings. In General Settings the user can configure the software so as to minimize the application to system tray when it is not needed, or play a sound (user defined) when a long operation completes.

In the Catalog section the user can set the application to automatically load and open user specified catalogs. The External Programs category allows you to define the viewer settings, the shell program (instead of Windows Explorer) and the antivirus program.

The Good

The software responds to the cataloging needs of the most exigent users. The interface is easy to manage and the Categories section (with Flags and Disk Locations) just adds to the functionality of the software.

The Bad

What can I say in this section? I could not find anything but the fact that in this unregistered version there are some limitations like opening only one catalog at a time.

The Truth

All the software needs is an alarm-clock. Just kidding, although such a feature would be interesting.

Here are some snapshots of the application in action: