Windows File Analyzer

Windows File Analyzer is a compact and portable piece of software that, as the name suggests, performs an evaluation on Windows files, more specifically on the thumbnail database, Prefetch data, shortcuts, Index.dat files and the Recycle Bin. It chiefly targets advanced users who monitor their system's activity.

As installation is not a prerequisite, you can just drop the executable file anywhere on the hard drive and immediately access the app.

It is also possible to save Windows File Analyzer to a USB flash drive or similar storage unit, in order to run it on any computer with no prior setups.

The most important aspect is that the Windows Registry is not updated with entries, and files do not remain on the hard drive after deleting the utility.

Windows File Analyzer's GUI is made from a regular window with a plain layout, where you can get started by selecting the data type to be analyzed. As far as the thumbnail database goes, the program supports Windows XP, ACDSee, Google Picasa, FastStone Viewer and HP Digital Imaging files.

It offers plenty of useful information specific to each data type. For example, you can view the name and linked path, together with the date of creation, writing and last access for each shortcut, as well as the total runs, file path hash and MD5 checksum for each Prefetch item.

It is possible to generate reports with all the details included in the evaluation, for printing purposes. Unfortunately, Windows File Analyzer does not give you the option to save this report to file (e.g. TXT, HTML, DOC).

We have noticed a low system resources consumption during Windows File Analyzer's runtime, thus the tool does not burden the computer's activity. It has a good response time and finishes an analysis swiftly. No errors have been shown in our tests and the utility did not hang or crash. Although it does not comprise advanced options, Windows File Analyzer supplies power users with a simple environment for analyzing Windows files.