14 DAY TRIAL // It does not happen too often for an average user to need monitoring file changes for certain folders. Nevertheless, this happens and generally looking for an instrument designed to automate the task could take so long that monitoring suspicious locations yourself is often the more comfortable solution. But this happens only if you do not know what to look for, and let’s face it, no average Joe has the necessary experience for this.
There is, however, software specially created for this type of monitoring activity. Disk Pulse from Flexsense is one of the examples available on the market. The Pro version analyzed here is $25, but you can use it for free for half a month. If paying for this sort of product does not suit you, the developing company puts at your disposal the free version of Disk Pulse, which comes with several limitations, such as maximum amount of files monitored restricted to 100,000, no possibility to keep an eye on user-defined file types, sending email notifications or saving reports to disk.
Despite its simple appearance, Disk Pulse comes prepared to monitor entire drives, or just specific folders, and can record a total of eight types of events; more than this, the application is perfectly capable of watching for files that share the same set of parameters: containing specific text, having a certain file size or attributes, last modification or access date, or files with a specific extension.
Disk Pulse’s interface is intuitive for any sort of user, having the most important options in plain view. However, taking a look under the hood, you’ll notice that it is powerful enough to cover an advanced user’s needs and provide custom file monitoring options. Interface layout can be modified to shrink the toolbar or reduce it to just a set of buttons, descriptive for their action.
Support for a total number of ten profiles is present in the Pro version of the application (if you go for the freeware, only three profiles can be managed). Their customization options may not look like much at the beginning, as you get to choose the directories you want to be monitored (multiple locations are supported) or tick the events’ checkboxes that should trigger the recording (modifications in file name/size, access time, creation time, security, attributes or directory name).
But if you move to “Rules” section, you’ll find a whole new set of possibilities for building up a list of search criteria. The extensive amount of choices permits configuring each and every parameter so that the entire application works to cover your needs by providing accurate results.
Disk Pulse’s criteria include monitoring for files pertaining to category (archive, backup, disk images, development files, documents, books, audio and video formats, images, game files, etc.), files that contain a user defined text (in-text string search is performed), files with a specific attribute, HEX pattern, file name or extension. Moreover, data with a defined last modification/access/created date can also be included.
For the criteria of files belonging to a certain category, the developer took that extra step and made sure that the database is extensive enough to cover not only the most popular file formats, but also the less employed ones, specific to power users. On the downside, there is no extension attached to the name of the file type, which may give you some trouble selecting them. But, to cover this downside, you can always add the extension yourself to be monitored by Disk Pulse.
The last tab present in the profile configuration dialog (Advanced) contains options for sending reports via email or saving them to a disk location in HTML, CSV or TXT format. If you have enabled email notifications under the application’s configuration panel and added all the details correctly (there is a function to test the connection), all you have to do is provide the address you want the report to be sent to. A bit of improvement would be necessary in the case of saving the reports to a disk location because, in the current version, you have to type it in manually instead of just browsing for it.
Setting up the entire application is a walk in the park, as the amount of configuration is reduced to creating your own shortcuts to handle the program, general application options, proxy information and configuring email sending (you can also set the source email address).
Working with Disk Pulse showed no signs of weakness of the application and it behaved according to the criteria we applied. The set of events and rules you can work with award the program with great flexibility, making it suitable for power users and average ones to the same extent.
Having multiple profiles that can be configured individually make for a great way to check on the modifications suffered by different file types in different locations on your computer. All reports can be saved to disk or sent to an email address of your choice. With the logs safely stored in a user-defined location or sent via email, a nice addition would be to have the possibility to make it run in the background.
Multiple profile handling, together with the set of events Disk Pulse can be set to record and the plethora of rules included in the arsenal of features extend the uses of the app to any file you wish to check for any sort of change. We noticed that while emailing the reports, although it was clearly stated that the file should be sent whenever a particular number of changes had been recorded, the message retrieved almost always contained more lines than previously set. The versatility of the paid version is designed to cover all the angles a professional user may need, all wrapped up in an easy to work with interface.
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