14 DAY TRIAL // File managers are definitely a basic need when working with computers. There are hundreds of solutions to put your hand on. Some of them are free, others are not. I for one am content with the now classic Total Commander. But every now and then my attention is drawn to some other similar application. Most of the times, bitter disappointment is all I get.
But these days I have seen a new breed of file managers. It is not actually a regular file management tool, but it can act accordingly. It is equipped with more than the average options most such softwares contain and I dare say that the features it brings are quite useful for both file and disk management.
Disk Recon is designed for those users that need to analyze the folder and disk space usage, retrieve statistical data about files, scanning of the local drives for duplicates that need MS Excel or HTML exporting. You will not find all these in any regular file manager on the market.
The explorer-like interface is endowed with intuitive buttons that will definitely make users' work easier. The $29.99 price seems like a good bargain compared to what the software displays and the 30 days trial period allows the user to properly test the application as no other restriction is being applied.
The explorer tree is set to the left of the application window and from there you can select any drive or folder you have on your computer. In the left, there will be displayed the contents of that volume or folder. In order to view the contents of the folder, one has to press the "Scan Folders" green arrow. Otherwise, you will be presented with a blank window.
While working with the application, you will learn that the green button mentioned above is very important and all the tasks are carried out once it is pressed. Depending on your choice, you will be provided with more or less options in the scan window. Thus, for scanning the folder sizes, you will only get "More Filters" alternative besides "Main". It allows the user to set the parameters of the scan (modification date, size and attributes).
In File Search mode you will benefit from an additional tab in Scan window: File Search Options (it contains the locations for the search: folders, files, results, add to results, add attributes, etc.). Once you pass to Find Duplicates, it will convert to File Duplicate Options. I performed a search for duplicates on a small area of my computer just to test the accuracy of this tool. I must confess that I was impressed by the accuracy of detection. The options for duplicates are: Same Contents, Same Name, Same Partial Name, Same Date, Case Sensitive Files and Same Size. To speed up the search, you can always check the Ignore Empty Files box.
File Browser mode is a simple tool designed to "skim" through the files stored on your computer. Drive usage is designed to show you the attributes of the volumes on your disk(s). Thus, you will get information like drive type (CD/DVD ROM, fixed or removable), file system used, serial, total capacity of the volume, free space, used space and cluster size. For a better image of the amount of free/used space, this information is also expressed in percentage.
During the scan, the application will not allow switching to another available mode. File types show you all the file types that are available in the selected folder. This way you will know for sure the number of files of the same type that are enclosed in a folder as well as the total size.
As any other respectable file manager, Disk Recon too is equipped with a network drive mapping tool. This option allows connecting to the drives in your local network and checking them too just as if they were situated on your computer.
Exporting function seems to be limited to HTML reports and MS Excel which is pretty bad because users tend to use free applications that replace MS Excel. I for one use Open Office and when I activated the Excel exporting function, that resulted in displaying an error message for all the modes the application is equipped with.
The Good
Disk Recon is equipped with lots of useful features. Preview window can display the selected pictures and the size of the files can be set to bytes, KB, MB or GB.
The Bad
The small details make the difference and the error messages received during the testing did not make a good impression. Also, providing support for Open Office would be a step forward.
I tried deleting a file but no matter what that file was, I constantly received the file in use error message. That was because I had the File and Image views activated.
Some crashes when closing the application.
The Truth
The interface could use a change and some color. Given the options and features presented, I would say that the price is right. I will let you to be the judges of that.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
