14 DAY TRIAL // Does it ever happen to you to dig so deep for a folder that you almost think you're going to put a hole into your hard drive? It used to happen to me very frequently when I was a little younger. But now I have learned my lesson. I either use the search tool provided in Windows or Total Commander, or I use Folder2Drive.
The software is small, only 229KB and easy to use. The developer's name is Harso Bagyono and he released it as shareware and full version. In order to have all the functions of the application activated, the user has to pay $15 for a single license. The price keeps on shrinking, depending on the number of licenses acquired.
The main purpose of the software is to ease your accessing the folder with extremely long paths. You won't have to lose time passing from folder to folder to reach the files you need. Just create a virtual drive and access the folder easy and fast.
The interface of the software is pretty simple and you will not have to burn your brains out figuring the options. The buttons on the left side of the application window will suffice. The first button is called Main for a good reason. Here you get to create your virtual drives. The window is divided into two sections. In the upper part, the software will display the virtual drives and the path of the source folder.
In the lower part, the user has the means of creating the drives. All you have to do is browse to the source folder you want to have easy access to and assign a drive letter (if you do not do that, the software will assign one by default). Then click the Create Virtual Drive button.
I was wondering how many drives I can create with the software. After a few seconds of thinking, the answer came to me and I decided to see if I was right. My logic did not fail me and the developer makes available creating as many drives as there are letters in the alphabet. So, if there are 26 letters in the alphabet, you can create 26 - the drives you already have on your computer.
The Options menu (under Main) is also divided into two. Here, you get to set the virtual drives behavior and you can activate them automatically just for you when Windows starts, activate them automatically for all users when Windows starts or you can choose not to activate them when the OS loads.
The second window of this menu enables the users to restrict the use of the program by applying a password. By default, the software is not protected and, if you want to lock it, just type in the password you want, confirm it and enter a password hint (in case you forget it), but this is optional.
The third button of the software is called Log, and in its window you will find all the actions performed by the software. When the software starts, deletion of virtual drives, creation of drives, password setting, all of them are recorded in the log and they will be accompanied by the date and time of the occurrence.
Deleting a virtual drive is much easier than creating one. Uoy can create and delete the drives only in the Main window and selecting one or more drives and pressing Delete Selected Virtual Drives button will get rid of them. And don't worry: you can use this option as nothing bad will happen. Some of you may wonder if deleting a virtual drive will delete the source folder as well. No, the source folder will remain untouched. The virtual drives are a mere shortcut to your folders.
The developer warns that you may need to restart Windows Explorer for the changes to take effect, but I have not experienced such problems.
The Good
The software is super-easy to use, and the there is no need to fear that you may do something wrong, because it is harmless.
The Bad
I may be a "scrooge" when it comes to money, but I do not think that I exaggerate when I say that the software has a spiced up price.
The shareware version restricts the application of a password to lock the software.
The user will not be able to name the virtual drive and it will keep the name of the real drive the source folder "resides" in.
The Truth
The truth is that I do not know who could buy such a product. I, for one, wouldn't pay $15 for an application that does not help me too much.
Considering all I've told you up to now, I think that distraught people will find that all the software does is create more confusion.
But this is only version 1.0, so we have to be patient, some great features may be on the way.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
