One of the things we all hate to deal with is the anxiety of running out of space on our systems. It’s an instant source of frustration. That’s where a program called FolderSizes from Key Metric Software comes in.

The program opens into a window with four panes - Folder Browser, Folder, Drive Space, and the File/Folder Detail Pane. Each is synchronized with the others and they’re all controlled by global settings and filters that can be applied by clicking buttons on the toolbar.

The Folder Browser is the normal main control pane. This is where you’ll pick which drives or folders you want to explore. It’s an easy navigation, because it looks just like the main tree display in Windows Explorer. If you have any network drives mapped, you’ll be pleased to know that this program also allows you to manage their space, as well. As soon as you pick a drive or folder from the Folder Browser, the program immediately starts analyzing that space. A list of folders and subfolders show up in the Folder Pane, sorted by size or any of a number of ways and color-tagged for file type (system file, hidden, etc.). It also shows up as either a bar chart or pie chart in the bottom right pane for quick visual reference.

The Drive Space Pane in the lower left gives you a quick idea of how much free space each drive has. Another click can show you a pie chart of free vs. used space for the selected drive.

At this point you might be saying ‘Well, yeah, but (insert your favorite software here) does the same thing,’ but that’s not the end of this program’s usefulness. It also lets you apply a number of filters and then turn the selected files into a ZIP file to save room. Another tool under the Report function searches out duplicate files for you to deal with. This last is very useful. Duplicate files can eat up a lot of room!

Speaking of reports, the software will generate a long list of special reports. They include largest files, oldest files, temp files, duplicate files, file types, file type graphs, files by attributes, files by attributes graph, file owners, and file owners graphed. You’ll find links to Windows system utilities under the Tools menu choice and a menu choice for program Options.

The program is due for some updating soon, so you can expect it to get even better. It’s hard to think of anything this program won’t show you, but if you should happen to think of something and can make a convincing case for it, the author will be happy to hear about it and it’s quite likely to end up being covered in a future version. Get a trial copy of this software and investigate all the powers wrapped in a simple interface. You’ll never want to go back to those other programs!

As a last note, this company will be coming out with a dedicated duplicate file finder / handler in the future.

[FolderSizes] [Shareware - Free Trial/Full Version US$34.95] [Jeff Partridge]