Disk space analysers can be excellent tools. Very often a program will download an update, or create a cache of files, or just not clean up after itself (eg, a video editor) so suddenly your 120 GB drive has only 3 GB left. Windows 'out of the box' doesn't help in this regard - you can click on a folder and find out how much space is in it and any sub-folders, but that can be a lengthy task.

As usual, there are many disk space analysers, many of which are free. Many people have bemoaned reviews here that recommend other programs, and state that reviews should in fact just pertain to the software on offer. However, the application 'WizTree' has to be recommended for its sheer speed. Rather than trawling through directories manually, it reads the disk index file, so its lightning fast - it works in the same way 'Search Everything' does, when it searches your whole drive for a file in seconds. And unlike this software, its free 24/7.

But back to this software. The UI is clean and works well. I don't like the 'Please wait' when you first start - you don't know if its going to take an extra twenty seconds or half hour, but it is quick. I've used WinDirStat (open-source) for years, and this software is a lot quicker.
It quickly showed a 'users' directory taking 29.85 GB, and clicking it showed a slight annoyance - another 'please wait' window while it calculated the tree under this node. WizTree doesn't do that.
One other annoyance is that its common to double-click an open node to close it. This software opens the folder if you do that. An annoyance if you're not used to that.

So overall, worth downloading and a useful tool to keep an eye on where that hard-drive space is going. There are better alternatives out there. Check out WizTree and WinDirStat, with a preference towards WizTree.

Chris  –  4 years ago  –  Vond je deze reactie nuttig? ja | nee (+70)

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Chris,

This appears very useful for those that like a sorted listing-style format with several action and display options.

However, I prefer a graphical "sunburst" layout like that produced by the ingenious "Scanner" which, for me, allows a much quicker interpretation of disk space usage:

http://www.steffengerlach.de/freeware/
https://alternativeto.net/software/scanner/about/

It is a single EXE file which requires no installation and is reasonably fast, about 15 seconds to scan both a 500GB SSD (417k files, 106GB) and a 1TB hard drive (114k files, 102GB).

Navigate and "drill down" the folders and files by simply clicking on the space-hogging pie wedges of interest.
Right-click on them to display a menu of file/folder actions.
Use the little navigation buttons in the bottom-right corner to return/jump back or "up" (which is quicker than the "summary" rescan to get back to the top level).
Press the little +/- buttons in the upper-left corner to expand the display window and display more folder levels as concentric rings.

Chris, This appears very useful for those that like a sorted listing-style format with several action and display options. However, I prefer a graphical "sunburst" layout like that produced by the ingenious "Scanner" which, for me, allows a much quicker interpretation of disk space usage: http://www.steffengerlach.de/freeware/ https://alternativeto.net/software/scanner/about/ It is a single EXE file which requires no installation and is reasonably fast, about 15 seconds to scan both a 500GB SSD (417k files, 106GB) and a 1TB hard drive (114k files, 102GB). Navigate and "drill down" the folders and files by simply clicking on the space-hogging pie wedges of interest. Right-click on them to display a menu of file/folder actions. Use the little navigation buttons in the bottom-right corner to return/jump back or "up" (which is quicker than the "summary" rescan to get back to the top level). Press the little +/- buttons in the upper-left corner to expand the display window and display more folder levels as concentric rings.
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HMarx  –  4 years ago  –  Vond je deze reactie nuttig? ja | nee (+12)

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Can't re-size windows and it would be beneficial if the file/folder creation date was included when listing files in drive.

Dennis W Comito  –  4 years ago  –  Vond je deze reactie nuttig? ja | nee (+4)

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Dennis W Comito, Window re-sized just fine for me. Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit. Program works as advertised. As mentioned by Chris - WizTree is quicker. Both WizTree and this program are PORTABLE (big plus for me!) and that is why there is no 'installing' as nigelxxx noted in his comment.

Dennis W Comito, Window re-sized just fine for me. Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit. Program works as advertised. As mentioned by Chris - WizTree is quicker. Both WizTree and this program are PORTABLE (big plus for me!) and that is why there is no 'installing' as nigelxxx noted in his comment.
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Digit64  –  4 years ago  –  Vond je deze reactie nuttig? ja | nee (+8)

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i just downloaded this and after unzipping i had a program folder with the program in it but no set up file so i just copied the folder to my program folder and ran it from there and it worked OK so but i was surprised there is no set up file but it worker good

i will use this over the next few days to see how i get on with it

nigelxxx  –  4 years ago  –  Vond je deze reactie nuttig? ja | nee (+2)

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nigelxxx, This just means its portable, which is a good thing. If you want to uninstall it, simply delete the folder with the files in it.
if you want to run it on another computer, simply run from a USB stick - no installation required. Ideally, this is how all programs should be.

nigelxxx, This just means its portable, which is a good thing. If you want to uninstall it, simply delete the folder with the files in it. if you want to run it on another computer, simply run from a USB stick - no installation required. Ideally, this is how all programs should be.
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Chris  –  4 years ago  –  Vond je deze reactie nuttig? ja | nee (+6)

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