Replacement File Manager

[denro]

Before converting from Win 98 to Win XP I relied on a file manager first put out by Mijenix and taken over by Ontrack.com, PowerDesk Pro 4. But it crashed frequently in XP and wouldn't support zip files properly. I still used it some in XP because it would do things that Explorer would not. But crash, crash, several times a day. Ontrack has fixed the problems and released a new version, PowerDesk Pro 5. It works perfectly and is a relief to use instead of Explorer. They have a freeware (limited functionality) of version 4, but not (at least yet) of ver. 5. They also claim that their System Suite is XP compatible, but I note that it contains the non-XP compatible PowerDesk 4. The best choice would be to just look at the new PowerDesk if you want a better file manager.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

I'm using "PowerDesk 5" as we speak and it does seem rather stable with compressed folders. However it still refuses to show the contents of the "Temporary Internet Files" folder, what a bummer.

 

[Khayman]

What does it do that explorer doesn't, or what does it do better?

 

[denro]

what does it do?

PowerDesk works better with zip files, even though Explorer now has some zip support. It permits the sychronization of folders and can optionally sync subfolders as well. This sychronization is very flexible, allowing you to set to only existing or all files, synch either way (new over old or old replaces new). It has a great viewer for a wider variety of file types. You can set it to show two folders and trees. The file and folder search feature is very flexible and much, much faster than the search built into XP. You can filter a folder listing in ways not possible with Win Explorer. There are other features, but perhaps these are the main ones that are not as well implemented in MS Explorer. I don't think anyone needs PowerDesk Pro 5, but it really makes file managment smoother. I doubt if you could persuade anyone who uses it to give it up. (Like my Northgate keyboard, you would have to pry it out of my cold dead hands.)

To Dirk, also. It displays the contents of temp internet folders for me. XP has several places to stash these temp files. Are you sure you are looking in the correct place? Also try changing the filter options in PowerDesk. For instance, XP hides some folders completely and you need to set the filter to show both folders and files in the right pane and also to display both hidden and system attribute files (have them checked so they are greyed.)

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Thanks for the info denro,
but the filters are set correctly and all my T.I.F. folders are pointed to the one position on my RAM drive, so it should see the files, but alas it doesn't.