Freeware Utilities
Files and Folders Freeware UtilitiesAdd a comment field for file/folders
What is HobComment XP Shell Extension? It's a little extension for your Microsoft Explorer. It permits you to add a
new column displaying the comments for each one of your files and directories. (This feature is already contained
in Windows 2000 but not in Windows XP anymore). This freeware is a beta version.
Add a comment field for file/folders: HobComment XP Shell Extension
Access files remotely
At some point you probably noticed you have more and more of your life on your computer. That's when you realize
that you need a way to get to your stuff, no matter where you are, anytime, anywhere. Avvenu is the direct route to
your stuff. It gives you remote access to your computer via your cell phone, PDA, even someone else's computer. And
this route is open to friends too, whenever you choose to share your files, music, photos, video, whatever. You can
set up Avvenu in a couple of minutes and it's there whenever you need it. It's instant gratification without
aggravation.
Access files remotely: Avvenu
Archive (zip) files
IZArc is the ultimate archive utility supports many archive formats like: 7-ZIP, A, ACE, ARC, ARJ, B64, BH, BIN,
BZ2, BZA, C2D, CAB, CDI, CPIO, DEB, ENC, GCA, GZ, GZA, HA, IMG, ISO, JAR, LHA, LIB, LZH, MDF, MBF, MIM, NRG, PAK,
PDI, PK3, RAR, RPM, TAR, TAZ, TBZ, TGZ, TZ, UUE, WAR, XXE, YZ1, Z, ZIP, ZOO. With a modern easy-to-use interface,
IZArc provides support for most compressed and encoded files, as well as access to many powerful features and
tools. It allows you to drag and drop files from and to Windows Explorer, create and extract archives directly in
Windows Explorer, create multiple archives spanning disks, creating self-extracting archives, repair damaged zip
archives, converting from one archive type to another, view and write comments and many more. IZArc has also
build-in multilanguage support.
Archive (zip) files: IZArc
ZipGenius is the absolutely free software for WindowsR that lets you compress files to almost any kind of archive.
ZipGenius supports more than 20 compressed archive formats, including CD/DVD-ROM image files in ISO9660 standard.
This is the file compression suite you were searching for: it is free and easy to use, plus it supports more than
20 formats of compressed archives, including RAR, ARJ, ACE, CAB, SQX, OpenOffice.org documents and the excellent
7-zip. ZipGenius now can precompress executable files going to be added to a ZIP archive through the UPX
compressor.
Archive (zip) files: ZipGenius
Backup files and folders
Automatically backup files, directories, even entire drives! Karen's Replicator copies selected files from one
drive/folder to another. Source and Destination folders can reside anywhere on your network. Options include
repeated copies at intervals as short as a few minutes, or as long as several months, copy only files that have
changed, and the replication of file deletions.
Backup files and folders: Replicator
Backup/mirror a folder on another drive
Use the brand new Fast Backup and Smart Sync options.
Backup/mirror a folder on another drive: SyncBack
Change file-date on multiple files
The FileDate Changer utility allows you to easily change the Created/Modified/Accessed dates of one or more files.
You can use this utility in all 32-bit Operating systems (Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000/XP) with Internet Explorer version
3.0 or above.
Change file-date on multiple files: FileDate Changer
This utility for Windows NT/2k/XP can be used to modify time stamps of files and directories. You can either run
ntouch from the command line and specify the files to be modified as separate arguments (with wildcards), or you
can add files and directories using drag & drop from Explorer.
Change file-date on multiple files: ntouch
Change the folder icon
The NirExt utility add 3 useful context menu extensions to your Windows Explorer environment:
Folder
Properties: This option is available in the context menu when you right-click on a folder in your file system.
Advanced Run: This option is available in the context menu when you right-click on an executable file (*.EXE).
Create Shortcut+: This option is available in the context menu when you right-click on any file in your system.
Change the folder icon: NirExt
Compare two text files and find difference or merge them
WinMerge is an Open Source visual text file differencing and merging tool for Win32 platforms. It is highly useful
for determing what has changed between project versions, and then merging changes between versions. Features:
Visual differencing and merging of text files
Flexible editor with syntax highlighting, line numbers and word-wrap
Handles DOS, UNIX and MAC text file formats
Unicode support
Difference pane shows current difference in two vertical panes
Location pane shows map of files compared
Highlights differences inside the lines and more...
Compare two text files and find difference or merge them: WinMerge
Completely wipe/delete a file
SuperShredder gives you the ability to delete files using not only common methods such as Gutmann and NISPOM (DoD),
but can be completely customized to give you all the security and/or performance you may need. It can receive files
via drag-and-drop onto the application or the icon, selecting files from inside the program, command line, and can
even add a shortcut to your 'Send To' menu inside the Windows Explorer so it's simple to delete files in a secure
and convenient fashion.
Completely wipe/delete a file: SuperShredder
Create a self-extracting (.exe) compressed files archive for a list of files
Funduc Software ZIP Extractor allows you to create "self-extracting.zip archives" that are run as an.exe. The
Funduc Software ZIP Extractor allows you to share your zips with other users who might not have unZIP software
installed on their machine. Please see the FS Zip Extractor page for more
information.
Create a self-extracting (.exe) compressed files archive for a list of files: ZIP Extractor
Create an encrypted archive
BCArchive software is designed to compress group of files or folders into an encrypted archive (i.e. a single
compressed file). BCArchive uses well-known symmetric and public/secret key encryption algorithms. It conforms to
standards and specifications widely used in public/secret key technology. BCArchive has a special set of commands
allowing encrypted data to be sent by e-mail as easy as possible. With BCArchive you can compress and encrypt data
to self-extracting executable program. You (or your recipient) can run the program and extract the data even on a
computer where BCArchive is not installed.
Create an encrypted archive: BCArchive
Display all shared folders
It's a very simple tool for displaying all your Shared Folders. A simple Double Click on a folder opens it in a
separate window.
Display all shared folders: GoTo Shared
Display size/space of folders on a drive
Standard treemaps often lead to thin rectangles. We have developed a new method to display files: Squarified
treemaps. The screen is subdivided such that rectangles approach squares as closely as possible.
Display size/space of folders on a drive: SequoiaView
SpaceMonger is a tool for keeping track of the free space on your computer. Each file or folder on a given drive is
displayed in a box in the main window whose size is a relative comparison to all the other files in your system.
Display size/space of folders on a drive: SpaceMonger
TreeSize Free tells you where precious space has gone to. TreeSize Free can be started from the context menu of a
folder or drive and shows you the size of this folder, including its subfolders. You can expand this folder in
Explorer-like style and you will see the size of every subfolder. Scanning is done in a thread, so you can already
see results while TreeSize Free is working. The space, which is wasted by the file system can be displayed and the
results can be printed in a report.
Display size/space of folders on a drive: TreeSize Free
Find/delete duplicate files
DoubleKiller is a fast and easy to use application for finding and removing duplicate files. Features:
- Scans directories, complete drives or computers in your Network Neighborhood for duplicate files
- Freely combinable comparison criteria (file name, size, date and content)
- You can exclude files based on their name, file type, attributes or size
- Presents a list of all identical files so you can decide which ones to remove
- Deletes the files you chose or moves them to another directory
- Allows to export the result list to a text file.
Find/delete duplicate files: DoubleKiller
Identify a file
TRIDNet is the GUI version of TrID, probably more practical to use than the CLI version, especially for those not
very familiar with the command line prompt. In addition, with a simple double click, it have the ability to display
a series of information about every match listed: the definition's file name, its author & e-mail address (if
provided), a clickable link to a reference URL, remarks, etc.
Identify a file: TrIDNet - File Identifier
Keep two folders in synch
SyncToy 1.4 for Windows Vista is available as a free download from the Microsoft Download Center. The easy to use,
customizable application helps you copy, move, rename, and delete files between folders and computers.
Keep two folders in synch: SyncToy for Windows XP by Microsoft
List all files in a directory/folder in a text file
FileList is a command line utility that produces a list of files of the given path in the CSV format, which can be
imported in a spreadsheet or database. The list includes the file name, the size, the path, the file extension, the
owner of the file (only Windows NT/2000/XP) as well as the last access and change date and the creation date of the
file. Optionally the author of MS Office documents can be displayed.
List all files in a directory/folder in a text file: FileList
List all files in a directory/folder in a text/html file
Directory Lister lets you list all or selected (like mp3 songs) files you have in selected directories on your hard
disk, cd-rom, floppy and wherever you want into text or html file. It is a freeware program, so you can give it to
anybody at no price. You can:
choose which items you want to list - subdirs, size, date, time, attributes, directory names, directory size, full
path, crc32 value
choose the width of these fields,
choose which directories you want to include,
choose if you want a text file or html file,
choose sort options,
choose mask for filenames, for example, you can list all your mp3 files you have using *.mp3 mask,
generate listing for each processed directory,
load and save your settings,
list files from command line (for FTP owners).
List all files in a directory/folder in a text/html file: Directory Lister
Locate a file on the hard drive
This program saves names of all files in your hard drives to file database. After that you can locate files. Very
fast. This program works like updatedb and locate in Unix systems. Win32 based locating program also included.
Program works with Windows 98/ME/NT4/2000/XP.
Locate a file on the hard drive: Locate32
Open subfolders of a folder with a right-click
Open Subfolder is a contextual menu extension for Mac OS and Windows which adds the ability to open a folder
located inside of the currently selected folder.
Open subfolders of a folder with a right-click: Open Subfolder
Perform muliple operations on files/folders
Drag and Drop Shell Robot is a utility to help power users easily peform operations on large numbers of files and
folders. You can create any number of configuration files by specifying a target application and various
commandline parameters or options. To use the program, you simply select a configuration file and drag & drop
files and folders onto the queue window, and click Start. Then sit back while the operation proceeds through your
files. You can also export commands to a batch file instead of immediate operation.
Perform muliple operations on files/folders: Drag and Drop Shell Robot
Print the directory/folder tree list (and optionally, file list)
YourDir is used to print Windows directory/folders structure and optionally file listing. It can also create Jpeg
file of a directory/folders structure.
Print the directory/folder tree list (and optionally, file list): YourDir
Print the list of files in a folder
Handy utility to print or save a list of files located in any folder. Right-click any folder in Windows Explorer
and select "PrintFolder" in the popup menu.
Print the list of files in a folder: PrintFolder
Rename files (command line)
Renamer is a command-line utility that allows you to perform mass renaming of files based on a UNIX-style regular
expression.
Rename files (command line): Renamer
Rename multiple files
Lupas Rename is a FREEWARE program developed to rename a big number of files. It works on Win95, Win98, WinME,
WinNT, Win2K and WinXP. It is a simple.EXE file and doesn't need any other external libraries. Here are a few
features to help you rename the files:
Rename files and folders
Rename files in recursive subdirectories
Shell Integration (right click on a folder in the explorer to start LupasRename on these folder)
Instant Preview (Optional)
Undo the last rename operation
Make a Batch file to rename from a DOS Console
Make a Batch file for UNDO operation from a DOS Console
Save and Load your options into an INI File
Filter by any masks: *.mp3;*.mp2 or???a*.txt...
And much more...
Rename multiple files: Lupas Rename
The Renamer takes and enhances the idea of editing files in directory in a full featured Text editor and then
writing all the changes at once into the files. It works simple: Open Renamer, select directory and the files will
appear in the File Name Editor which is a normal full featured text editor with some additional changes (f.e. you
can't add or delete line). You can use all the editor functions like Quick find, Replace, multiple Undo/Redo,
Macros and of course normal editing. Each file is on a new line and can easily move with arrows like in a normal
text.
Rename multiple files: Oscar's File Renamer
THE Rename 2.1.6 (dated of february 2004) is a donationware program designed to help you to rename files and
folders en masse with a number of possibilities and options. This is a freeware program. You can use it in any
situation (professional and personal use).
Rename multiple files: THE Rename
Rename multiple files easily
Rename Master is a FREE utility for renaming large groups of files with a few clicks. Anyone that has worked with
websites, file archives, or collections of music, videos, or pictures has probably spent way too much time renaming
hundreds of files. This utility will add, remove, or replace parts of the filename with ease and also supports
renaming via file properties, MP3 tags, JPEG JFIF and EXIF tags. Batch renaming that's simple to use, yet still
very powerful.
Rename multiple files easily: Rename Master
Rename multiple files in one click
A file/folder renaming utility, which can use Wildcard or Regular-Expression and Tag-information (MP3, EXIF).
Rename multiple files in one click: Flexible Renamer
Search file/text on the computer
Fast - Easily search your entire hard drive in less than a second to pinpoint the right file, email, music or
picture. Fresh - New and updated files and new emails are indexed the instant they arrive on your hard drive.
Ultra-Light - Utilizes CPU, memory, and disk space efficiently to ensure continued high levels of system
performance. Easy to Use - Simply type words into the deskbar, and CDS finds all relevant documents in an instant.
Search file/text on the computer: Copernic Desktop Search
Quickly search your computer for emails, web history, and files
View news, photos and more anywhere on your desktop
Add Google Gadgets to customize your desktop and Sidebar.
Search file/text on the computer: Google Desktop
Find it fast with the power of Yahoo! Search
Find anything on your computer
Search your instant messages from Yahoo! Messenger
View results instantaneously - as fast as you can type
Protect your privacy with easy search controls
Find information related to your desktop content.
Search file/text on the computer: Yahoo! Desktop Search
Search text (regular expressions) in multiple files/folders
Agent Ransack is a free tool for finding files and information on your hard drive fast and efficiently. When
searching the contents of files Agent Ransack displays the text found so you can quickly browse the results without
having to separately open each file! Agent Ransack provides compelling advantages over similar search tools:
Regular expressions that allow complex rule based searches.
Immediate contents results view.
Various wizards to walk the user through the searching process.
Search text (regular expressions) in multiple files/folders: Agent Ransack
Search and replace text in multiple files
When specifying which files to be included in a particular replace operation, you can add one file at a time, or
you can tell ReplaceEm to use all the files from a particular folder -- or the files from that folder that match a
given file filter (such as *.txt or *.html). You can even specify to include all files that don't match a
particular filter. Additionally, you can decide to include the files from all subfolders of that folder. One very
powerful feature of ReplaceEm is that you can specify that the destination of the altered file be some other
location than where it originally came from. This is handy, for instance, if you want to have some search-replace
operations performed on a particular file and have it saved to a destination file, and then want to have different
search-replace operations performed on the same file, and have it saved to a different location. Another powerful
ability of ReplaceEm is to make use of regular expression search-replace operations, as well as range
search-replace operations.
Search and replace text in multiple files: ReplaceEm
Replace text in multiple files in a single operation. Make backup copies of your original files, select case
sensitive or insensitive searches, or choose between replacing whole or partial text strings.
Search and replace text in multiple files: TexRep 2.0
Securely delete a file so it can never be recovered
The only way to ensure that deleted files, as well as files that you encrypt with EFS, are safe from recovery is to
use a secure delete application. Secure delete applications overwrite a deleted file's on-disk data using techiques
that are shown to make disk data unrecoverable, even using recovery technology that can read patterns in magnetic
media that reveal weakly deleted files. SDelete (Secure Delete) is such an application. You can use SDelete both to
securely delete existing files, as well as to securely erase any file data that exists in the unallocated portions
of a disk (including files that you have already deleted or encrypted).
Securely delete a file so it can never be recovered: SDelete from SysInternals
Share a folder with friends/private network
FolderShare allows you to create a private peer-to-peer network that will help you to synchronize files across
multiple devices and access or share files with colleagues and friends. You no longer need to send large files via
email, burn them to CDs/DVDs and mail them, or upload them to a website. FolderShare allows you to share and sync
important information instantly with anyone you invite, making it the perfect solution for personal or small
business use.
Share a folder with friends/private network: FolderShare
Split a large file into smaller parts
HJSplit supports many platforms (Windows 3.x/95/98/ME/2000/NT/XP, DOS, Amiga, Java, etc.). All versions are
compatible with each other and allow you to exchange files between these different platforms. E.g. a file split on
the Amiga can be joined on Windows 2000 and vice versa.
Split a large file into smaller parts: HJ-Split
Un-erase that file
There is only one free file recovery software that I know that can read from FAT16, FAT32, and NTFS file systems
(all Windows Operating Systems), PC Inspector File Recovery. It is very easy to use. Basically, you select a drive
that has your deleted file and just search for it in the deleted directory tree. It displays each deleted file on
the hard drive and the condition that it is in. All conditions other than good mean that there is not enough data
to completely recover the file.
Un-erase that file: PC Inspector File Recovery
Undelete that file
FreeUndelete is a freeware data recovery program for deleted files. In case of accidental deletion of files on a
NTFS (used by default in Windows XP, 2000 and NT), FAT32 or FAT16 file systems FreeUndelete is the utility to help.
Undelete that file: FreeUndelete
Undelete that file just recycled
Restore files which are deleted from the recycle bin or deleted while holding down the Shift key by mistake.
Conversely, this program has another function that makes it almost impossible to restore all deleted files. You can
use it after deletion of confidential documents, embarrassing files and so on.
Undelete that file just recycled: Restoration
Upload/download using FTP
SmartFTP is an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) client which allows you to transfer files between your local computer
and a server on the Internet. With its many basic and advanced features SmartFTP also offers secure, reliable and
efficient transfers that make it a powerful tool.
Upload/download using FTP: SmartFTP
Upload/download using TFTP
We provide several Free tools to help alleviate some of the day-to-day challenges network engineers face such as
uploading and downloading executable images and configurations to devices, computing information about IP addresses
and remotely powering on network PCs to retrieve documents. These free tools include TFTP Server, Subnet Calculator
and Wake-On-LAN.
Upload/download using TFTP: TFTP Server from SolarWinds
Use GMail to store some files
GMail Drive is a Shell Namespace Extension that creates a virtual filesystem around your Google Gmail account,
allowing you to use Gmail as a storage medium. GMail Drive creates a virtual filesystem on top of your Google Gmail
account and enables you to save and retrieve files stored on your Gmail account directly from inside Windows
Explorer. GMail Drive literally adds a new drive to your computer under the My Computer folder, where you can
create new folders, copy and drag'n'drop files to.
Use GMail to store some files: GMail Drive
View all text files in a folder
Textview is a handy software program to quickly review large collections of text files, like i.e. CD-ROMs full of
source codes or extensive web-projects with many html-, java- and other
scripts.
View all text files in a folder: Textview