Specifications and Requirements ------------------------------- Software Title: Disk Sweep for Windows Version 1.0 Author or Company: Elite High Technology, Inc. P.O. Box 3330 Redondo Beach, CA 90277-3330 Registration Fee: $29.95 (plus $4.00 shipping and handling) Location: Windows Forum Software Library (AOL) Filename: DSWNVB.EXE Filesize: 314,071 bytes (Self-Extracting Zip File) Keywords: Elite High Technology, Scan, Archive, Backup, Usage, VB, Win 3.1 Requirements: Windows 3.1, 4 Megs of RAM Rating (1-10): 8.75 Date of Review: 5/17/95 Installation ------------ Installation Rating: 8.5 Description of Installation Process: Disk Sweep installs a little differently from most other programs in that it is a two part installation. First run the self-extracting program file (DSWNVB.EXE) you downloaded. This will unarchive the "readme" text files you will need to read and the second self-extracting file which will unarchive the main program files. You will need to place this self extracting file in a temporary directory. Once done, run the file and then run the Setup program it unarchives. From here it is simple. Just answer the few questions Disk Sweep asks and it installs the program into its own directory and creates a Program Manager group and icons. The progam does add lines to your autoexec.bat and system.ini files so you will need to reboot the computer to properly activate the program. It makes backups of your original autoexec.bat and system.ini so you don't have to worry about losing your original configuration if you want to remove Disk Sweep after evaluating it. (Don't forget to delete the files in the temporary directory once the program is installed. They are no longer needed.) Features -------- Listing/Description of Features: Disk Sweep v1.0 scans every file on your system and keeps track of which one's you use and when you used them. Those files which you do not use within the time frame (that you designate) since the last scan may be swept off of your hard drive and onto floppies. Disk Sweep performs four different tupes of scans: 1). Usage Scan: All files which have not been used within a certain period of time are found and listed. 2). Largest Scan: The largest files on your disk are found and listed. You can specify how many large files to find. 3). Larger Than Scan: All files larger than a defined size are found and listed. You can set the size to a value you feel is appropriate. 4). Duplicates Scan: All files which have duplicate names on the disk are listed with their full path locations. Disk Sweep lets you perform these scans in different ways by using the Scan Options Dialog Box. These options are: 1). Scan Area: The options in this section control how the scan is applied to the hard disk(s). 2). Scan All Areas: Scans all possible areas. (Network, CD-ROM, and floppy drives are not scanned.) 3). Scan Volume: Scans the selected disk volume only. 4). Scan Directory Tree: Scans the selected directory and all its subdirectories. 5). Scan Directory: Scans the selected directory but not any subdirectories. You can also apply a Scan Filter. Only files with names matching this filter will be scanned. (The default filter, "*.*" accepts all files.) Disk Sweep has a Lock Command button that brings up the Protect Options dialog box. Here you can set permanent protections and filters. Global File Protection allows you to lock all files with a specific extension. For example, all .EXE files can be locked which prevents them from being scanned or swept from your hard drive. Menu Options: The Action Menu options are: Scan, Load (Load backups made), and Exit Program. The Windows Menu lets you Tile and Cascade open windows. The Help Menu has options for: Contents, About Disk Sweep, and Registration. Toolbar: Disk Sweep's main screen Toolbar has buttons for: Scan, Load, Options, Reset, Print, and Help. Its Scan Window Toolbar has buttons for: Move, Select All, Unselect All, View, Lock, and Unlock. The Cleanup Window has a Toolbar with buttons for: Sweep (move files to floppy disk), Delete, Clear, Select All, and Unselect All. Some of Disk Sweeps other features include: It compresses files as it sweeps them off your hard drive in order to take maximum advantage of floppy disk storage. It has an Uninstall feature so you can remove the program from your hard drive without hassles. Help/Documentation Rating: 8 Disk Sweep comes with Window Help Files which answer most common questions adequately. Summary ------- Disk Sweep for Windows Version 1.0 from Elite High Technology, Inc. is a very useful and much needed utility for anyone whose precious hard disk storage is beginning to be stretched to its limits. There are many files on your drives that may not have been accessed since the time you installed a program. Or they may be files you haven't used in weeks or months that are taking up room that could be used for new files or for disk cache space. Disk Sweep is the answer. Its very small footprint TSR monitors all your file activity by date/time stamping each file as you use it. Then when you perform a scan of your drive Disk Sweep will list all the files that you haven't used in the time frame you have set in its configuration (Disk Sweep can do this automatically if you set the "auto-scan" function but, I don't like giving too much power to any program. Even ones as good as this - just another one of my hang-ups). It then gives you the options of sweeping the files to floppy, or deleting them outright. The sweep options include Sweeping Read Only Files, Sweeping Hidden Files, Verify Backups Made, and Print Diskette Labels. This is an excellent utility which can help you to reclaim wasted drive space quickly and easily. Disk Sweep receives my recommendation. Problems and Suggestions ------------------------ List of Problems found: There were no conflicts, General Protection Faults (GPF's), or program errors encounterd during my evaluation of this software. The only problem I discovered occurs when you select a drive for Disk Sweep to scan which cannot be accessed (example: you select drive A: for scanning without a disk being in the drive). Disk Sweep will inform you that it cannot read the drive and then promptly terminates itself. You have to relaunch the program (and using our example you HAVE to place a disk into drive A: in order to scan it OR change the drive you want to scan). Suggestions for Improvement: A fix of the problem mentioned above. What do you get when you register? ---------------------------------- You receive a registered copy of the Disk Sweep program on floppy diskette (which adds a graphing of storage space feature), a fully illustrated user's manual, notifications of new versions and bug fixes and access to Elite High Technology, Inc.'s BBS for downloading and technical support. Disclaimer ---------- (DISCLAIMER: This review is provided for information/entertainment purposes only. The author will not be held responsible or liable for any problems which may occur in the use of any of the reviewed software. The author will also not be held responsible if the program reviewed does not operate, in the way stated. With there being so many system configurations possible confilcts/problems can arise which may prevent the reviewed software from operating in the way indicated. This is not the responsibility of the reviewer.)