Windows Explorer is perhaps the most basic program in Windows. Since it comes installed with Windows, almost everyone uses it to look for their files. So commonly used, and yet such a slow & featureless program that has not evolved much in a long time. It shows one directory at a time, and takes a long time if you are looking for a particular file. Forget about things like comparing directories etc.
A search for a better tool led me to several programs on web – many free. I tried a few. The one I liked the most was a program called FreeCommander which, as the name implies, is free.
It lets you create multiple tabs and open a different directory in each. So, you do not have to keep switching between directories, or clutter the desktop with several different windows. Also, when you exit from the program, it remembers all directories you had open in different tabs, and when you restart the program, it opens with all the tabs and directories open as if you had never closed the program. That alone saves a lot of time.
If you are looking for files that have, let’s say, MF in their names in a large directory with lots of files, all you need to do is type MF in the filter box at the bottom.
It has lots of other features that you can read about here, or download from here and try.
Tags: File Explorer, File Manager., Free Utility, Windows Explorer
