In a previous post I talked about a great disk usage analysis tool called TreeSize Free that visually summarized how your disk was being used. Free Disk Analyzer performs a similar task, however it also has some added features and some better graphics. In this walkthrough I’ll show you what Free Disk Analyzer is all about and we’ll look at some comparison shots with TreeSize Free.
Installation
Start by downloading the installation package for Free Disk Analyzer from the ExtenSoft web site. Like most of the applications that we review, the installer for Free Disk Analyzer is very easy to use. Just walk through the steps using the installation wizard and you will be up and running in less than a minute. You can install Free Disk Analyzer in a number of languages including English, French, Dutch, German, and Russian.
Usage
After completing the installation and launching the Free Disk Analyzer, you will be presented with a similar window as I’ve shown below. This shot gives a nice and quick breakdown of disk usage by volume. To kick start or update the analysis, click on Analyze in the menu bar. Once selected, “Analysis in progress…” will display in the status bar at the bottom. By double-clicking on a volume, or by using the tree in the left-most pane, you can drill down into specific areas of storage. In the following example, you can see a comparison of my D: drive using Free Disk Analyzer and TreeSize Free. The numbers are slightly off, but I would say they are close enough to each other to be accurate. As expected, both applications give similar results, however Free Disk Analyzer (on the left) really shines from a GUI standpoint. The next comparison shows a drill-down into the storage folder, which is the biggest consumer of storage space on that drive. Once again, Free Disk Analyzer really shines from a graphical display standpoint. However both applications are accurate and will get the job done. Clicking on the Largest Files tab, at the bottom of the window, will bring back a listing of the files that are consuming the most space for the folder and sub-folders you selected. Looking at Program Files, you can see that my Assassin’s Creed and Unreal Tournament 3 folders are the biggest consumers of hard drive space. Yikes! Checking out the Largest Folders tab will get you a breakdown of sub-folder sizes. As expected from the previous shot, my two game directories are the biggest culprits for space waste.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, the functionality of Free Disk Analyzer is basically what you would expect from any application claiming to analyze space consumption. What this program excels at is really in the presentation. If style is your thing, then I strongly encourage you to get a copy of this app today! You won’t be disappointed. Do you have another favorite disk usage analysis tool? Let us know in the comments, we’d love to hear about it!
