James' Tools and Tricks » Space

OverDisk

James Rudd — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:41:21 +0000

Recently I needed to identify where all the space was going on our server. Usually I just use the Folder Size tab extension but it requires scanning every time you close the Properties dialogue.

After looking around online I found a great free utility that displays the info in an easy to explore graphical view. OverDisk scans the drive or folder (this took around 10 mins for a drive containing hundreds of home directories) and then you can save the data so it does not need to constantly rescan (unless you make changes to files).You can also have it only rescan a certain subfolder rather than the entire drive again.

It presents the information in a colour coded pie chart, allowing you to easily see which folders and files are using the most space.

You can click on the folder and the pie chart will change to reflect that folder or click the middle of graph to go up a level. Right clicking on a folder gives you an easy option to Open or Explore in Explorer.

Links:

http://users.forthnet.gr/pat/efotinis/programs/overdisk.html

Folder Size for Windows

James Rudd — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 12:42:41 +0000

Windows Add-on that adds an additional column to Details view in explorer showing the size of subfolders.

http://foldersize.sourceforge.net/

Allows very quick very of directories to see space.

Main problem is it can take a while to refresh and can be slow for initial scan.

Folder Size Shell Extension

James Rudd — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 03:24:13 +0000

Adds a Size tab to folder properties, showing the size of all the subfolders.

Great addon for Windows. Bring up the properties of a folder and it will calculate the size of all the subfolders.

Can be set to sort folders by size and decreasing allowing sysadmins to quickly identify large folders in user drives and shared locations. Can also export as a TXT file to give to users.

Made by the now defunct Space Dolphin website.

Folder Size Shell Extension Install