Disk Space Usage / Inventory

For Mac OS:

  • Disk Inventory X

For Windows:

  • WinDirStat
  • FolderSize

They are both pretty similar, in each case displaying filespace usage via a tree map looking like a patchwork of multicoloured PVC, each colour representing a different type of file (audio, video, application, document etc.).  Their advantage over traditional browser trees is you can see all the largest files and folders simultaneously (as a plan-view).  Tree maps (treemaps) are explained at http://w3.win.tue.nl/nl/onderzoek/onderzoek_informatica/visualization/sequoiaview/about_treemaps/ – they are formed by subdividing in alternate dimensions (horizontal/vertical), each time in proportion to relative size of item, be it folder or file.  A variation on this, employed by the above tools, is a cushion treemap [http://www.win.tue.nl/~vanwijk/ctm.pdf], where shading reveals the directory structure.  A further variation is the squarified treemap [http://www.win.tue.nl/~vanwijk/stm.pdf], where subdivision and grouping attempt (no guarantee of success) to make the rectangles as square as possible.First I did a Google search on [mac file space profile]Matt Roberts additionally drew my attention to FolderSize, a low-footprint utility that enhances Windows Explorer to display folder sizes on the fly, no need to run a special program to calculate them afresh every time:

  • http://lifehacker.com/219058/geek-to-live–visualize-your-hard-drive-usage
    •  Article by Gina Trapani, Dec 2006
      • For Windows
        • WinDirStat
          • Tree-map based.  $Free.
        •  JDiskReport
          • Pie-chart based.  $Free.
          • As of article date (Dec 2006), AVG (alone) reports it as a trojan.
      • For unix
        • To see just directory sizes: [du -h] The “-h” means “human-readable”.
        • To see all files: [du * -h]
        • To sort by size: [du -k | sort -nr]
        • More at Disk usage analysis and cleanup tools
      • For Mac OS
    • Comment to article additionally recommended:
      • Disk Inventory X
  • http://www.derlien.com/
    • Disk Inventory X is a disk usage utility for Mac OS X 10.3 (and later). It shows the sizes of files and folders in a special graphical way called “treemaps”.
    • It is absolutely free and released under the GPL.
    • The layout algorithm is based on KDirStat. “The idea to develop this program came to me when a fellow of mine showed me his creation WinDirStat.”

Matt Roberts additionally drew my attention to FolderSize, a low-footprint utility that Matt Roberts additionally drew my attention to FolderSize, a low-footprint utility that enhances Windows Explorer to display folder sizes on the fly, no need to run a special program to calculate them afresh every time:

Disk Inventory X – Experiences

  • I downloaded and installed Disk Inventory X.
  • On first run, it requested to install ‘rosetta’.  Not familiar to me, and wondered also if it was compatible with Mac OS Snow Leopard, so googled it
    • Google: [mac rosetta “snow leopard”]
      • [http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=4786]
        • The impact of installing Rosetta on Snow Leopard (Spoiler: none) (August 28th, 2009)
        • Rosetta is … required to install Office, (but) not (to) run it.
        • Rosetta “dynamically translates most of your PowerPC-based applications to work with your Intel-based Mac. There’s no emulation.
        • “Needing Word for a book deadline, I bit the bullet and installed Rosetta and, to my surprise, I noticed no appreciable performance loss whatsoever. The good news is that Rosetta runs only when needed, otherwise it isn’t even loaded. It’s also pretty small, weighing in at only 2MB.”
  • I also “bit the bullet” and allowed its installation.
  • Disk Inventory X ran OK.  Pretty intuitive.
  • .

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