11 ms·
WizTree is famously almost 50x faster than WinDirStat (on normal Windows NTFS drives) by reading the Master File Table (MFT) instead of walking the tree to meas
by oxygen_crisis 2y ago
WizTree is famously almost 50x faster than WinDirStat (on normal Windows NTFS drives) by reading the Master File Table (MFT) instead of walking the tree to measure each file.
WizTree isn't open-source like WinDirStat but "free as in beer" with optional donations.
There's also a fork of WinDirStat patched to read the MFT but I don't know anyone who's tried it: https://github.com/ariccio/altWinDirStat https://github.com/ariccio/altWinDirStat
- matthews2 2y agoMore MFT goodness: the file search tool Everything (https://www.voidtools.com/ https://www.voidtools.com/)
- LelouBil 2y agoI want to like Everything but every time I start it up it takes 30 sec to 1 minute to update it's index
- xnx 2y agoYou can set it to run on startup or as a service so it updates the index in the background.
- letmevoteplease 2y agoTry Everything 1.5a - an "alpha" version with many improvements, in development for years but inexplicably hidden away on their website. Never experienced any instability. https://www.voidtools.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9787 https://www.voidtools.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9787
- Nexxxeh 2y agoUninstall, re-install as a service which may now be default.
- ziml77 2y agoBetter as a service too because the GUI doesn't need to request admin rights.
- naikrovek 2y agoYou should not be starting it when you want to search. You should open it when you log in, and leave it in the tray. It will do a full index on launch then subscribe to filesystem notifications to keep itself up to date for as long as it’s open. Do that and it’s alarmingly fast and responsive except for the minute or two right after launch.
- Saris 2y agoIt should be starting at boot if you installed it as a service, so the indexing will be done then. After that opening and searching is instant.
- benjaminpv 2y agoContrasting seemingly all the other responses to this, I use it the same way you do (only opening it when needed) and I'm fine with the delay: even at its slowest rebuilding the index and searching is faster than the in-built windows Search.
- la_oveja 2y agoessential tool
- xen2xen1 2y agoSo that's why Everything is so fast. Nice.
- rezolva 2y agoI am building an advanced filemanager (FileNinja) for Windows with full integrated everything search & query. you have the option of saving bookmarks to virtual folders that consist of everything searches. Instant directory sizes, tags, custom file descriptions for ntfs. Anyone interested? https://youtu.be/JREufgkf5pk?si=sP05UCOrskpX8OTq https://youtu.be/JREufgkf5pk?si=sP05UCOrskpX8OTq
- SuperHeavy256 2y agohaha I like the voiceover, the video is fun
- Multicomp 2y agoI'm interested! Great marketing video by the way, a good example of using AI-powered voiceovers to level up the one-man-marketing polish capabilities.
- jron 2y agoDo you have a git repo to follow?
- joakim0 2y agoYou can check out the following sites https://github.com/sandeberger https://github.com/sandeberger, http:\\thefile.ninja or my homepage at https://kodar.ninja https://kodar.ninja. The project is not opensource.
- walt_wu 2y agoCool, but what is the biggest feature compared to Everything and Listary?
- jug 2y agoIt's crazy how the Windows Search Indexer still doesn't use MFT. It doesn't even bloody support network drives so there's no such reason.
- CJefferson 2y agoWizTree also understands things like OneDrive and Dropbox, and know that files "stored in the cloud" aren't taking up any disc space -- WinDirStat thinks my drive is 140% full.
- cm2187 2y agoWhat about hard links?
- useless_foghorn 2y agoWiztree and WinDirStat will both double count hard links. I have a 12TB hard drive holding "17TB" because of sparse files and hard links. Windows file manager properties agree with Wiztree and WinDirStat as far as space used. I think the file manager looks for free space and calculates that separately, while Wiztree and WinDirStat are just adding up used space.
- _zamorano_ 2y agoDidn't try AltWinDirStat, but did try FastWinDirStat. The thing is, FastWinDirStat uses a licensed propietary component. No problem for me, but the author did have some back and forth with another user on GitHub. Seems FastWinDirStat license don't match with using a closed source library, or something... As for its actual functioning, it does as it says. Works much faster than WinDirStat
- actionfromafar 2y agoLooks like a pretty clear violation of the WinDirStat license. They took WinDirStat which is GPL, linked it with some other proprieraty code and distributed the result. (They could have been clear-ish (with caveats) by distributing only the source code and let the users do the compiling and linking, similarly to how you could download ZFS and build it into Linux. But you mustn't distribute the result further.)
- mardifoufs 2y agoWhat's the downside of just reading the MFT? Why doesn't Microsoft do it in file explorer, and why wouldn't every tool use it instead of walking through the file system? Maybe there's no downside but it's such a huge speed boost that it would be weird to not use it otherwise, right?
- password4321 2y agoReading the MFT directly requires Administrator permissions, and doing it correctly means reimplementing support for every nook and cranny of NTFS including things like hard links, junction/reparse/mount points, sparse files, etc.
- hd4 2y agoSpacemonger uses the MFT and doesn't require Administrator privileges
- smusamashah 2y agoIs this the Spacemonger you are talking about https://web.archive.org/web/20121126062443/http://www.sixty-five.cc/sm/v1x.php https://web.archive.org/web/20121126062443/http://www.sixty-... It does not say anything like that in FAQ and i don't remember it being fast.
- hd4 2y agoYes that one. Just use it and see. It's blazing fast.
- smusamashah 2y agoJust learned that its open source now https://github.com/seanofw/spacemonger1 https://github.com/seanofw/spacemonger1
- 2y ago
- SSLy 2y agoI wish there was a duplicate file finder that used the MFT scan to pre-process the data instead of the FS tree walk
- barfbagginus 2y agoDo you use czkawka? https://github.com/qarmin/czkawka https://github.com/qarmin/czkawka I don't think it uses the MFT, but it's the fastest and most flexible open source dup finder as of last year or so
- password4321 2y agoWizTree is no longer free for commercial use. I believe version 3.38 was the last version that is completely "free as in beer" with optional donations.
- Sakos 2y agoSeeing a description directly in the README for the folders in the repo and their contents makes me really happy. I wish more projects would do that.
- brnt 2y agoI'm a big Filelight fan. It used to not work well on NTFS volumes, it would miss files flagged Archived, has that been solved?
- tyleo 2y agoYou’ve got me interested but I’m finding it quite annoying that WizTree doesn’t actually have pictures of the software UI on the website. At least not under any of the obvious links I’ve checked.
- Tijdreiziger 2y agoIf you want to see screenshots of any piece of software, just search the name of the software on your favorite search engine and go to ‘images’. (This might seem obvious, but it took me a long time to realize, hence why I’m passing the tip on.)
- barfbagginus 2y agoJust try it, if you hoard data or clean up client systems. It's the best Windows file size checker in 21 years, since windirstat appeared. It's not just an improvement, it's freaking astonishing. I sincerely hope that the author open sources it one day, or that mtf-based solutions come to open source. It's just life changing and will change when you want to do a scan. It removed any sense of hesitation or time waste.
- rkagerer 2y agoFileLocator Pro is a good search tool that also uses the MFT.
- faeriechangling 2y ago> WizTree isn't open-source like WinDirStat but "free as in beer" with optional donations. Which is enough for me to not use it because WinDirStat still only takes a minute. Cool software though.
- 8372049 2y agoExactly this.
- barfbagginus 2y agoWiztree takes like 3 seconds where WDS takes 30. In realy big analysis and cleanup scenarios with rescans, it's enough to let you do your job faster. In every day scenarios, it removes any hesitation to visualize a system. It's basically free and near instant. Fact is, WDS community must be kind of abandoned, or else it would be doing the same trick. It's SO much faster that it becomes a genuine quality of life improvement. I need it, and don't mind using a non free tool until the OSS solution has the capability.
- burnte 2y agoSpaceSniffer is a much easier to use tool.
- barfbagginus 2y agoSpaceSniffer's UI is less clunky, but Wiztree's scan is an order of magnitude faster. That kind of speed difference can affect when you're willing to use the tool. I find myself much more willing to pop open wiz tree to get a quick view of my system or a particular storage folder.
- rldjbpin 2y agohaving used both on my pc, can attest to the speed claims. wiztree has yet to demonstrate annoying freeware/donationware pop ups during daily use.
- michaelcampbell 2y agoThanks for this; it is incredibly faster. Never heard of it before.