Tracking changes in the directory: how it is done in different operating systems. How to Monitor File and Folder Changes in Windows Program to Track File Changes in a Folder
Sometimes you may want to track changes made by programs or settings to the Windows registry. For example, to later undo these changes or to find out how certain settings (for example, design settings, OS updates) are written to the registry.
In this review - popular free programs, which allow you to easily view changes to the Windows 10, 8 or Windows 7 registry and some additional information.
The free Registry Live Watch works in a slightly different way: not by comparing two samples Windows Registry but by monitoring changes in real time. However, the program does not display the changes themselves, but only reports that such a change has occurred.
You can download the program from the official website of the developer http://leelusoft.altervista.org/registry-live-watch.html
WhatChanged
Another program that allows you to find out what has changed in the Windows 10, 8 or Windows 7 registry is WhatChanged. Its use is very similar to that of the first program of this review.
The program does not have its own official website, but it is easily found on the Internet and does not require installation on a computer (just in case, check the program using virustotal.com before launching, while keeping in mind that there is one false detection in the original file).
Another way to compare two variants of the Windows registry without programs
Windows has a built-in tool for comparing the contents of files - fc.exe (File Compare), which, among other things, can be used to compare two variants of registry branches.
To do this, using the Windows Registry Editor, export the necessary registry branch (right-click on the section - export) before and after changes with different file names, for example, 1.reg and 2.reg.
Then use in command line a command like:
Fc c:\1.reg c:\2.reg > c:\log.txt
Where the paths to the two registry files are indicated first, and then the path to the text file of the comparison results.
Unfortunately, the method is not suitable for tracking significant changes (because visually nothing can be parsed in the report), but only for some small registry key with a couple of parameters where a change is expected and, rather, for tracking the very fact of a change.
operating room Windows system is equipped with the Explorer tool, which allows you to get an idea of \u200b\u200bwhat is on the disks. In addition to the list of files, we also see information about their size and date of creation or modification. This, however, is too little information to find the data that clogs the disk the most.
The applications in this article can be divided into two categories. The first is programs that specialize in disk visualization. Such graphic representation data is perceived better than a list of files. The second group of tools are applications that show the participation statistics of individual file types, among all the information stored on selected storage media.
WinDirStat
Represents the size and number of files on a computer's hard drive in graphical form, as well as on removable media of our choice.
Benefits of WinDirStat
- An accessible form of graphic visualization
- Also works on older versions of Windows
- You can define how elements are displayed
- tree cards
Flaws:
- Lack of color detection more file types
Distribution Type: freeware
Price: is free
SpaceSniffer Portable
SpaceSniffer scans and shows you the contents of the selected drives in an easy-to-read hierarchical color scheme.
Benefits of SpaceSniffer
- Does not require installation
- Extensive filtering options for data that is visualized
Distribution Type: freeware
Price: is free
Tree Size Free
TreeSize Free allows you to quickly scan the contents of any medium, and the results are displayed in a drop-down tree.
Benefits of TreeSize Free
- Convenient sorting by size, number of files or folders
- Handles alternate file data streams NTFS systems
- Interface adapted for touch screens
Flaws:
- Only in English version
Distribution Type: freeware
Price: is free
JDiskReport
JDiskReport - for lovers of statistics in the form of charts, reminiscent of charts from Excel. Instead of trees, we have bar charts and pie charts here.
Benefits of JDiskReport
- Interesting graphic schemes
- Many different statistics, including division by size and creation date
- Available Java version that works on any platform with Java
Flaws:
- The Windows version requires Java to be installed
Distribution Type: freeware
Price: is free
FolderSize
FolderSize is highlighted by the summary window. It displays charts and a list of files or folders that can be sorted according to various criteria.
Benefits of FolderSize
- Displays charts and file list in one window
- Allows you to pause and resume the scanning procedure, quickly takes into account changes in already checked places
Flaws:
- The free version does not allow you to scan matched hard drives and network
Distribution Type: freeware
Price: is free
- Auditing user connections to files and folders on network resources
- Easier and more informative than the built-in OS tools, does not require additional tools for Event Log analysis
- Monitoring the creation/deletion of files and folders
- User Activity Logging
- Event signaling
10-Strike Connection Monitor- A program for monitoring and auditing access to folders (network resources) and computer files over the network. It keeps a log of network users' access to files and folders, issues text, SMS, email and sound alerts when remote users connect to a specific folder or file, can launch an application or script as a response to an event. You can block connections and temporarily disable network access.
OS Windows XP/Vista/7/8.1/10 supported; Server 2003/2008/2012/2016/2019.
The program is included in the unified register of the Russian software of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications.
How the access monitoring program works
At startup 10-Strike Connection Monitor hides in the Windows tray (next to the clock) and monitors connections to network resources. When someone opens your network folders and files, the program issues an alert - plays a sound, displays a tooltip in the tray with the name of the connected user, or displays an alarm window.
Once you have found a resource connection, you can press the key combination Win+C, or click on the tray icon, and view the list of connected users and files opened by them.
You can disable annoying users or blacklist them.
Information about all connections is recorded in a special log, which you can view later while you were not at the computer.
You can set up alarms when you connect to certain folders or when you connect to resources file server a specific user. When an alarm is triggered and the specified condition is met, you can issue an alert or make a log entry.
The program provides much more features and allows you to organize an audit of access to file servers with greater comfort than the built-in tools of Windows OS allow.
Control access to folders and files on the network
The program allows log(for later viewing) a list of all open files, user logins, and addresses of computers from which access was made. It is possible to add users to the "black list" to disable them the next time they access. You can set up an alarm when certain users connect or when they connect from specified addresses. The alarm system supports screen alerts, sound alerts, email notifications, application launches, logging, user disconnection, user blacklisting.
With help context menu 10-Strike Connection Monitor you can quickly disable network access to shared folders, or enable it again (if you have administrator rights on the computer).
Functions useful to users local network: Control the actions of the network administrator! You have the ability to find out what files on your computer it is accessing, including the use of administrative resources (c$, d$, e$, ...).
The program provides a "button" to disable network access.
For network administrators: Make sure no one but you has file access over the network to disks important servers, and others important computers. Receive notifications by e-mail or launch desired programs when connecting certain users (or with certain computers with a given IP or MAC address).
Identify the most curious network users, learn about the facts of downloading a large amount of files or opening a large number files on servers with confidential information.
Program features
- Auditing access to network resources of a computer (or file server) in the local network.
- Monitoring what is happening in any local folders.
- Privacy control! Find out who and when accesses your personal data through hidden administrative resources (c$, d$, e$, ...).
- Doing log (log) of connections and opening files over the network.
- Signaling with display, sound, application launch, e-mail notification, blocking and disconnecting users.
- Fast and convenient manual disable/enable access to network folders with public access.
- Automatic shutdown of annoying users downloading large files (function "black list").
- Buy the program now and get free updates and those. support for one year.
Download the free 30-day trial now and try it out!
These developers generally offer a lot of great free apps, and most importantly, they don’t overwhelm the installer with tons of useless additional panels and “loaded” programs, as other companies like to do.
What is FolderChangesView?
FCV is a small portable utility from Nirsoft Labs that allows you to monitor the contents of folders or everything hard drive for changes. The program issues full list created, modified and deleted files for the entire period of observation. You can follow not only local drives, but also behind network ones (if you have rights to read them).
You can download FolderChangesView from . Link to download ZIP archive from executable located at the bottom of the page. After downloading the program, create a folder “FCV” (or with any other suitable name) on your desktop and extract the contents of the archive into it.
Starting and using FolderChangesView
Since FCV is a portable utility, it does not need to be installed. Just open the folder where you unpacked the archive and double click on the "FolderChangesView.exe" file. You may need to confirm the launch of the application in the User Account Control window.
Once launched, select which folder you want to monitor and click OK. After that, the utility will start monitoring the folder and all its subfolders in accordance with the specified parameters. For example, we decided to watch the Downloads folder. To do this, we indicated her address, as shown in the screenshot below.
After selecting a folder, you can change the monitoring parameters shown in the screenshot above. We decided not to change anything, but you can experiment with the settings yourself later. And don't worry: settings operating system this will not change in any way, so you can not be afraid to mess something up.
Alteration
So, monitoring is set up, now you can change a couple of files and see how it affects the application. For example, we deleted one file from the Downloads folder, created a new subfolder and moved the existing files into it.
Here's what FCV tells us about these changes:
File " Paragon Partition Ma…” has been deleted.
The "New Folder" folder has been created and changed (the change is renaming the folder).
The file “VirtualBox-4.3.20-9699…” was deleted and created. In other words, it has been moved—that is, removed from the original Downloads folder and added to the New Folder folder.
The file “Oracle_VM_VirtualBox…” was deleted and created - also due to moving to another folder.
File Information
The utility shows not only information about operations, but also comprehensive information about the changed files in the folder (all columns can be viewed by scrolling the monitoring window to the right). Here's what the app says:
1. File name (Filename).
2. Number of changes (Modified Count).
3. Number of creations (Created Count).
4. Number of deletions (Deleted Count).
5. Full path to the file (Full Path).
6. Extension of the modified file (Extension).
7. File Owner.
8. First Time Event.
9. Time last change(Last Time Event). These two columns are useful when you need to know how much time was spent, for example, editing a Word document.
10. File Size.
11. Modified Time. This column is slightly different from #8 and #9: it shows when the file was renamed or changed, not when it was opened and saved.
12. Created Time.
13. Attributes.
For convenience, you can right-click on any file and select "Properties" ("Properties") - then all this information can be viewed in one window. Just do not confuse with the item "File Properties" ("File Properties").
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