flipTech Drive Doppler 1.20
user's guide

written by Gary Calpo, gary@fliptech.net

Last updated 2/28/98

Find the latest version of this help file at
http://www.pinoyware.com/doppler/dophelp.html


Table of Contents Whats new?

1 - General
Introduction / Features

2 - Program info
Distribution contents / Program requirements

3 - Usage
General program usage

4 - Problems
Frequently asked questions / Bugs

5 - Misc
Registration / Links

  • 3/2/99 - Drive Doppler 1.20 refresh and updated URLs to point to my new pinoyware.com website.

  • 8/18/98 - fixed a few incorrect links, added additional documentation for Drive Doppler 1.11

  • 7/9/98 - Version 1.10 of Drive Doppler is released with a handful of nice improvements.

  • 6/22/98 - A revolutionary approach to cleaning hard drives is unleashed on the world.


1.1 - Introduction

With even a simple 33.6 modem, it isn't hard to fill up 1.2GB of space. Once you're wired into the Net, it's just a short period of time before your drive is filled with a ton of games, apps, utilities, and whatever else you can get now and days. And when you're finally out of space, what do you do? You probably hit the obvious spots: the download directory, Program Files, and wipe out your Temporary Files directories. And yet you still run out of space...

There are hundreds of disk space watchers and pie-chart analysts. Sure, they can tell you what your hard drive space looks like and what directories take up the most space. But can they tell you where all that free space you had last week went? Which directories have grown since this morning? In what directories have you actually gained lasting space from cleaning? And what directories haven't changed at all?

Drive Doppler gives you all these answers. The method is simple: take digital snapshots of your hard drive file distribution now, do your usual computer-thing-- downloading, installing, working, programming, etc... then take another snapshot and compare the two. Through comparison, you can see where all your once-ample hard drive space has been sucked into! Make the $300 you paid for that super-huge hard drive go that extra mile. Or squeeze a few more months or years out of your 1.2GB drive....

1.2 - Features

Please visit http://www.pinoyware.com/doppler/index.html for an updated listing of the major and minor features.


2.1 - Distribution contents

  • Full version

    • DOPPLER.EXE - the program

    • DOPHELP.HTML - program documentation in HTML format

    • Assorted Visual Basic runtime DLLs necessary for proper program function

  • EXE-only version

    • DOPPLER.EXE - the program

    • DOPHELP.HTML - program documentation in HTML format

2.2 - Program requirements

  • Windows95/98/NT. Sorry to all you Win 3.x, Linux, BeOS, and Mac die-hards.


3.1 - General program usage

  • Menubar

    • File

      • Create image - scans the selected drive and builds an image of the file distribution

      • Open image - opens an image saved from a previous session

      • Save image - saves the picture of your hard drive for a future session

      • Exit - closes the program

    • Image

      • Compare - compares the current scanned image of the hard drive to a pre-existing copy opened using the Open Image command

      • Preferences - lets you control the color-coding conditions and specify files to ignore in the image scanning process

    • Help

      • Tutorial - Getting started? Look here.

      • On the Web - takes you to the flipTech Support homepage for online assistance

      • eMail author - takes you to a contact page where you can leave me your ideas, suggestions, and questions.

      • Check for update - takes you to the official Drive Doppler homepage

      • Registration info - details and links for when you decide to register this program

      • Enter key - once you have your registration code, enter it here to unlock the program

      • About - Shows version and registration information.


4.1 - Frequently asked questions

  1. Q. So... what does it do? (aka: "Give me the first-timer walkthrough")
    A.
    Alright. Once you have your program opened up, the first thing you want to do is Create a new image, under the File menu. After a minute or so, the left pane of the window will be filled with a copy of your hard drive tree with additional information on the size of the contents of each individual folder. Back to the File menu, Save your image. A few minutes/hours/days later, come back to the program. Again Create a new image. Now Open the image you saved a few minutes/hours/days before. On the right pane, you will see a copy of your drive as it looked when you made that image. You can compare the current view of your hard drive with the older view, or you can go to Image > Compare and make things easier. Your right pane will now show the direction of the folder's size. If a folder has increased in size, it will be highlighted in yellow or red. If a folder has freed up some space, it will be highlighted in green. This will make finding "hot spots" for freeing hard drive space alot easier, I hope!
  2. Q. My 21 days have passed or will pass soon, and I want to register. How do I do that?
    A. To receive your registration unlock code, first you must register your software with flipTech International.
    This link will take you to the registration page at Regnow.Com where you register online using any major credit card over a secured connection. Shortly after registering, you and I will receive a receipt of the transaction. Send me a copy of your receipt along with your "registration lock code" (in the Help > Enter key window). Within 24 to 48 hours, you should receive an unlock code. For security reasons, you must make your key request using the same email as the one you registered your software with.
  3. Q. It crashes when trying to read drive X: Help!
    A.
    eMail me with the following information: operating system, particular flavor (i.e. OSR2, SP3, original version, etc), type of drive being scanned (CD-ROM, Zip disk, etc), and the file system (FAT, FAT32, NTFS, etc) of that drive. From there I'll see what I can do.

4.2 - Known bugs


5.1 - Registration

This shareware release of Drive Doppler is free for non-commercial use for a healthy evaluation period of 21 days. After this time, a $10 license must be purchased for continued use. Registration supports the idea of shareware and encourages the development of this and other software and entitles users to limited technical support. User licenses are good for this and all future versions.

When registering by mail, be sure to include a return address as well as an eMail address, if available. And please put "Drive Doppler" in the Memo field.

You can also register Drive Doppler online with any major credit card over a secured server by going through Regnow.Com.

Thanks for supporting the shareware concept,
Gary Calpo

If registering by conventional mail, please send a check or money order for $10 to:
 
Gary Calpo
1328 Paramore Drive
Virginia Beach, Virginia USA 23454-2218

5.2 - Links


(c) 1998-1999 - gary@fliptech.net back to top