CNET Editors' review
After months or years of use, it's not uncommon for computers to become cluttered with unneeded and duplicate files. This not only takes up space that could be used to store useful data, but also contributes to poor performance. Disk Space Fan allows users to see exactly what's taking up room on their computers and eliminates the space-wasters. Although the program works just fine, it's definitely not the most intuitive we've ever seen.
The main problem that we encountered with Disk Space Fan is that it tries a little too hard to be cool, favoring sleek graphics over useful descriptions. We're all for an uncluttered interface, but this program takes it a little too far. The program opens with a list of available disks down the left side, and clicking on each one displays a pie chart showing the amount of full and free disk space. Users can then have the program scan each disk and analyze its contents. This is where the program really puts form over function, displaying the results in what the program calls a "ringschart." A central circle represents the directory, with a series of nested rings representing each level in the directory. Users can click on each ring to display a new ringschart that drills down deeper into the directory. Yes, it looks cool, but it just didn't seem like a very efficient, easy-to-process way to display the information. The online Help file is adequate, even though it opens in Internet Explorer whether you want it to or not. In the end, Disk Space Fan wasn't exactly difficult to use, but we felt like we had to spend too much time trying to figure out how to navigate the interface and interpret the graphs.
Disk Space Fan installs politely but leaves a folder behind upon removal. We recommend this program with reservations.
Publisher's Description
From Desksware:
Disk Space Fan is a nice disk space analysis tool for Windows. It helps you to free up disk space by quickly finding and deleting big, useless files. It displays disk space usage with a nice chart. You can navigate the folders easily with the chart. It is also integrated with Windows Explorer to open, delete and browse files or folders.
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All versions:
3.4 starsout of 5 votes
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Current version:
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Results 1-5 of 5
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"Fast, intuitive, helpful"
Version: Disk Space Fan 2.2.7.821
Pros
'Ringschart' display style is quick and intuitive, striking a fine balance of both form and function (despite what this site's official review states);
In minutes I was able to download, install, use the product and reclaim dozens of GB from my disk.Cons
While drill-down was fast and easy, drilling back up could be slow, occasionally rescanning the whole disk
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"Very nice visual display of drive usage"
Version: Disk Space Fan 2.2.7.821
Pros
Very polished and nicely intuitive display/graph
Works on mapped and network (UNC) drivesCons
Version upgrades are confusing
Summary
I liked this app so much that I forked over the money for the Pro version. It's really nice. My only complaint is that when I recently got a notification that a new version was available, I found after installing the new version that it had applied the upgrade to the free version (which I had not uninstalled yet) instead of to the paid Pro version. Wierd.
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"Very handy way to see what's taking up hard drive space"
Version: Disk Space Fan 2.2.7.821
Pros
Very fast inventory of hard drive. Similar products take much longer to scan for files.
Cons
Using the "back" button after drilling down into hard drive segments takes you back to the root instead of back one directory level.
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"gives idea what files you have"
Version: Disk Space Fan 1.4.2.796
Pros
give me an idea what fills take up the most space
Cons
wonder about how acurate it is. widows and disk space fan numbers dont match
Summary
could be good to see what files you have where and move files around to keep all like files together
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"I would not recommend this"
Version: Disk Space Fan 1.4.2.796
Pros
None I can think of
Cons
Wants to delete more than the useless files. Help section is not very helpful but confusing
Summary
In my opinion this program will cause more harm to your computer than good. Its description says it finds large and useless files and removes them to free up disk space. When you run a scan like I did it said it found 9.2 gig of useless files in the program file folder yet when you click on delete to remove the useless files it wants to delete the WHOLE program File Folder. I do not trust this software and will not risk losing all my programs.
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