Creating a new collection could not be easier. It begins by creating a storage which is simply a virtual folder. Multiple folders, discs and individual files can then be added to each storage that has been created in the collection program.

Files in folders or discs are automatically added to the storage if they are recognized by Disc Collection. It is furthermore possible to remove files from storage.

The storage items that have been created are displayed in the left sidebar. The sidebar will also display information about the storage type that has been added.

The right larger area holds the actual files and if available folders. Meta information are displayed for every file if available.

A search is available that can be used to find files or items of the collection. Various search options can be used to find files or items by name, data, file size and various other parameters.

Disc Collection is an easy to use software to keep track of files and items. It lacks some features like being able to start media from the collection software or thumbnail previews of images that one would expect from a collection software. It is on the other hand lightweight and robust.

Disc Collection can be downloaded from the developer’s website. It is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7.

The program needs to be run with administrative privileges, at least under Windows 7, as the data cannot be saved otherwise. But that is the only complication that users will encounter with this collection management software.

Explorer Plus provides the four media categories books, movies, music and games each with their own database. Each category is divided into descriptors like author, category and publisher for books or category, manufacturer and platform for games.

The program provides the option to either add items manually to a collection or to perform an online search to find the product. The online search uses keywords, e.g. Team Fortress 2, The Art of Seo or Bioware, to find the items in Amazon’s inventory.

Each matching item will be displayed in a listing with the option to use the information from the selected items to fill out the new item form in the program. The selection can be problematic at times for items that exist multiple times, think of games that have been published for multiple systems. The program will only list the title, manufacturer and asin in the listing.

The data will be added to the form giving the user the option to edit if necessary. A click on the Save link will add the item to the collection-

The program comes with a separate bulk importer which can be used to import multiple items at once to the collection. The importer works similar to the online search option in the main program with the difference that multiple result items can be selected.

Explorer Plus is in an early development stage and it would be nice if the developer would sort out the identification problem in the online search results listing.

The program is available for download at the program’s Codeplex page

The collection software is portable and supports various media types including movies, music, books and applications. Users have the option to either add items manually into their collection or perform a scan of a computer device for items. The latter method is obviously the preferred for large collections as it makes it possible to quickly scan a complete hard drive, removable drive or optical drive for multimedia files.

The items are then placed in the selected category from where they can be edited manually. Not all information are usually filled out automatically. That’s where the update from web mechanism comes into play. The collection software can query several Internet databases like IMDB, Amazon, IGN or Softpedia for information. It is a good idea to remove some databases in the program’s preferences. The first database to be queried in the games section is a French website which will return descriptions in French which is not appropriate for users who do not speak French or prefer their results in English.

It should also be mentioned that the titles are case sensitive which means that a search for warcraft 3 will not yield results while a search for Warcraft 3 will.

The collection software is released as a beta and it sometimes can come to errors and problems. Most errors have been encountered during media scans and Internet database lookups. The software program itself looks very promising and could prove to be a contender in the collection software market. The software developer needs to work on the few quirks and should consider adding an option to launch files directly from the program.