PsychoFolder, despite the strange name, is a versatile rule based folder monitor for Windows. The program uses XML files to configure folder riles, which may put of users who never worked with these kind of files before.

The folder monitor ships with a sample rules file which you can edit to add your own rules to the program.

The program has been designed to trigger actions based on rules configured in the rules file. It is for instance possible to configure rules to unpack downloads automatically, to move specific files to another directory or to execute files when they are dropped into the folder.

The sample rules file that ships with the program has the following layout:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RuleManager xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<Path>E:\Downloads</Path>
<Rules>
<Rule>
<Name>Unrar Files</Name>
<Run>unrar e -y "{FILE}" "{PATH}"</Run>
<Extension>.rar</Extension>
<KeyWait>0</KeyWait>
</Rule>
<Rule>
<Run>cmd.exe /c move "{FILE}" "E:\Media\"</Run>
<Extension>.divx</Extension>
<Name>Move Divx Files</Name>
<KeyWait>0</KeyWait>
</Rule>
<Rule>
<Run>"E:\AVIAddXSubs.exe" "{FILE}"</Run>
<Extension>.srt</Extension>
<Name>Add Subtitles</Name>
<SendKeys>VK_TAB,VK_TAB,VK_TAB,VK_TAB,500,VK_RETURN,VK_RETURN</SendKeys>
<KeyWait>1000</KeyWait>
<RuleWait>5000</RuleWait>
</Rule>
</Rules>
</RuleManager>

• Path determines the folder that you want to monitor on your computer system.
• Name a unique identifier
• Run a command that you want executed
• Extension the file extensions that should trigger the selected run command
• SendKeys defines keys that you want to simulate, handy for gui based programs configured under run
• KeyWait to wait a specific time in milliseconds before keys are send
• RuleWait blocks the rule processing for the selected time in milliseconds

The application adds an icon to the system tray on startup. A right-click displays a context menu with options to change the monitored folder, to select a new rules file and to browse the folder that is currently monitored. There is also an option to disable the monitoring of subfolders.

PsychoFolder has two issues that might keep the majority of users from using the program. The first is the complicated handling of the program. Especially the rules file could use a graphical user interface. The second is the fact that the program has not been updated since 2009, which usually means that the project is dead and no longer maintained by the developer. While it works fine at the moment, it may very well stop working after operating system updates or other system updates.

Windows users who would like to download PsychoFolder can download the latest version from the project’s Google Code website.

Files are usually dropped in a download directory that grows over time, some files get added, some deleted but the file count usually is high enough to make it more difficulty that it should be to locate the latest downloaded files.

But it is not only downloaded files that can be a problem. Basically any type of file that gets updated, think of log files, documents, music for instance.

While it is possible to sort by modification date it is not the best solution as it means to switch between different sorting options regularly as sorting by date makes it that much harder to locate files by name

Piles is a program for Windows 7 that solves the problem. It is basically a directory monitor that displays the most recent files of a directory in its interface.

The program integrates nicely with the Windows 7 Taskbar displaying all recent items in a jumplist. It has to be noted that Piles will only monitor one directory per instance that is opened and that it does not monitor files in subdirectories.

That’s a severe limitation, it would be great if Piles would include subdirectories and the possibility to add multiple unrelated directories to the same stack.

piles

A right-click on the Pile program icon in the Windows 7 Taskbar opens a context menu with options to create a new pile. A new Pile is created by specifying a folder to be monitored and a name.

The creation generates a second program icon for that folder. All icons look the same, it would be nice if the developer’s would add customization to distinguish between different Pile folders.

Piles for Windows is a clever program that can aid the user in finding downloads, documents and other files faster, providing that they have been added or modified in a folder that is monitored by the software program.

Piles is only compatible with Windows 7 according to the developers. We have not tried running it in other Windows versions but figure that it won’t work because of the taskbar integration.

The program requires the Microsoft .net Framework 3.5.

The Folder Spy is a handy portable software program for Windows that can be used to monitor specific folders and their files.

Folder Spy offers several advanced features despite its tiny file size of 50 Kilobytes that can make it interesting for users looking for a folder monitor for Windows.

Folders can be added with a click on the Add item link in the main interface. Here it is possible to select a folder from the file browser, specify file filters and a program that should be executed whenever changes are noticed.

The file filter can be used to monitor only specific file types or file names in the selected folder while the program that can be executed could be used to automatically react on folder changes. A possible scenario would be to monitor a temp directory and run a temp cleaner on that directory regularly with the folder monitor.

Adding folders to the folder monitoring tool leads to a confusing situation. The settings window will remain open after adding folders to it. This window displays all the folders that are monitored while the main program window, which looks just like the settings window, will only display changes in the monitored folders.

The program lists all changes made in the monitored folder for a period of 30 seconds in its interface. It is possible to save the information to a log file in that time. The Folder Spy does lack settings to adjust the interval in which the files are cleared from the interface. There is also no option to automatically save all changes to a file.

This limits the use of the program as the user needs to actively monitor the program window to see the changes in the monitored folders.

TheFolderSpy can be downloaded from the developer’s website.

Say a user is surfing the web and suddenly the system informs him that an executable file has been replaced in his Windows folder. Should he be suspicious ? Yes absolutely. This could help fight spyware and malicious software right from the start.

Spy the Spy is a software for Windows that monitors folders and subfolders (and even network folders) for file changes and additions. Only selected file extensions are being reported though. I was not able to find a list of all file extensions but a quick test revealed that .exe, .dll and .bat file extensions where included in the warnings. There are probably a few more that will initiate a warning.

By default only the Windows folder and its subfolders are monitored by the application. Other folders can be added with ease though, it’s probably a good idea to add the Program Files folder and the Documents and Settings folder as well.

Once a file gets added or changed in the monitored folders a warning will popup giving the user a handful of possibilities. The file can be moved to quarantine, the procedure can be logged and a System File Check can be initiated.

Spy The Spy is limited to reporting file changes and has a few limitations that make it a great addition to spyware tools. It cannot remove changes to the Windows Registry nor can it scan files to determine if they are indeed spyware or legit applications. Most importantly though it cannot deny read or write access to files and a file that produces a warning is already running on the system.