Setting up Disk Sort's theme and options

A few choices in Disk Sort by Zaweba change how it looks and how it treats your drive. There's a dark green or light green theme, a choice between size and size on disk, settings for the map's free space, folder labels and minimum size, an option to follow links, one to allow changes to protected folders, and a switch for the fast scan. None needs touching to get started, but knowing what each does helps you set the app up the way you work.

Pick dark green or light green. Dark suits long sessions with photos, since thumbnails and the large view stand out against a dark surround. Light suits bright rooms and people who find dark themes hard to read.

Which size figure to show

This decides which figure the tree, map and lists show. Size is the files' own length. Size on disk is the space they really take on the drive, which can be larger for lots of small files or smaller for compressed ones. F4 switches between them while you work.

For freeing space, size on disk is the truer guide. For judging how much you'll copy to another drive or send to someone, plain size is closer.

Map settings

Three options shape the treemap.

Free space shows the drive's empty space as part of the map when you're looking at a whole drive. It's helpful for seeing how full a drive really is; turn it off when you only care about what's there.

Folder labels put name bars on folders in the map, which makes it easier to tell what you're looking at. On a crowded map you may prefer it cleaner.

The minimum size sets a threshold below which small files are drawn together as one grey block. Raising it keeps the map readable on drives with huge numbers of tiny files.

Windows uses junctions and links so one folder can point to another. Following them can count the same files twice, which inflates sizes. Leave this off unless you know you need it.

Allow changes to protected folders

Windows, Program Files and other protected system folders are blocked from changes. This option lifts the block, for people who know exactly what they're doing in those places. The root of a drive stays blocked even then. For most people the right setting is the safe one: leave it off.

Fast scan

On a local NTFS drive, running as administrator lets Disk Sort read the drive's own index for a much faster scan and keep up with changes as they happen. The option Use fast scan (MFT) when running as administrator can be turned off, so the standard scan is used even with administrator rights. That's worth doing if you want identical behaviour on every drive, or if you're troubleshooting.

Alongside the options, the scan snapshots after each full scan feed the CHANGES tab and the map's growth colouring. Marks for keepers and stars are saved beside the photos, and edits are stored beside the photo too, so they're there next time whichever settings you choose.

A sensible setup

For most people: the theme you like, size on disk, folder labels on, free space on, links off, protection on, and fast scan left as it is. That gives a clear map, honest sizes and the full safety net, which is how Disk Sort by Zaweba is meant to be used.