FileZ - Greatest free app of all time?
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One of the best things about the Palm operating system is the huge amount of free software available. There are a vast number of games, applications and utilities just waiting to be discovered and installed on your Treo or Centro.
Of the many freeware titles available, FileZ is the one I think is most important, and use more than any other. It’s also one of the most frequently recommended applications on the mytreo.net forums.
As it’s name suggests, FileZ is a file manager. It’s not a glamorous program, but it’s probably the most useful freeware out there. If you need to find, delete or move a file - this is just the tool for the job.
When FileZstarts up, the program greets you with three large option buttons and an overview of your device’s memory and battery.
When you click on the ‘View and Edit Files’ button the main file manager screen opens. From here on, FileZworks just the same as file managers you’ve encountered on other operating systems. Just click on the triangle next to the directory name and it opens up the directory to view the files and sub-directories.
By default, only the files in the RAM will be displayed. However, if you click on the ROM box you can also view all the files in the ROM. As you can’t edit or delete the ROM files I tend to just keep them hidden, thus reducing the number of files in the list.
Some files have informative icons displayed next to them. There is a chip icon, which means a file is in ROM. The lock means the file is copy protected and therefore can’t be beamed, and the double document means the file will be backed up at hotsync. Different file types are color-coded using user defined preferences, allowing you to highlight any particular file type.
If you select a file and view its details and you can access three screens displaying various information about the file. You can use the attributes tab to change the properties of the selected file. For example by ticking the backup box within the attributes tab, you can select the file to be backed up to your PC when you next perform a hotsync.
There is a file manager screen that allows you to easily sort your files by name or file size to help you find the one you’re looking. If you know the name of the file you’re looking for you can also use the find function to locate the file. FileZ also has a helpful send function that allows you to send your selected file by any of the usual means.
On the main file manager screen, all expected functions are available; delete, copy, move, create folder. These can be accessed through the menu or by using keyboard shortcuts. This menu also offers the ability to edit the file using the inbuilt hex editor.
Most people will only ever use FileZas the file manager but it does have some other uses. For example, you can use the program to view in-depth information about your device, SD card and battery. (Unfortunately, Filez does not overcome Palm’s strange inability to correctly determine the size of SD cards over 4Gb.)
I find the hotsync screen of little use. But if you want to know when you last performed a hotsync, this is a place to look. The battery screen provides much more information about your battery than the default Palm OS launcher, however like the hotsync screen I find this is a function I don’t use.
The preferences button on the launch screen doesn’t open the preferences for FileZ, it opens a special file manager that allows you to see what preference files have been created on your device. These are small files created by the various programs you have installed on your Treo and should not be deleted or changed unless you know what you’re doing.
The fact that FileZhas been downloaded from mytreo.net over 100 thousand times and is permanently listed in our favorite downloads area shows that it’s not just me who likes it. To be honest I don’t understand why Palm doesn’t include FileZor a similar program on all their Palm OS devices.
If you’ve got a Palm OS Treo or Centro and haven’t bought a file manager like Resco Explorer you really should install FileZon your treo.
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Filed under: Software reviews
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Goes without saying i think, and although Palm don’t include it, last time I looked they actually had a link to it from their support site.
Everyone must have this installed on their Treo though fantastic app
I used FileZ for awhile. Then I had to remove it on my 650 due to lack of free RAM. I have been using the file manager built into Zlauncher and find that it works just as well as FileZ.
Another nice thing about FileZ is that it can run from the sd card. No need to waste RAM.
A must have Applet. If you remove a program, FileZ also removes the files related to that program. Which is great, saving internal ram space.
I have been using PalmOS devices since 2000 and this is the one and only program I ALWAYS put on my devices….IT IS THE BEST FREE PALM PROGRAM OUT THERE!!!!