If you frequently sing the praises of Windows Explorer for managing files, you’ll change your tune after trying Q-Dir. This freeware program from SoftwareOK allows a display of up to four windows. You can vary the layout of the windows and their number by clicking one of the grey icons in the toolbar to the right of the menu bar.
However, the leftmost icon has a different function. The drop-down list controls whether a folder tree displays at the left of the main Q-Dir display; for instance, clicking ‘One 4 all’ inserts a single folder tree to the left of the main Q-Dir windows. Then you can control which Q-Dir window the folder tree applies to by clicking the ‘Active Q-View’ icon at the top of the folder tree. Clicking the Preview icon to the right toggles the preview pane under the folder tree on and off. Closing the folder tree window has the same effect as selecting ‘No use’ from the drop-down list. The third option, ‘Each has one’, adds a Tree icon at the left of the toolbar for each main Q-Dir window. Clicking the Tree icon for a window toggles whether that window has a folder tree to its left.
You can add tabs to enhance any of the windows by pressing Ctrl-T or clicking Edit —> ‘New Tab’. The default configuration has each new tab open with a Computer or My Computer display. Once you have one or more tabs in a window, you can close any tab by right-clicking it and selecting Close. Other useful options on the context menu include ‘Close all other’, ‘Duplicate Tab’, and ‘New Tab’. If you’re a fan of tabbed browsing and aren’t keen on a multiple-window display, choose the single-window Q-Dir display and load it with multiple tabs. You can still opt for a folder tree, but the ‘Active Q-View’ icon will be disabled, which means you have to click a tab to give it focus for the folder tree.
One nice extra is the ability to print the full contents of a window, even if you have to scroll to view everything. Give the window focus and press Ctrl-P, click File —> Print or click the printer icon on the main toolbar.
The portable version of Q-Dir is designed to be run from a flash drive and needs no installation. Just copy the Q-Dir folder that’s in the Q-Dir_Portable.zip archive. Then, double-click Q-Dir.exe in that folder to run the program. Once it’s launched from the flash drive, Q-Dir behaves the same as if it had been installed on your PC.
We’ve only been able to cover a few of Q-Dir’s cool features. The best way to learn about the program is to discover through doing.
Exploring Q-Dir
