Vole Windows Expedition is an easily customized and more graceful way to manage your documents. FREE offer on GOTD!

#39

Is this software of any use if I don't use windows explorer? I have been using Directory Opus instead of windows explorer for many years. It has a pane that previews all files. Is this software of that same functionality or does it do something else?

Reply | Comment by Pools – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#38

Vole Windows Expedition Pro 3.10.31
This is one of the programs one may want to have in use for sorting files and data, but I am not sure it really is what I want. I have installed it om one 64 bit machine and noticed that it seems to be free for a year after registration...
I can't see it as usable on a slow XT machine for net-use on my bedside so I did not try to install it.

The alternative links given on portable versions above is really good!
I do have a speech on computing once a week here, and a link to GODT on several places. Free software are much of an interest to many users. So keep it up! :-)
Some of the programs do I uninstall after testing,but I may write some words about the program and why I do uninstall it.
K

Reply | Comment by Knut – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)

#37

#30, Melika, to make it clear, if the Chromebook Pixel were cheaper or I had money to burn, I would buy one in a heartbeat. The Haswell chips are hot performers, I would consider the Acer but at the moment I'd rather dump my resources into another Android device. Check the Chrome Store for what's available, as well as web services. Google is dumping their long-term resources into the Chrome OS. Already, desktop apps are available in Windows, as well as the Chrome launcher. You still need Windows for Windows-specific apps, but Google is aiming to replace Microsoft and Apple operating systems. The wonderful Google Now should be available on the Chrome OS soon. Google is making smarter decisions than Microsoft. While Windows becomes ever more bloated and requires ever greater hardware, Android 4.4, which I'm running, will run on very minimal hardware. As far as Chromebooks, read the reviews. People tend to be very happy with their Chromebooks, especially the newer ones which use Intel Haswell-based chips.

Reply | Comment by Fubar – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+6)

#36

"Hmmm…unlike here on Softpedia it got very positive ratings by users…"

Well Giovanni, that tells me that Softpedia's rating system is also dodgy and manipulated - and possibly even worse that GOTD.

That is backed up by the horror stories of today's posts.

Reply | Comment by Brenda – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+3)

#35

The tutorial does not have any audio.

Reply | Comment by Donna – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)

#34

I went to the web site and downloaded the program right from there. I installed the program and now everything is working properly. It was also already registered, so I didn't have to do that. The problem might have been the GAOTD wrapper, however, when I installed the GAOTD version, it asked me if I wanted to update the program to the latest installation. I didn't think much of clicking "no" because doing that usually makes the GAOTD key not work. The version I downloaded from the site is the latest.

One suggestion to the Devs: When you first open the program, the left navigation pane only lists the drives available. It would be nice to also list the main document folders in Windows: My Documents, My Music, etc. It takes a while to drill down to those places, I'd prefer them in one spot.

Reply | Comment by Melika – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)

#33

About file managers, I think "Total Commander" is the king (www.ghisler.com) It has the possibility, among a big lot of other functions covering all possible tasks, to to attach any comment, short or long, in free editable text to every file or folder, and the possibility to make a search among all the comments of all the files in a whole folder. Simply pointing your mouse onto a file or folder makes magically appear in a popup your comment about this file/folder. It is not free but less than 30$ but you can use it freely with a few annoyances. I used to use a non legit version, but this soft is so wonderful that I paid for it, the programmer deserving it so much.
Again, a big thank you to Giovanni and its invaluable advises.

Reply | Comment by Roland – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#32

To #24 If you talk about files searcher, in my opinion nothing compare to the free "everything" :
http://www.voidtools.com/download.php
About file managers, I think "Total Commander" is the king (www.ghisler.com) It has the possibility, among a big lot of other functions covering all possible tasks, to to attach any comment, short or long, in free editable text to every file or folder, and the possibility to make a search among all the comments of all the files in a whole folder. Simply pointing your mouse onto a file or folder makes magically appear in a popup your comment about this file/folder. It is not free but less than 30$ but you can use it freely with a few annoyances. I used to use a non legit version, but this soft is so wonderful that I paid for it, the programmer deserving it so much.
Again, a big thank you to Giovanni and its invaluable advises.

Reply | Comment by Roland – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#31

Nothing has ever caused as much devastation of my system as today's download
1) After previewing a Word document it became impossible to set up the page size.
2) Sound was no longer available on the machine and many of the options available regarding sound disappeared.
3) My dictation profile disappeared.

The above were not recovered after doing an uninstall using an uninstall program.
For the first time that I remember I have been forced into a system recovery by a program.
My system was a bit cranky before the installation of this supposed program but even so I believe it delves into basic system areas without understanding what it's doing.
I'm not saying do not install it but if on reading the above and you do, you are a braver man that I!

Reply | Comment by XP-Man – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+20)

#30

@27 Kev: Yeah, to me fubar usually comes across as an a-hole tool who thinks everyone else is an idiot whereas the other guys come provide helpful comments designed to educate and allow someone to make their own decisions.

ex. "Most of you would be better off with a Chromebook." That says to me: 'You know, because you're all too stupid to know what's good for you, have any opinion to the contrary, or to make that decision for yourselves.'

Reply | Comment by Melika – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-5)

#29

This program is officially dead unless the programmers can come up with a solution fast.

I tried installation again. This time I made it available to everyone, not just my user account, in case that was the problem. When I tried to open it, I received the same error as before. It claims the file necessary is no longer available on the network. Maybe this is a sudden problem on my computer, I don't know. The file in question is "VoleWindowsExpedition.msi"

Getting uninstalled with extreme prejudice right now.

Reply | Comment by Melika – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+7)

#28

One other thing, I went to their web site and obviously English is not their native language. However, I watched their tour video and it really does clarify what they are trying to say. You can set this up with different window configurations depending on what types of files you are working with. So if you are in work and normally work on images and there is a configuration that you prefer for that, you can save that configuration as "Work". That is what they are talking about when they reference "Work" or "Home". It was a little confusing to me when I read it, so I thought I'd share.

Reply | Comment by Melika – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+3)

#27

Comment#13 Fubar says "backup your data to the cloud (100 GB free for 2 years with the purchase of most Chromebooks), no disk defragmentation, security software, etc., no slowing down or rotting over time, etc. In addition to the pricey Google Chromebook Pixel, Acer will offer a $300 touchscreen Chromebook next month..."

Why would anyone want to send their private financial records, contact lists, family photographs, etc., to faceless servers, ripe for data mining at any time in the future? And, don't bother with the "it's encrypted" argument because most encryption schemes are readily crackable.

Once you're data is "in the cloud," it's there forever. WHY? First, the USA is storing ALL data that goes across their territory (and possibly even some that doesn't), so it's likely that your backups will also become their property, encrypted or not. Encrypted files can be stored until their the encryption is broken. Second reason... even if the data doesn’t end up in the USA's data trap, how would anyone even know if their data is really erased (when they enter "delete") from ANY server where they had it stored. Thirdly, your data may be intercepted and stored by agencies besides the USA and your "cloud server" owner. It may be commercially valuable to spam you for the rest of your life.

Forget about the "if you didn't do anything wrong, you have nothing to hide" argument because there are so many laws and regulations you really don't know if you did something wrong. In addition, your data could be misused for a "frame up." Besides, if you have nothing to hide, why not broadcast everything you say and do in every room of your home to the world.

Knowing the definition of "fubar," I can't imagine why anyone would ever use that name. As far as the "vote manipulation" goes, perhaps the problem is that people just don't care for "fubar" comments and that's why they don't have as high a rating as Ashraf and Giovanni.

Comment#13 Fubar says <i>"backup your data to the cloud (100 GB free for 2 years with the purchase of most Chromebooks), no disk defragmentation, security software, etc., no slowing down or rotting over time, etc. In addition to the pricey Google Chromebook Pixel, Acer will offer a $300 touchscreen Chromebook next month..."</i>

Why would anyone want to send their private financial records, contact lists, family photographs, etc., to faceless servers, ripe for data mining at any time in the future? And, don't bother with the "it's encrypted" argument because most encryption schemes are readily crackable.

Once you're data is "in the cloud," it's there forever. WHY? First, the USA is storing ALL data that goes across their territory (and possibly even some that doesn't), so it's likely that your backups will also become their property, encrypted or not. Encrypted files can be stored until their the encryption is broken. Second reason... even if the data doesn’t end up in the USA's data trap, how would anyone even know if their data is really erased (when they enter "delete") from ANY server where they had it stored. Thirdly, your data may be intercepted and stored by agencies besides the USA and your "cloud server" owner. It may be commercially valuable to spam you for the rest of your life.

Forget about the "if you didn't do anything wrong, you have nothing to hide" argument because there are so many laws and regulations you really don't know if you did something wrong. In addition, your data could be misused for a "frame up." Besides, if you have nothing to hide, why not broadcast everything you say and do in every room of your home to the world.

Knowing the definition of "fubar," I can't imagine why anyone would ever use that name. As far as the "vote manipulation" goes, perhaps the problem is that people just don't care for "fubar" comments and that's why they don't have as high a rating as Ashraf and Giovanni.

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Reply | Comment by Kev – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-6)

#26

Well, I'm running Win7 and I don't like the native preview pane. It's small, and making it the width that would be needed to clearly see what the file contains wastes a lot of space and shrinks the working pane too much. I did try one of Giovanni's recommendations first - Q-Dir. That is nothing more than a wrapper for your windows. Basically it seems to just wrap your 2-4 opened windows together so that you can move them around as one unit. It's very light and I may use it later, but it isn't what this program is. I tried another recommendation from someone else and it just previews gibberish for Word and PDFs.

I decided to give the GAOTD a try and installed it. I really liked it. It did what I've been wishing to have for quite a while. To work with my files, I have been opening two windows of the same folder, making one a list view and the other a large thumbnail view, so I could see what it contains. It s a pain because I have to choose the same file in each window. Not impossible, just a pain. To work with any of the material in the file (ex. in Word, I can "Save as Picture" an image and name it similar to the file to generate a thumbnail that means something to me, but I have to open Word to do this.)

What this program seems to do in the "viewer" pane is mimic the native program and generate the view/actions you would normally see when you open the file in that program. For example, I looked at a crochet pattern that I have stored in a Word file. When I click on the file name in one pane, the other pane opens the file. It took a few seconds and then opened. I didn't try to change any of the text, but I did right-click the image at the top. I was given the usual drop-down menu that included the "Save as Image" choice, which I clicked and was able to save the image just as if I was in Word. Choosing another word file opened that one faster than the first. I could then quickly switch between the two, but on opening yet another file, it took a few seconds (about as long as the second file).

I then chose a pattern in PDF form. Again, there was about a 5-10 second delay, then it opened in the viewer. I could highlight and work with the file in that pane as if it were in my normal PDF viewer. Choosing a new PDF file opened it in about half the time. Switching between the previously opened Word files and the PDF files took about the same amount of time as just switching files of the same extension.

So it seems to me that the program may be opening/using these two programs in the background. I like the idea because it allows me to work with all of these files in one program. Juggling the Adobe, Word, and file windows can get cumbersome and confusing.

It also has a lot of other functionality build into it. There is a timer conveniently located in the top bar, so if you want to time yourself so you aren't messing with files for more than an hour, you can do so. I thought that was nice. I think there may be some batch functions and I remember thinking "this is nice" but I can't recall those right now, nor check because it is now time for the big caveat:

Registering the product breaks it.

That's right, in the middle of playing I remembered I had to register it, so I copied the code where it belonged and was told my registration was successful. Then I couldn't see the PDF. I think I could still see the Word docs, but the PDF pane just had a "click here" button that didn't work. I thought I would restart the program thinking that would clear the problem. Then I got an error that told me I was missing a *.msi file. I tried to locate that file to no avail. I tried directing it to the installation folder to find it - no go. I ran the installation again and was given a "repair" choice, which I chose, and although it states it was completed successfully, I'm getting the same issue.

I'm going to uninstall completely and try once more. I may be back on to let you know what happens, but the company needs to address this as I think this bug is what is preventing people from seeing their PDFs is involved with the GAOTD registration.

Well, I'm running Win7 and I don't like the native preview pane. It's small, and making it the width that would be needed to clearly see what the file contains wastes a lot of space and shrinks the working pane too much. I did try one of Giovanni's recommendations first - Q-Dir. That is nothing more than a wrapper for your windows. Basically it seems to just wrap your 2-4 opened windows together so that you can move them around as one unit. It's very light and I may use it later, but it isn't what this program is. I tried another recommendation from someone else and it just previews gibberish for Word and PDFs.

I decided to give the GAOTD a try and installed it. I really liked it. It did what I've been wishing to have for quite a while. To work with my files, I have been opening two windows of the same folder, making one a list view and the other a large thumbnail view, so I could see what it contains. It s a pain because I have to choose the same file in each window. Not impossible, just a pain. To work with any of the material in the file (ex. in Word, I can "Save as Picture" an image and name it similar to the file to generate a thumbnail that means something to me, but I have to open Word to do this.)

What this program seems to do in the "viewer" pane is mimic the native program and generate the view/actions you would normally see when you open the file in that program. For example, I looked at a crochet pattern that I have stored in a Word file. When I click on the file name in one pane, the other pane opens the file. It took a few seconds and then opened. I didn't try to change any of the text, but I did right-click the image at the top. I was given the usual drop-down menu that included the "Save as Image" choice, which I clicked and was able to save the image just as if I was in Word. Choosing another word file opened that one faster than the first. I could then quickly switch between the two, but on opening yet another file, it took a few seconds (about as long as the second file).

I then chose a pattern in PDF form. Again, there was about a 5-10 second delay, then it opened in the viewer. I could highlight and work with the file in that pane as if it were in my normal PDF viewer. Choosing a new PDF file opened it in about half the time. Switching between the previously opened Word files and the PDF files took about the same amount of time as just switching files of the same extension.

So it seems to me that the program may be opening/using these two programs in the background. I like the idea because it allows me to work with all of these files in one program. Juggling the Adobe, Word, and file windows can get cumbersome and confusing.

It also has a lot of other functionality build into it. There is a timer conveniently located in the top bar, so if you want to time yourself so you aren't messing with files for more than an hour, you can do so. I thought that was nice. I think there may be some batch functions and I remember thinking "this is nice" but I can't recall those right now, nor check because it is now time for the big caveat:

Registering the product breaks it.

That's right, in the middle of playing I remembered I had to register it, so I copied the code where it belonged and was told my registration was successful. Then I couldn't see the PDF. I think I could still see the Word docs, but the PDF pane just had a "click here" button that didn't work. I thought I would restart the program thinking that would clear the problem. Then I got an error that told me I was missing a *.msi file. I tried to locate that file to no avail. I tried directing it to the installation folder to find it - no go. I ran the installation again and was given a "repair" choice, which I chose, and although it states it was completed successfully, I'm getting the same issue.

I'm going to uninstall completely and try once more. I may be back on to let you know what happens, but the company needs to address this as I think this bug is what is preventing people from seeing their PDFs is involved with the GAOTD registration.

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Reply | Comment by Melika – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+5)

#25

@Fubar and @18 don't be sad just yet, rumours are that Microsoft is talking with AOL to take over Winamp and shoutcast, besides that... Winamp will always be available through several sites like afterdawn, filehippo and (of course) cnet.

about registration of todays program. is it because many ppl are registering this that registration took a waiting time of about 5 minutes?

Reply | Comment by NoName – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+4)

#24

it is not quite the same but a very powerful and small searach engine and should be mentioned here for filemanaging and of course freeware:
masterseeker.com

very fast and powerful filesearch!

Reply | Comment by lossos – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)

#23

Giovanni, thanks as always for alternatives and your personal recommendations. You certainly DO deserve to get paid! How about GAOTD pays you the price for each day's giveaway? Oh, wait… :) (but seriously, thanks for your posts -I really do enjoy them and find them helpful. Seems you've taken over the mantle from Bladed Thoth, Ashraf)

KenyanPhoenix, thanks for your suggestions as well.

Fubar, that's an interesting grab bag of info and recommendations as well. You, also, frequently post really valuable info and knowledge.

Reply | Comment by MarkM – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+6)

#22

Windows Explorer (in Windows 7, but I don't remember if XP has the option) has a "preview pane" so IMO, today's offering is not really necessary. Windows Explorer even has a little audio/video player in the preview pane and shows files like PDF that Vole seems not to show.

Thanks GAOTD, I always look forward to seeing your daily offerings.

Reply | Comment by mahaal – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)

#21

It seems that one has to update to 3.10.31128 to get the key accepted ...

Reply | Comment by sweiller – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-2)

#20

Skip. Not downloading.

This software is a Johnny come lately.

Most users would have used other utilities to achieve the same.
Scientific and technical documentation utility viewer (STDU) for example.

With the right plug-ins, you can view most stuff within Total Commander; or with the right file association, open it in your preferred software.

Reply | Comment by ric – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+5)

#19

My bad...I forgot to mention a super cool FREE & PORTABLE multi-sided file manager I've been using for a while, providing users with very advanced features and functions (it's still in Alpha stage, though).

For instance it sports a cool 'Compare Directories' feature, design to spot any kind of differences (name, size, content, last access dates, attributes), which may come in handy with regard to backup folders.

Supports up to 16 panes (??? LOL!!) and an endless number of tabs (yes, you heard that right==> ENDLESS), thus enabling you to keep as many directories open as you like, with the ability to lock them in order to avoid being closed accidentally.

http://justmanager.ru

Enjoy!!

Reply | Comment by Giovanni (Hey, shouldn't I be paid for this d – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+22)

#18

@#10 Fubar Thanks for the heads up about Winamp. I wasn't aware that AOL wants to shut it down. @GOTD Staff I know this is off topic but it is VERY important.

I've been using Winamp Free for approx 14 years now and refuse to use anything else for listening to my music on my PC.

I've tried to get to the site to sign the petition to keep it alive or make it open source, but seems to be overloaded at the moment so will keep on trying. If anyone else is interested in signing the petition here is the link.

http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/aol-keep-winamp-alive-or-let-it-go-open-source

To me Winamp is a big part of computer history and should be kept around.

Reply | Comment by Mags – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+6)

#17

I have received several emails that ask how to renew Vole Windows Expedition.
1)Run Vole Windows Expedition
2)Click the top right "Advance" button and select the "Renew" sub menu item to open the "Vole Windows Expedition Renew" dialog.
3)Fill the blank and click "Renew" button to active the software online.
Note: The "Customer Service Center" toolbar in the top left dialog should be activated.

Reply | Comment by Norman – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-17)

#16

Portable Edition Vole Windows Expedition

are not Portable Programs .........

Download 3.10.31128 (39.4 MB) latest
Download 3.10.31120

http://www.sanwhole.com/vole-windows-expedition-download.html

Reply | Comment by Portable Edition – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-10)

#15

Ok,it took a minute or two to download,scanned it, came back clean.It took about a minute to install if that,so all good there.Registered with my details and no problems;what I don't like is that you only get a years licence for the Pro Version. So if I was to buy this for $60 dollars I would get a year then what?Would it be replaced with a basic version and what would that entail?It's useless for checking my ebooks.The tutorial video is useless,the text in the video is too small to make out as there is no sound on the video except when it shows it playing music videos it's basically useless,I haven't got a clue whats going on in the tutorial as it goes too fast!
I works fine with Windows 7 Ultimate but I find it pointless.I can only seem to get one window open at a time,whereas with my original setup I can have as many windows open as I like when transferring files from one folder to another.
After viewing some videos it froze up.There is no back button functionality,you have to use the list to the left instead.$60,sorry but not worth even half that for a year,I stick to my Windows setup that I have,works much better!

Reply | Comment by Jeff Underwood – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+3)

#14

I can't register. I think its due it does not take the proxy settings from IE nor offers any proxy settings.

Reply | Comment by andreas – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-8)

#13

Everyone is always trying to build a better Explorer than Explorer, while having no idea what Explorer does. No, I'm not going to install this, I've read the unintelligible English and the earlier comments. Those of you who think that XP is the ultimate OS have no idea what you're missing. Vista onward have file previews, you can control what panes Explorer displays, you can use NTWind WindowSpace to conveniently snap multiple Explorer windows together, etc.

Regarding backups, if you're running Windows 7 (some versions) and have System Restore enabled on a drive and have Restore Points, you can right-click drive/folder/file Properties, Previous Versions, and get an instant earlier version, if present. That's also supposed to be integrated with Windows Backup. Personally, I won't let Paragon products near my system. StorageCraft ShadowProtect Desktop is only expensive in the first year (per computer) for home users, has 32- and 64-bit recovery environments (fit on a CD) as well as build-your-own, does full backups, including allowing access to individual files, near-continuous backups, periodic backup image verification, has optional image retention policies (consolidates backups), email and desktop notifications, writeable image files (automatically branches), restores to virtual machines and dissimilar hardware (automatically), handles SSDs, mounts images as a virtual drive in a standard Explorer window (automatically using all required images), and on and on. While it's Windows-only, as I recall it will backup other partition types as binary data. Does the usual volume snapshots (Windows is super-slow on external drives), compression, encryption, etc.

AOL is terminating Winamp, download / buy now if interested.

Most of you would be better off with a Chromebook. None of the usual Windows silliness, Google keeps track of, installs, and automatically updates your Chrome extensions / apps, automatically keeps Chrome updated, automatically backs up your data to the cloud (100 GB free for 2 years with the purchase of most Chromebooks), no disk defragmentation, security software, etc., no slowing down or rotting over time, etc. In addition to the pricey Google Chromebook Pixel, Acer will offer a $300 touchscreen Chromebook next month (with an Intel Celeron 2955U Haswell processor). Android is a different, Linux-based OS (*nix does not match Linux), but is a similar breath of fresh air compared to Windows. Google doesn't yet surface most of Linux's multi-tasking abilities in the UI, but the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 does (you can download a demo for your Android device).

It's amazing what you can use for a monitor these days. A 4K TV for $500, but it has a low refresh rate and no scaling. A 55" 4K high refresh rate TV for $850. True, you'd have to put it across the room, but that's far better resolution for a much lower price than most very high resolution monitors.

I gave GOTD some options for dealing with the loser vote manipulator, but I doubt that they'll do anything, they haven't for years.

Everyone is always trying to build a better Explorer than Explorer, while having no idea what Explorer does.  No, I'm not going to install this, I've read the unintelligible English and the earlier comments.  Those of you who think that XP is the ultimate OS have no idea what you're missing.  Vista onward have file previews, you can control what panes Explorer displays, you can use NTWind WindowSpace to conveniently snap multiple Explorer windows together, etc.

Regarding backups, if you're running Windows 7 (some versions) and have System Restore enabled on a drive and have Restore Points, you can right-click drive/folder/file Properties, Previous Versions, and get an instant earlier version, if present.  That's also supposed to be integrated with Windows Backup.  Personally, I won't let Paragon products near my system.  StorageCraft ShadowProtect Desktop is only expensive in the first year (per computer) for home users, has 32- and 64-bit recovery environments (fit on a CD) as well as build-your-own, does full backups, including allowing access to individual files, near-continuous backups, periodic backup image verification, has optional image retention policies (consolidates backups), email and desktop notifications, writeable image files (automatically branches), restores to virtual machines and dissimilar hardware (automatically), handles SSDs, mounts images as a virtual drive in a standard Explorer window (automatically using all required images), and on and on.  While it's Windows-only, as I recall it will backup other partition types as binary data.  Does the usual volume snapshots (Windows is super-slow on external drives), compression, encryption, etc.

AOL is terminating Winamp, download / buy now if interested.

Most of you would be better off with a Chromebook.  None of the usual Windows silliness, Google keeps track of, installs, and automatically updates your Chrome extensions / apps, automatically keeps Chrome updated, automatically backs up your data to the cloud (100 GB free for 2 years with the purchase of most Chromebooks), no disk defragmentation, security software, etc., no slowing down or rotting over time, etc.  In addition to the pricey Google Chromebook Pixel, Acer will offer a $300 touchscreen Chromebook next month (with an Intel Celeron 2955U Haswell processor).  Android is a different, Linux-based OS (*nix <b>does not match</b> Linux), but is a similar breath of fresh air compared to Windows.  Google doesn't yet surface most of Linux's multi-tasking abilities in the UI, but the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 does (you can download a demo for your Android device).

It's amazing what you can use for a monitor these days.  A 4K TV for $500, but it has a low refresh rate and no scaling.  A 55" 4K high refresh rate TV for $850.  True, you'd have to put it across the room, but that's far better resolution for a much lower price than most very high resolution monitors.

I gave GOTD some options for dealing with the loser vote manipulator, but I doubt that they'll do anything, they haven't for years.

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Reply | Comment by Fubar – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+6)

#12

Following a reboot today's program complained there was an error and it needed to find the MSI installation file, and then it closed.
My MS Word will no longer function correctly as it is impossible to get the page set up to function, this occurred after previewing a Word document in today's download.

I have uninstalled this “what the hell does it do” program wishing that I never installed it the first place.

Reply | Comment by XP-Man – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+24)

#11

How do you register this software The instruction say to hit the Reset button under About. There is no reset button under About, only name , email address and Expires is listed

I can't even type into the fields

Reply | Comment by Jim Bailey – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-5)

#10

Hmmm...unlike here on Softpedia it got very positive ratings by users...

Here is the PORTABLE version of the program (FREE Edition):

http://www.softpedia.com/get/PORTABLE-SOFTWARE/System/File-management/Portable-Vole-Windows-Expedition-Free-Edition.shtml

Best feature is its built-in previewer, which enables you to preview several different file formats (Videos, audio and text documents).

Can also generate thumbnails for multimedia files automatically, enabling you to browse the web by a built-in web broswer.

So overall is not bad in my view, but honestly can't see any outstanding feature deserving a whopping 60 bucks as price...

MAN?? Lower the price please....

Why? Well, well, well.....

http://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/Q-Dir (==> Great 4 square panes Portable App)
http://www.freecommander.com
http://multicommander.com/features
http://www.mastercommander.pl/en/about.html
http://zabkat.com/x2lite.htm
http://x-diesel.com
http://www.nomad-net.info/about
http://farmanager.com (==> For Advanced users only)
http://multicommander.com/features (==> For Advanced users only)

Wanna sort your Files & Folders AUTOMATICALLY, filtering them by name, directory, size, date, properties, content or regular expressions without lifting a finger?

http://www.dropitproject.com/index.php

==> FREE, PORTABLE, BETTER & ALWAYS UPDATABLE FILE MANAGERS TOOLS <==

So 60 bucks?? ^_^ !!!!! LOL!

Reply | Comment by Giovanni (Hey, shouldn't I be paid for this d – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+180)

#9

I looked at their website and read their description of this software. And this is how it goes:
"Vole Windows Expedition is a Page-Reproduce, massive space and dockable file manager. An easily customized and more graceful way to manage your documents. Totally compatible with Microsoft file Explorer.

We call document preview page collection and directory list collection as Vole Explorer, Vole Explorer collection as Explorer Project, Explorer Project collection as Vole Windows Expedition. We call all pages and page docking positions reproduce as Scene Reproduce. We call find, download and preview VMC media library in any web page as VMC Discovery. Search for Vole Media CHM for more detail."

Some of this sounds like English, however, I cannot really understand what it means.

Plus, after having looked at the entries in this blog, I think it's best to pass on this one. Thanks GAOTD and SANWHOLE, but no thanks.

Reply | Comment by Kobi – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+67)

#8

One of the slowest files I've ever seen to install, God knows what it was doing, and that pretty well sums up the program itself.
I think in essence it previews files, I previewed a few videos, text files and a Word document.
The latter preview seems to have caused some problems in Word itself in that I cannot set up the page size and the window has now gone up to 30 cm and is covering the whole screen.
It has buttons on the top right with which I can create things, when I press them nothing seems to happen.
In desperation I decided to watch the help video, there didn't appear to be any sound with it and it was more like a sprint than help as it whizzed through whatever it was supposed to be explaining.
I must admit I did like the video previews as it seemed to handle them rather well as it was possible to quickly jump from one to another.

I'm going to persevere with it in the hope that it will prove to be useful, but I doubt that it will ever live up to such a high asking price, good job it's free today.

Reply | Comment by XP-Man – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+45)

#7

This is nice. Registering is very fast and Embedded Edutainment! Thank You very much!

Reply | Comment by Tim – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-122)

#6

I use the free version of AC Browser Plus v.4.13 [subversion 'a']: http://www.konradp.com/products/acbplus/ by Konrad Papala for most of the functionality proposed here by Vole and at a very friendly size of 2.9 MB.
Together with the freeware Calibre: http://calibre-ebook.com/download_windows, I am able to get all the functionality for the awesome price of........$$$FREE!!!
Nuff Said and Happy Holidays.

Reply | Comment by KenyanPhoenix – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+35)

#5

Okay, on installing we have to agree to the terms of the 'Sanwhole Free Software License Agreement', This includes the phrase 'Free Software (Freeware)', but we're told here at GOTD the software is available for $60. That doesn't fit any definition of Freeware I've ever seen. Then if you go to the developer's page and click on the purchase tab, you'll see;

Product: Vole Windows Expedition
Update: Free upgrades for life
License: 1 User, may be used on 2 computers
Renew
Profession 12 months $60.00 USD

So, is this a formerly freeware program that has gone commercial? If you were to buy it, do you get free updates for life, or have to buy a licence every year at a cost of $60? Will my brain explode trying to understand what's going on?

Reply | Comment by Ghenghis McCann – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+48)

#4

Installed no problem, but heavy on resources and when I tried to register couldn't enter any info in the boxes, wouldn't accept any input.

Concept is good but is slow to start, uses way to much power and inability to register makes this a sure candidate for the trash can.

Reply | Comment by Lenny – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+40)

#3

I am going to wait until some of the other more experienced computer users try this new software out, before passing judgment on it!

Reply | Comment by Bill B. – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-174)

#2

Installed on a Win 8.1 64 Bit System without problems.

It claims to be a document previewer, but I'm missig .epub, .mobi or the other eBook document types.

!!! Opening directories with a large number of subdirectories, the program doesn't react and freezes(*). Must be closed via task manager.
Therefore completely unusable !!!

This piece of software has never been tested on a e.g. Ebook library with some thousand entries. Never!

(*) The task manager shows, that the program tries to "read" the complete structure. It occupies some Gigabyte(!) of memory and consumes nearly the whole CPU power. Then it runs out of memory. What a crap!

Uninstalled.

May work on a computer with some hundreds of documents in whole.

Reply | Comment by Karl – 10 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+142)

#1

Preview with PDF file : Error occurs.
Preview JAVA files: File downloads as attachment.

Application should use installed softwares to preview file types eg: I have Acrobat Reader installed but Vole does not preview PDF files. WHich is of not much use. Same is with almost all file types.
Application only previews generic types like txt,jpg
Need to improve this , then 60$ may be worth otherwise not worth even as a free.