File organizing program. Filling out standard documents

It’s not for nothing that they say that laziness is the engine of progress. Personally, it motivates me to constantly search for some ways to simplify Everyday life. My internal radar, tuned to perception, helps me with this. new information. As soon as I hear about something new in an area that interests me, I try to immediately check whether it will be useful for me.

Sometimes I consciously look for solutions to organize information, the flow of which overwhelms me daily and hourly. And then I try to dig up more, take away best options and try them in practice to settle on the most convenient one and use it for a long time.

The most amazing thing is that often these programs are very close, you just need another person, free time or a specific task to “discover America” for yourself personally. Since I regularly have to open the eyes of my friends to those information organization tools that are at hand and don’t even cost money, today I want to talk about the three most powerful of them (in my subjective opinion). Perhaps some of them will be useful to you too.

1. MS OneNote is truly an invisible program and a gold find. It lives in the Windows office suite, starting with MS Office 2003, but most of my friends have not heard anything about it. Essentially, it is a notepad program with several levels of hierarchy that allow you to create notebooks, sections, pages and subpages.

Suitable for systematizing and storing any information that usually hangs out on your desktop and in “My Documents”, in the best case, organized into folders - text, pictures, entire pages from the Internet directly with links, audio and video files. For example, you can store in it:

information on a specific topic for later selection - if you choose a vacuum cleaner, telephone, car or time management courses
information about purchases - where and for how much you bought them, warranty periods
information about documents, especially if you often have to fill out some data electronically
information about your clients, students
recipes
plans
any lists:
- wish list,
- gifts that your friends would be delighted with,
- books you have read or would like to read
- movies you would like to watch and your impressions
travel information, travel packing lists
your diary, key events that you would like to keep in memory, notes from travel
notes on books read, notes on training courses, your own articles, drafts and sketches
craft ideas
swipe files
drawings and notes

The program's possibilities are endless. You can choose the type of “background”, edit the text in every possible way, make lists with checkboxes (for ticking), and draw notes. You can use tags - keywords, or just use the search.

There are versions for android, iOs and OSX. For Apple lovers there is also paid program Outline: for IOS - full version, only a version for reading ready-made notes is currently available for MacOS. Its advantage is that notebooks can only be stored on a computer.

I think the only worthy competitor to OneNote is Evernote. You might have seen a green elephant on your phone or tablet - that’s her. The essence of the program is the same. The notes are presented in a slightly different format. Initially focused on synchronization with mobile devices through the Internet. She has restrictions on using her free account. But this program can be used on both Apple platforms and older versions of Android.

Linux users can try Keynote(not to be confused with the presentation program from Apple) - convenient, but, in my opinion, not as friendly for an untrained user as the first two.

2. I consider memory mapping programs to be the second most important convenience - mind maps. I've been using it for many years different programs for graphical representation of various information. In particular:

For article plans
for book notes, lectures, preparing exam questions
detailed planning for achieving goals
event planning
searching for solutions

The undisputed leader of such programs, in my opinion, is Mind Manager- This is the most convenient program, but at the same time the most expensive. Cheaper option - Xmind. She has free version- you will be able to make maps for your own use, but you will not be able to export to pdf to show to a friend who does not have this program installed.

The most affordable option Freemind— it is free, intuitive and suitable for any platform.

3. For a very long time I was looking for one that was convenient for me. scheduler. Since I am not a very rational person, and can hardly act clearly according to a plan, I needed a flexible planning program that would not become a graveyard of unfulfilled things, without being too primitive. It would be equally important in this case to have synchronization with a phone or tablet, so that you can look into it on the go or write down something new.

Nowadays there are a huge number of planners of varying degrees of complexity. And perhaps my choice will be a bad decision for those who prefer to build all their plans in a single structure in one place, or have many time-based tasks. I prefer daily planning on paper, so the planner program serves me primarily as an overview of all planned tasks (in fact, for me this is an electronic version of the Autofocus system).

So my winner's name is Wunderlist. At first the program seemed very simple to me, until I discovered that it had subtasks and space for additional information. That is, if in the “Order” topic I have the item “Give away unnecessary things,” then inside I can make a list of things, as well as a list of places where I can go for this.

In the paid version of the program, you can even attach files and send tasks to other people. Although for most, free will be enough. Even though the program asks you to register, you can use the standalone version of the program indefinitely, and register only when you decide to synchronize information on your computer and phone.

Wunderlist lets you highlight important events, set deadlines and reminders, including for recurring events.

The program is available for Windows, all Apple platforms, Android and as a web application.

Here are the top three. What programs do you use to make your life easier? Write in the comments, I will be glad to learn something new.

It will help you organize your music collection and learn more about your favorite artists and albums. With the help of the program you can:

Catalog music albums in any format: vinyl discs, Audio CD, MP3, FLAC, APE, OGG and others.
Create illustrated music catalog with album covers, song lists, reviews.
Become a music expert.
Upload discographies, biographies and photos of your favorite artists.

Musicnizer stores information about your music collection that is important to you. This is your personal music encyclopedia. Try it!

Organize your music collection

If you don't know where your favorite audio disc went, just launch Musicnizer. The program has special fields for disk number and location, so you can specify the exact location of your disks. The built-in loan manager will help you keep track of the CDs you give to your friends to listen to. With Musicnizer, you don't have to wonder if you had a certain album, and if so, where it is now. Moreover, you will be able to create lists of albums that you plan to buy or download.

Illustrated music catalog

Music expert

One of the most interesting features of Musicnizer is its ability to find connections between artists and albums. Album reviews, interesting facts, discographies will help you learn more about the world of music and discover previously unfamiliar but noteworthy albums. With Musicnizer you will remember when this or that group was formed, what albums it released, where its members went later, and much more. At some point, you will notice that your friends ask you in surprise: how can you know all this?

Information about the performers

Without musicians, music could hardly exist, but most programs that work with music databases ignore this fact and display artists only as a minor addition to the album information. Musicnizer takes a different approach: artists have their own place in the catalog, and the program tries to provide the most complete information about them. Depending on the download settings you choose, Musicnizer can download the selected artist's full discography, photos, biography and other important facts. Open albums that are not yet in your collection, download information about them to see if they might interest you.

Gone are the days when the capabilities of a regular file manager were quite enough for convenient navigation among numerous folders and files. Modern computers store an incredible amount of diverse information only on a hard drive, the volume of which amounts to tens of gigabytes, where, in addition to ordinary work materials, distribution kits, photographs, music, etc. appear. In addition, each user has his own collection of CDs and DVDs, quite It is possible that some of the information is stored on Zip disks, etc. Obviously, no matter what convenient and reasonable system for organizing nested directories the user comes up with, it is simply unrealistic to understand such a mass of information, especially since collections are growing rapidly.

This state of affairs means that the search for some kind of program, a good image, a melody suitable for the occasion, etc. a lot of time is spent, which is unreasonable. And it’s also good if you search, for example, for an image only in certain directories on your hard drive. And if you need to find, say, a movie or a rarely used program, you will have to look through a lot of discs, each time inserting them into a CD-ROM, which will take a lot of time and will not benefit the discs. However, the problem can be solved quite simply; you need to use a suitable cataloguer. The main task of catalogers is to organize and sort data; for the user, this means being able to quickly find the necessary information, and if the data is found on a CD or DVD, you do not even have to take out the corresponding disk. In parallel with this, there is a very simple opportunity to track disks loaned to friends or acquaintances, and at any time be aware of who the disk was given to and whether it was returned. True, all this presupposes pre-filling the catalog and entering the information of interest into it - you need to scan CDs, fill out a database of music files or images, etc., but you can’t do without it.

What types of catalogers are there?

When studying programs designed for cataloging data, you can immediately notice one important point. Some catalogers are focused on automatically scanning disks and folders and therefore have a very fast way of filling a collection, and the range of information they automatically fill is quite wide and can cover not only the name, location and other characteristics, but also include file descriptions. Such descriptions of “protection” inside MS Office, HTML and Adobe Acrobat documents, sound files, images, files File_id.diz, Descript.ion, 00index.txt, Files.bbs, etc. can later be very useful for searching and identifying data . Other catalogers are a kind of shell for managing specialized databases and therefore require manual data entry for each catalog item, which can take a lot of time if the collection is large. Naturally, the first and quite natural desire will be to select some program from the first group and forget about the utilities of the second group forever.

However, not all so simple. Catalogers from the first group are universal and focused on recording disks, folders and files, which may not be convenient enough, for example, for cataloging software, films, etc. and, in principle, will not be suitable for organizing collections of books, stamps, coins, etc. Catalogers of the second group allow you to manage any collections without restrictions (and taking into account the specific points characteristic of recording data from a particular group), and in some cases they implement certain automation techniques to speed up data entry.

The generally recognized leader in the first group of catalogers is the WhereIsIt package, although there are several equally successful competing solutions (all of them are discussed in the article), which, although they have slightly less functionality, have other advantages. For example, if we're talking about about the organization large collections stored only on CDs and DVDs, it is more convenient to use the CD Storage Master application; the collection will be more visual, and its creation will take less time. In the case of small collections of home CDs and file resources stored on the hard drive, it makes sense to use the 10-Strike SearchMyDiscs program, which has a symbolic price and a Russian-language interface. The first group also includes image catalogers, which, although they stand apart, are also focused on automatically filling out the catalogue. The PicaJet package is rightfully considered the fastest and at the same time compact image cataloger.

As for the second group, everything depends on the type of collection and it is impossible to clearly name the leader. If we are talking about software cataloging, then The best decision of this class SoftCAT package. To manage large DVD collections, it is preferable to use the DVD Profiler application. The most convenient solution for managing music collections is MediaMonkey, etc. In addition, if desired, you can find specialized catalogers for other types of information, for example, for cataloging books Book Collector Pro package, games Game Collector, coins CoinManage, etc.

Universal catalogers

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Price: $39.95

Work under control: Windows 95/98/Me/NT 4.0/2000/XP/2003

WhereIsIt is the most popular solution for cataloging various types of data, of interest to both experienced users and beginners. The former will be attracted by the versatility and wide possibilities for individual customization of the program, and for the latter, support is provided for a series of wizards that allow them to perform the necessary actions almost completely automatically. The application has a convenient and well-designed user interface, supports all types of file systems, including FAT, FAT32 and NTFS, and allows you to catalog data from any storage media that can be connected to the computer: floppy disks, regular CDs and audio discs, DVDs and ZIP drives, hard drives, network drives, etc. The program allows you to view lists of files and folders, conduct searches in accordance with specified criteria, and also take into account data about your own and other people's disks. In addition, it supports plugins, which can significantly expand the amount of help information extracted from files.

WhereIsIt can be used to catalog a variety of data, including CDs, music collections (MP3 and audio CDs), image collections, document backups, etc., easily handles huge volumes of information and can manage hundreds of CDs, for example. The directories obtained as a result of its work, of which there may be several and which can be grouped, are saved in CTF format files. The catalogs are compact and therefore can be easily transferred to another computer, and searching for the necessary information in them is carried out almost instantly. The program creates a detailed list of all cataloged files, folders and disks with their descriptions, where in addition to standard parameters in the form of name, size, date, etc. at the user's request, a text description, thumbnail, category, etc. can appear. Different types of information for easier orientation can be highlighted in different colors in accordance with the category, type of data source, etc. The quick search mode allows you to search for data by name or description, and the advanced search mechanism allows you to create complex search criteria, including using Boolean operations. The program supports searching the catalog for duplicate information. The built-in report generator allows you to present all or only certain catalog information in a user-friendly form for output to a printer, fax, or for export to other formats, for example, an Excel table, a document in RTF format or Web page, etc.

WhereIsIt supports over 60 file types and can extract descriptions from different sources: files File_id.diz, Descript.ion, 00index.txt, Files.bbs, text files, MS Office documents, images and audio files, including MP3 files, Adobe Acrobat files, executable files, font files, etc., although In reality, descriptions from some file types will be extracted only after connecting the corresponding plugins. The program can work with different types of archives, including ZIP, ARJ, RAR, CAB, LHA/LZH, TAR, ARC, ACE, ZOO, GZIP, BZ2 and SFX. Archived files can be displayed as folders, and the files inside them can be opened or extracted directly within the cataloging environment.

Developer: Cdstorager.com

Distribution size: 6.8 MB

Distribution method: http://www.cdstorager.com/setup/csm50demo.exe)

Price: CD Storage Master Standard $29.95, CD Storage Master Professional $59.95

Work under control: all versions of Windows

CD Storage Master handy tool for cataloging CDs and DVDs and software that provides efficient management of large collections and allows you to quickly find any CD. The package is presented in two editions: full Professional and shortened Standard, which lacks a cover generation module, does not support custom categories, printing and exporting data, as well as searching for duplicate files.

The program has an elegant interface, and it has many interesting features that allow you to organize both the cataloging process itself and further work with the catalog with maximum convenience. It can work in the background, and the built-in Active Storage Monitor module automatically detects the appearance of a new disk that is not yet in the catalog and immediately notifies the user about it. The CD Cover Generator wizard will help you create and print a complete set of covers and labels for any CD; if necessary, you can automatically download missing CD covers from Amazon.com. The discs themselves are placed in the catalog not just one after another, as is the case in many other cataloguers, but in subfolders in accordance with their type (DVD, Data, Video CD and Audio CD) and can additionally be differentiated by user categories. As a result, to search for a specific disk, you can either go to the desired type of disk and select a category, or start the search mode, which allows you to search for disks using a wide range of parameters: label, category, text description, volume name, volume, etc. The catalog, as well as the results of the current search, can be printed and/or exported to an HTML document or MS Excel file.

During the cataloging process, CD Storage Master records not only standard information about files (names, size, creation time and modification time), but also metadata, and the list of file types from which the program can extract information is much larger than in analogue programs. In this parameter, only WhereIsIt can compete with CD Storage Master, and only if you take into account plugins. The list of supported format descriptions for extracting includes MS Office, Adobe Acrobat and HTML documents, audio files and various types of music files, executable exe files and libraries (*.dll, *.ocx), video files, images in all popular formats , including multi-layer PSD files, FLASH files, etc. Supports working with archives in RAR, ZIP, CAB, ARJ, LZH, LHA, ACE, TAR, GZIP, BZ2, JAR, GZ, RPM, Z, TAZ, TGZ formats And ARC, including self-extracting archives. Archived files in a directory can be displayed as folders, and the files inside them can be opened or extracted directly in the program environment.

Developer: WinCatalog.com

Distribution size: 1.65 MB

Distribution method: shareware (functionally limited demo English version 1.52 http://www.wincatalog.com/download/wincatalogs_setup.exe/wincatalogs_setup.exe, Russian version 1.1 http://www.wincatalog.com/ru/download/wincatalogs10ru. exe)

Price: English version 1.52 32 dollars, Russian version 1.1 200 rub.

Work under control: Windows 95/98/2000/Me/NT 4.0/XP

WinCatalog Standard is an easy-to-use multifunctional cataloger that differs from its analogues in that it successfully combines the capabilities of cataloging disks and folders with cataloging non-file items: books, stamps, coins, etc. In other words, the program implements two diverse cataloging technologies at once: automatic scanning of disks and manual entry of information into a classic database, and the user accordingly does not need to deal with two different programs.

WinCatalog Standard allows you to catalog data from any storage media that can be connected to a computer: floppy disks, hard and network drives, regular CDs and audio disks, ZIP disks, etc. In addition to scanning disks, the program allows you to add individual folders and files to collections, as well as any other information, albeit in the form of user entries. It is possible to track loaned discs, books, etc. these elements are marked with a special icon and thanks to this they are immediately noticeable. To indicate the person to whom the disk or book is loaned, a contact database is used, and contacts can be imported from MS Outlook, so the data entry process is quick and convenient. The program implements scanning inside ZIP archives and adding them to the directory as folders, automatic extraction of descriptions of ZIP archives, automatic extraction of descriptions for MP3, HTML and TXT files, obtaining information about Audio CD tracks from CDDB.

General management catalog is carried out easily and conveniently. Dividing data into thematic folders greatly simplifies orientation, and the placement of folders and their nested elements can be easily changed by simply dragging the mouse. Advanced search, which supports Boolean operations and the ability to select a specific folder to search and takes into account keywords (they can be thoughtfully added to all or individual elements of the catalog), will allow you to quickly find the desired element, and duplicate search will allow you to remove duplicate elements from the collection. The ability to export all or part of a collection to a CVS file will allow you to use catalog data for processing in another application, for example, MS Excel, and exporting to an HTML file is convenient, for example, for publishing on the Web or for printing.

Developer: ElcomSoft Co Ltd

Distribution size: 1.38 MB

Distribution method: shareware (30-day demo http://www.elcomsoft.com/ADC/adc.zip)

Price:$20

Work under control:

Advanced Disk Catalog (ADC) an extremely simple and convenient cataloger of various media information, including to a greater extent designed for unassuming users.

The ADC package allows you to catalog disks, files and folders in accordance with user-specified categories and, if desired, adding comments to them (disks, files and folders) and can work with floppy disks, hard drives, CDs and ZIP disks. Support for archive files in ZIP, ARJ, RAR, CAB, ARC, ACE, LZH and TAR formats has been implemented, including self-extracting archives. The created directory contains a variety of background information about cataloged data, including descriptions extracted from different types files: ID3 tags from music files, information about audio discs from freedb.org and from online CD databases, descriptions from HTML files, Adobe PDF and Microsoft Office documents, descriptions from executable modules (*.exe, *.dll, etc. .) and from files.bbs, index.txt, file_id.diz, etc.

The catalog is compact, stored on disk as a file in CAT format, can be expanded and updated unlimitedly, and information about it can be presented in the form of an automatically generated report. The program allows you to search for files, folders, disks by name, location, date, size and category. In addition, it is possible to compare the cataloged disk with the original one to identify deleted or outdated files and search for duplicate files.

Developer: 10-Strike Software

Distribution size: 1,382 MB

Distribution method: http://www.10-strike.com/rus/searchmydiscs/searchmydiscs.zip)

Price: 200 rub.

Work under control: Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003

10-Strike SearchMyDiscs is designed for organizing small collections of CDs (about 100-200 pieces) and other file resources stored on a hard drive or CDs. The program has an intuitive Russian-language interface, requires virtually no time to master, is offered for a symbolic price, and therefore can be an ideal solution for home users, for whom it will allow them to quickly navigate their collections and find the necessary discs and files.

10-Strike SearchMyDiscs combines all scanned disks and folders into a directory, preserving all information about the file structure of disks and folders, taking into account the descriptions of readme, file_id.diz, txt files, MP3 tags, properties of files in AVI, EXE, DLL, JPG, GIF formats , BMP, PNG, TIFF and EXIF tags. If desired, it is easy to supplement disks, files and folders with the necessary text descriptions and thumbnail images. The catalog also includes compressed files in ZIP, RAR, ARJ, CAB and SFX formats, and the discs themselves can be organized into thematic groups, with the same disc being included in different groups. The program supports two search modes for cataloged data: quick search of disks by name and/or description and regular search of files by description, category and mask.

Cataloged resources can be displayed by thematic groups, which is convenient for searching, or in the form of a tree-like directory of files and folders, which can be useful, for example, for creating your own archive with programs grouped by categories and types. Both information can be presented in a report automatically generated by the program, which is saved in TXT or HTML format, and its appearance and the nature of the information contained in the report are determined by the user.

Specialized catalogers

Developer: FNProgramware

Distribution size: 5 MB

Distribution method: shareware (30-day demo version http://fnp.fileburst.com/softcatplus_setup.exe)

Price:$29.95

Work under control: Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP

SoftCAT is a shell for managing a software database, with which you can find out at any time what programs you have at your disposal and where they are located, as well as find out about them important information: serial number, registration name, activation code, etc. Such a specialized cataloger will be useful to any user who has a more or less large collection of software, and is absolutely indispensable for administrators involved in software installation.

SoftCAT allows you to keep scrupulous software records, recording not only basic data on the programs included in the catalog, but also a variety of related information: version number, developer, platform, status, language, price, purchase option, home page address, distribution storage location, etc. P. For ease of orientation, all programs are divided into categories accepted in standard software catalogues: “Business and Finance”, “Graphics and Design”, “Home and Study”, etc., which can be edited if necessary. Such a software catalog can cover programs located on both permanent and removable media.

The program has an intuitive interface and is easy to use, which is extremely important given the tediousness of initially filling out the catalog, since in most cases the data, as in any database, will have to be entered manually. However, this process can be accelerated to some extent due to autocataloging, thanks to which the program will independently scan the hard drive for programs already installed in the system and will automatically enter all the data available on them into the database; if necessary, you will only need to correct them. In the future, it is better to make it a rule to combine installations new program with its inclusion in the catalogue.

If you can find time to fill out the database, then in the future searching for the desired program, as well as registration and other data, will take almost seconds, because all software is divided into categories, and for quick access the system provides alphabet, filtering, sorting and several search modes, including advanced search using Boolean operations. The results of the most frequently used search settings can be saved. It is worth noting that, having found the right application in the database, you can not only navigate its location and related information, but also install it directly from the created database.

SoftCAT ensures complete security of registration information by locking the database with a password and the ability to back up data by creating backup copy catalogue.

Developer: InterVocative Software, LLC

Distribution size: 3.9 MB

Distribution method: shareware (feature-limited demo version http://static.intervocative.com/dvdpro/downloads/dvdpro.zip)

Price:$29.95

Work under control: Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003 Server

DVD Profiler is a convenient tool for managing large DVD collections, which can be indispensable for companies involved in video rental and sale of DVD movies, and is also of interest to home DVD fans. By cataloging your collection using this program, you can quickly navigate and find the desired disc, as well as receive detailed information about any DVD in a matter of seconds. At the same time, the application allows you to take into account not only the discs included in the collection, but also remember about DVDs ordered or planned for purchase.

The program's option for organizing a DVD collection is very effective, since the vast majority of tedious operations of filling the database are performed by the program itself. You can add a new disc to your collection in two ways: using a scanner connected to your computer to enter the UPC code (Universal Product Code), which is more convenient in a company environment, or simply inserting the disc into a DVD-ROM. You will have to insert the disc into the drive even if it does not have a UPC code. Virtually no other actions are required from the user, since the program will independently connect to the Internet and, using the initial information about the disc, will receive all other information from the database on the website of the developer company, which is very extensive and includes over 150 thousand DVD films. For each film it contains detailed information: title, year, genre, languages, subtitles, list of actors, covers, etc. If there is no disk information in the database, naturally, you will have to enter it manually. Manual entry will also be required when filling out personal information about the disc: notes, place of purchase, date of purchase, price, etc. Covers and other images for the disc can be obtained not only from the worldwide database, but also, if desired, entered independently, and the built-in image editor allows you to perform simple editing operations on scanned images, including rotation, cropping, etc.

Having created such a personal database, in the future it will not be difficult to find a disc in your own collection; it will be enough to use the advanced search or filtering capabilities. And the report generator built into the program will help you present the necessary part of the information from your own database in a convenient form and print it out, which can be useful, for example, if you need a list of discs available in your collection or need to take into account the total costs of purchasing planned discs, etc. P.

Developer: FNProgramware

Distribution size: 6.5 MB

Distribution method: shareware (30-day demo http://fnp.fileburst.com/catvids_setup.exe)

Price:$39.95

Work under control: Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP

The CATVids package is designed for cataloging and managing video collections and is of interest both to companies that deal with a large number of videos (video studios, video rental companies, etc.) and simply to video enthusiasts.

CATVids works with all types of media, including digital video discs, VHS tapes and laser discs, and the catalog it creates can include not only professional films, but also any other video recordings of interest to the user. The program allows you to take into account a wide range of information: video title, format, year of release, publisher, date of purchase, price, user rating, etc. If desired, you can also store video CD covers and actor portraits in the database. The application is easy to customize for a specific user: you can change the names of fields, hide unnecessary fields, and, on the contrary, add missing ones. To speed up and simplify the process of filling out the video database, the program provides the ability to download information about famous films from the Internet.

The main task of managing such a database is to speed up the search for data on a specific video, for which the system provides for the introduction of categories, filtering, multi-level sorting and several search options. However, these databases can be indirectly used for other purposes, for example, when generating reports, for which it is easy to use a report generator, when posting information about the range of video products, for example, on a website; for this, data export to HTML format is supported, etc.

Developer: Ventis Media, Inc.

Distribution size: 4.55 MB

Distribution method: MediaMonkey Standard freeware (http://mediamonkey.ord.cachenetworks.com/MediaMonkey_Setup_2_5_1.exe), MediaMonkey Gold shareware

Price: MediaMonkey Gold $29.95

Work under control: Windows 98/Me/NT/2000/XP

MediaMonkey is a convenient and multifunctional music organizer that is aimed at owners of large music collections and is rightfully considered one of the best such applications. The program allows you to catalog audio files in OGG, WMA, MPC, FLAC, APE, WAV and MP3 formats, which can be located both on your hard drive and on CDs and in local network. It is distinguished by a convenient, intuitive and elegant interface, compact size (compared to applications with similar functions) and very high speed - all this together provides the ability to easily and effectively manage even very large music collections of 50 thousand or more files.

MediaMonkey will quickly find (on disks, on the local network and on the Internet) music files and automatically distribute them into folders, focusing on the location of the files, artist name, album name, year, type of melody and other parameters, which will provide further convenient access to any melody from the library. The built-in navigator provides the ability to conveniently view files with their sorting and filtering, allowing you to edit the data stored in ID3 tags if necessary. Using MediaMonkey, the search is convenient and wide-ranging: you can search by artist name, song and/or album title and other information stored in ID3 tags, as well as by file size, audio recording length and a number of other characteristics. Integration with Winamp, including support for Winamp plugins, ensures listening to audio files in the usual mode; in addition, MediaMonkey can play music independently, with automatic equalization of the volume level of the played melodies. Support for working with playlists, which can contain up to several thousand songs with very different locations, allows you to always have a musical repertoire at hand for any occasion. In addition, MediaMonkey allows you to burn CDs thanks to integration with Nero Burning Rom, convert music files to the desired format using the built-in audio converter, find duplicate files and synchronize your computer library with iPods and other portable audio devices.

The program is presented in two editions: free MediaMonkey Standard and paid MediaMonkey Gold. The latter is complemented by the possibility automatic update libraries and synchronization with portable devices, advanced search and filtering modes, support for working with virtual CDs and the presence of a sleep mode.

Developer: Picajet.com

Distribution size: 5.45 MB

Distribution method: shareware (15-day demo version http://www.picajet.com/en/index.php?page=download)

Price:$39.95

Work under control: Windows 9x/Me/NT/2000/XP

PicaJet is a convenient tool for quickly cataloging photos, allowing you to import and catalog photos from a digital camera or scanner, or stored on your hard drive or on CDs and DVDs. Photos are divided into categories, each of which can include an arbitrary number of photos. Convenient dynamic zooming automatically resizes your photos and makes viewing them more convenient. Photos can be provided with a description and rating; both indicators will be displayed under the photo when viewing it. In addition, pictures are automatically combined into groups based on various criteria: date, rating, import source.

Advanced Search mode allows you to quickly locate photos based on any search criteria. By default, the search is performed only by the description of the image, category or file name; in this case, all found photos are shown without grouping. If you wish, you can search for pictures only in a selected list of categories. However, quite often it is more convenient to take into account one or another grouping option when searching and search for images in accordance with a given criterion, but within a specific group. PicaJet supports sorting images by rating, description, file size, import date and a whole series of other indicators, which can speed up the process of finding the right photos, and also allows you to search for duplicates.

The list of program capabilities includes automatic correction of brightness, contrast and illumination and the ability to crop and rotate images, and the built-in quick correction mode allows you to perform these operations on an entire group of images at once. If necessary, the program can convert images into one of the main graphic formats (JPG, BMP, TIFF, GIF, PNG, TGA) with a specified compression ratio.

Additional features of PicaJet Photo Album include backing up the created photo album to a CD or DVD, providing online access to it, and sending individual images with automatic file size adjustment via email.

Programs that are capable of systematizing, sorting hyperlinks and displaying them in the form of databases.

↓ New in the "Cataloguers" category:

Free
Personal Video Database 0.9.9.21 is an application that automatically creates catalogs from the movies you have. The Personal Video Database application is equipped with a well-thought-out user interface and a variety of database administration functions that allow you to create and also maintain the stable operation of large catalogs of films.

Free
Organizer Mp3 4.51 is an application that organizes and professionalizes your personal MP3 collections. The Organizer Mp3 application contains a collection builder and a collection player in one package.

Free
Collmate 1.36 is an application that helps you organize, describe and manage collections of magazines, films, books, dolls, bottles, stamps, posters, cars, lovers or any other collection of anything. The Collmate app allows you to create a collection tree as well as collection packs.

Free
WhereIsIt? 2012 (build 104) is a truly universal and highest quality cataloger. The WhereIsIt application is used to work and create directories for a large number of media files, as well as CDs (data or music), DVDs or network drives.

Free
Unicat Editor 7.7.0.732 CIS is a program for maintaining catalogs on various topics. The Unicat Editor program can maintain for you catalogs of CDs, books, music CDs, pedigrees, medical histories, documentation and so on. The operation of the program is described in detail in the reference information in a language that is easy to learn.

Free
SoftBase 2.2.3 will help users with a large software base that they constantly update, because it is quite difficult to remember the capabilities of each program and its main purpose if it has also been updated. The SoftBase application is a large complex that will help you catalog your software.

Free
MyLib - disk cataloger 0.93 is a convenient disk cataloger. The MyLib application has the ability to search the directory, add comments to saved files, export data to html, and also take into account disk debtors. In addition, the application supports the ability to search the application database using mp3 tags.

Free
eXtreme Movie Manager 7.2.2.0 is a very convenient and high-quality application for maintaining a home film library. The eXtreme Movie Manager application provides more than 70 description fields for each movie, which are divided into subgroups.

Free
Datalog 5.1. beta build 1001 is a convenient and simple cataloger of music and video files located on various media (resources on the local network or hard drives). The Datalog application will help you display a set of resources as a single structure with quick access, search by resource, display of added files and creation of a report on the content, as well as convenient and quick search for duplicates.

Free
data@cd 2.2 build 91 is an application for storing and processing data from catalogs on Audio, DVD and computer disks. The data@cd application stores all information in a database, with the ability to modify it (delete, add and change), as well as search according to specified criteria.

Free
Auto TGP Explorer 3.14a is free application for convenient viewing of photo galleries from sites with erotic content. The Auto TGP Explorer application analyzes the content of the specified site and sorts links to its photo galleries.

Free
ArchiVid 2.5.722 is convenient application on maintaining a database of films. The ArchiVid application for each of the recordings allocates fields for the numbering of the recording, the name of the film, its original title, genre, year of release or presentation, rating by viewers or self-rating, size, quality, playback time, image resolution, as well as video codec, audio codec and the debtor.

Free
Computer Accounting 2.58 is an application for accounting computers, phones, office equipment and other objects for organizations. The Computer Accounting application will help you assign all accounting objects to employees and sort them into departments or branches. The application also has the ability to mark repairs performed, replacement of consumables or parts, as well as preventive maintenance and installed software. In addition to the tables available in the application, it is possible to create your own, completely ready-to-use tables.

What types of catalogers are there?

The generally recognized leader in the first group of catalogers is the WhereIsIt package, although there are several equally successful competing solutions (all of them are discussed in the article), which, although they have slightly less functionality, have other advantages. For example, if we are talking about organizing large collections stored only on CDs and DVDs, then it is more convenient to use the CD Storage Master application; the collection will be more visual and it will take less time to create it. In the case of small collections of home CDs and file resources stored on the hard drive, it makes sense to use the 10-Strike SearchMyDiscs program, which has a symbolic price and a Russian-language interface. The first group also includes image catalogers, which, although they stand apart, are also focused on automatically filling out the catalogue. The PicaJet package is rightfully considered the fastest and at the same time compact image cataloger.

As for the second group, everything depends on the type of collection and it is impossible to clearly name the leader. When it comes to software cataloging, the best solution in this class is the SoftCAT package. To manage large DVD collections, it is preferable to use the DVD Profiler application. The most convenient solution for managing music collections is MediaMonkey, etc. In addition, if desired, you can find specialized catalogers for other types of information, for example, for cataloging books Book Collector Pro package, games Game Collector, coins CoinManage, etc.

Universal catalogers

)

Price: $39.95

Work under control: Windows 95/98/Me/NT 4.0/2000/XP/2003

WhereIsIt can be used to catalog a variety of data, including CDs, music collections (MP3 and audio CDs), image collections, document backups, etc., easily handles huge volumes of information and can manage hundreds of CDs, for example. The directories obtained as a result of its work, of which there may be several and which can be grouped, are saved in CTF format files. The catalogs are compact and therefore can be easily transferred to another computer, and searching for the necessary information in them is carried out almost instantly. The program creates a detailed list of all cataloged files, folders and disks with their descriptions, where in addition to standard parameters in the form of name, size, date, etc. at the user's request, a text description, thumbnail, category, etc. can appear. Different types of information for easier orientation can be highlighted in different colors in accordance with the category, type of data source, etc. The quick search mode allows you to search for data by name or description, and the advanced search mechanism allows you to create complex search criteria, including using Boolean operations. The program supports searching the catalog for duplicate information. The built-in report generator allows you to present all or only certain catalog information in a user-friendly form for output to a printer, fax, or export to other formats, such as an Excel table, an RTF document or a Web page, etc.

WhereIsIt supports more than 60 file types and can extract descriptions from various sources: File_id.diz, Descript.ion, 00index.txt, Files.bbs files, text files, MS Office documents, images and audio files, including MP3 files, Adobe files Acrobat, executable files, font files, etc., although in reality, descriptions from some types of files will be extracted only after connecting the corresponding plugins. The program can work with different types of archives, including ZIP, ARJ, RAR, CAB, LHA/LZH, TAR, ARC, ACE, ZOO, GZIP, BZ2 and SFX. Archived files can be displayed as folders, and the files inside them can be opened or extracted directly within the cataloging environment.

Developer: Cdstorager.com

Distribution size: 6.8 MB

Distribution method: http://www.cdstorager.com/setup/csm50demo.exe)

Price: CD Storage Master Standard $29.95, CD Storage Master Professional $59.95

Work under control: all versions of Windows

CD Storage Master a convenient tool for cataloging CDs and DVDs and software, providing efficient management of large collections and allowing you to quickly find any CD. The package is presented in two editions: full Professional and shortened Standard, which lacks a cover generation module, does not support custom categories, printing and exporting data, as well as searching for duplicate files.

Developer: WinCatalog.com

Distribution size: 1.65 MB

Price: English version 1.52 32 dollars, Russian version 1.1 200 rub.

Work under control: Windows 95/98/2000/Me/NT 4.0/XP

General catalog management is easy and convenient. Dividing data into thematic folders greatly simplifies orientation, and the placement of folders and their nested elements can be easily changed by simply dragging the mouse. Advanced search, which supports Boolean operations and the ability to select a specific folder to search and takes into account keywords (they can be thoughtfully added to all or individual elements of the catalog), will allow you to quickly find the desired element, and duplicate search will allow you to remove duplicate elements from the collection. The ability to export all or part of a collection to a CVS file will allow you to use catalog data for processing in another application, for example, MS Excel, and exporting to an HTML file is convenient, for example, for publishing on the Web or for printing.

Developer: ElcomSoft Co Ltd

Distribution size: 1.38 MB

Distribution method: shareware (30-day demo http://www.elcomsoft.com/ADC/adc.zip)

Price:$20

Work under control:

Advanced Disk Catalog (ADC) an extremely simple and convenient cataloger of various media information, mostly designed for unpretentious users.

The ADC package allows you to catalog disks, files and folders in accordance with user-specified categories and, if desired, adding comments to them (disks, files and folders) and can work with floppy disks, hard drives, CDs and ZIP disks. Support for archive files in ZIP, ARJ, RAR, CAB, ARC, ACE, LZH and TAR formats has been implemented, including self-extracting archives. The resulting catalog contains a variety of reference information about the cataloged data, including descriptions extracted from various types of files: ID3 tags from music files, audio CD information from freedb.org and from online CD databases, descriptions from HTML files, Adobe PDF documents, and Microsoft Office, descriptions from executable modules (*.exe, *.dll, etc.) and from files.bbs, index.txt, file_id.diz, etc.

Developer: 10-Strike Software

Distribution size: 1,382 MB

Distribution method: http://www.10-strike.com/rus/searchmydiscs/searchmydiscs.zip)

Price: 200 rub.

Work under control: Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003

Cataloged resources can be displayed by thematic groups, which is convenient for searching, or in the form of a tree-like catalog of files and folders, which can be useful, for example, for creating your own archive with programs grouped by categories and types. Both information can be presented in a report automatically generated by the program, which is saved in TXT or HTML format, and its appearance and the nature of the information contained in the report are determined by the user.

Specialized catalogers

Developer: FNProgramware

Distribution size: 5 MB

Distribution method: shareware (30-day demo version http://fnp.fileburst.com/softcatplus_setup.exe)

Price:$29.95

Work under control: Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP

SoftCAT is a shell for managing a software database, with which you can find out at any time what programs you have at your disposal and where they are located, as well as find out important information regarding them: serial number, registration name, activation code, etc. . Such a specialized cataloger will be useful to any user who has a more or less large collection of software, and is absolutely indispensable for administrators involved in software installation.

The program has an intuitive interface and is easy to use, which is extremely important given the tediousness of initially filling out the catalog, since in most cases the data, as in any database, will have to be entered manually. However, this process can be accelerated to some extent due to autocataloging, thanks to which the program will independently scan the hard drive for programs already installed in the system and will automatically enter all the data available on them into the database; if necessary, you will only need to correct them. In the future, it is better to make it a rule to combine the installation of a new program with adding it to the catalog.

If you can find time to fill out the database, then in the future searching for the desired program, as well as registration and other data, will take almost seconds, because all software is divided into categories, and for quick access the system provides alphabet, filtering, sorting and several search modes, including advanced search using Boolean operations. The results of the most frequently used search settings can be saved. It is worth noting that, having found the desired application in the database, you can not only navigate its location and related information, but also install it directly from the created database.

SoftCAT ensures complete security of registration information by locking the database with a password and the ability to back up data by creating a backup copy of the directory.

Developer: InterVocative Software, LLC

Distribution size: 3.9 MB

Distribution method: shareware (feature-limited demo version http://static.intervocative.com/dvdpro/downloads/dvdpro.zip)

Price:$29.95

Work under control: Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003 Server

Developer: FNProgramware

Distribution size: 6.5 MB

Distribution method: shareware (30-day demo http://fnp.fileburst.com/catvids_setup.exe)

Price:$39.95

Work under control: Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP

Developer: Ventis Media, Inc.

Distribution size: 4.55 MB

Distribution method: MediaMonkey Standard freeware (http://mediamonkey.ord.cachenetworks.com/MediaMonkey_Setup_2_5_1.exe), MediaMonkey Gold shareware

Price: MediaMonkey Gold $29.95

Work under control: Windows 98/Me/NT/2000/XP

MediaMonkey is a convenient and multifunctional music organizer that is aimed at owners of large music collections and is rightfully considered one of the best such applications. The program allows you to catalog audio files in OGG, WMA, MPC, FLAC, APE, WAV and MP3 formats, which can be located on your hard drive, CDs and local network. It is distinguished by a convenient, intuitive and elegant interface, compact size (compared to applications with similar functions) and very high speed - all this together provides the ability to easily and effectively manage even very large music collections of 50 thousand or more files.

The program is presented in two editions: free MediaMonkey Standard and paid MediaMonkey Gold. The latter is complemented by the ability to automatically update the library and synchronize with portable devices, advanced search and filtering modes, support for working with virtual CDs and the presence of a sleep mode.

Developer: Picajet.com

Distribution size: 5.45 MB

Distribution method: shareware (15-day demo version http://www.picajet.com/en/index.php?page=download)

Price:$39.95

Work under control: Windows 9x/Me/NT/2000/XP