pocketnow.com Reviews Softwinter's StorageTools v1.8

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&t=reviews&id=313' target='_blank'>http://www.pocketnow.com/index.php?...=reviews&id=313</a><br /><br /></div>"As a network administrator in the world outside of my reviews, I try to keep a lot of tools at my disposal for troubleshooting and maintaining the various and varied units I work with. And I used to carry around a disk of defragmentation software until most of the major operating systems started including them (good or bad). StorageTools is yet another tool for the trade, providing information, formatting, scanning, and defragmentation. Defragmentation is important for standard hard drives, but what about solid state drives? Does it really make a difference in speed? Read on to find out."<br /><br />I have to admit that while I've tried a few memory card tools for the Pocket PC, I never re-install them after a hard reset - I just don't run into the need for them all that often. The sad part is that the Pocket PC is capable of formatting memory cards (you'll be given the option if you put in an unformatted memory card), but back in the Pocket PC 2000 days, a certain individual on the Pocket PC development team felt it was "too dangerous" to give people a UI for the formatting tool. :roll: Uh-huh. Like we'd just happen to re-format our memory cards if this UI was exposed? Anyway, how many of you install memory card formatting/fixing tools, and why? How often do you use them? Or is it a case of having it ready for that ONE time that you really needed it?

[yawanag]

I've have a couple downloaded waiting in the wings, in case I never need to use them.

I'm such a download junkie that I have a lot of programs in ROM missing from the Start Menu. The only way I can execute them is to go to File explorer and click on them.

I have most of my programs installed on an SD Card and I dread a hard reset so much I just continue using this way. I dread a hard reset mostly because I have to go back and enter registration numbers, etc.

I am hoping I won't have to perform a hard reset until I get my XDA II and sell my XDA I.

[Simone Ue]

I tend to use my cards on other pieces of equipment as well and since cameras are much more sensitive to filesystems, I normally format on the camara and then user the card in the PPC. Not always efficient, but surely more compatible!

[dma1965]

I have Pocket Mechanic installed, which I use mostly for defrag (it does make a difference), and it also has formatting tools. Resco Explorer also has formatting tools, and, overall, it comes close to being the Swiss Army Knife of Pocket PC utilities, handling everything from exploring, to formatting, to encrytption, regedit, networking....the list goes on.

[yawanag]

Right after I posted the above, I looked over to the right and saw CeBeans logo. Now I haven't used CeBeans since I first got my HP Jornada 548 two years ago.

I was scrolling through the site, just for the heck of it :lol: and what to my wandering eyes should appear but a program called "Rom Programs" so for the time being I'm using it to connect to the programs I couldn't get to without going to File Explorer.

[johncruise]

never used it.... most of the storage cards (cf & sd) that I have are preformatted. I don't see any reason (well at least for my case) to reformat them after using it for a while (no significant speed change, no drastic recovered storage space gained). Yes, I do find some files on my storage cards after I bought them but I just delete it manually through file explorer.

On an off-topic note: the site still displays Mazingo subscription buttons on the right side :-)

[dbman]

I have a universal card reader on my PC. My laptop also has an SD and CF reader in it. In either instance, I pop-in my SD card, check it and defrag it using Windows.

[jffcurt]

I currently use Storage Tools and although it isn't used very frequently it has come in handy in the past. I did correct and error on my SD card once. Just recently I purchased a Casio Exilim camera and I had an extra 128 mb SD card laying around. When I inserted the card into the camera I got a read error (wouldn't work). It did however work when I inserted into my 5455. Using Storage Tools I compared the way it was formatted with the 256 mb SD I was currently using. Both were FAT 32 but the cluster sizes were different. BTW, the 256 SD worked in my Ipaq and the Casio. I simply reformatted the 128 mb card to match the 256 and presto it worked in the Casio camera. Storage Tools helped greatly in that case and saved me from going out and buying another SD card.