FolderSizes Help

To generate a FolderSizes Snapshot (.fssx) file, click the Snapshot button in the main window ribbon bar and choose Create New Snapshot from the resulting pop-up menu. The Snapshot Generator window will appear.

 

Snapshot Path(s)

 

Enter one or more file system paths for which you wish to create a Snapshot. Click the adjacent button to browse for a path.

 

To enter multiple paths, use the Paths button to quickly select local or network disks, or to access network discovery services. If you wish to enter multiple file system paths manually, separate them with a pipe symbol (e.g. "|").

 

Output Path

 

Enter a fully qualified snapshot file output path, or use the adjacent button to browse for one.

 

Options

 

The following options may be applied during Snapshot file creation:

 

•Collect file system object ownership data - When engaged, this option will trigger the inclusion of file system object owner information in the Snapshot file. This process will generally lengthen Snapshot creation time substantially (especially for network file systems) since the owner of each file system object must be resolved during execution.

•Follow file system reparse points - Engage this option if you wish the Snapshot file system analyzer to follow NTFS reparse points such as symbolic links, mount points, etc. For most file systems, this option is not recommended.

•Apply NTFS compression to snapshot file - Allows NTFS compression to be applied to the Snapshot file, reducing its size substantially. This feature will only work if the Snapshot file is being created on an NTFS file system (otherwise, it will be ignored).

•Load Exclusions from file - This option allows you to exclusion certain file system paths from the snapshot generation process. See the Snapshot Exclusions help topic for details.

 

Create Snapshot

 

Click the Create Snapshot button when you're ready, at which point a progress indicator will be shown as the Snapshot is created.

 

When Snapshot creation is complete, you can use the View Events button to review any errors that occurred during the process.

 

For Snapshots that require a considerable amount of time to create, you may wish to use the FolderSizes Task Scheduler to generate them during off hours.