Files Tab
The Files tab is used to create real-time backups of files opened by AlomWare Toolbox (Figure 1), search for files on your PC using simple English-like phrases (Figure 2), bulk-rename a folder of files (Figure 3), and watch a folder (and its sub-folders) for any changes in real-time (Figure 4) to see which files get created, deleted, renamed, or moved in real-time.
Backups Tab
The green plus button lets you add a new protected file (up to 100 MB in size) that gets automatically backed-up when AlomWare Toolbox opens it. Alternatively, you can drag files onto the Protected files list (item B) to add them. Backing up a file is done from either double-clicking it in this list, or from an automated action that opens it with the "File: Open after backing up" step. For example, you could create an automated action to open an Excel document of your budget, so that you can rest easy knowing that whatever you edit in that file can be reverted back to an older version at any time. Important: Files that are not opened with AlomWare Toolbox will not get backed-up; you must open them from the Protected files list (item B) or with an automated action.
This is the list of your protected files and are always sorted alphabetically by drive letter, folder, and filename (in that order). To stop backing up a file (or files), first click them (with the [Ctrl] key held down for multiple selections) and press the [Delete] key. This will delete the backups for each file but not the actual selected files themselves. Double-click any file to back it up and open it. To create an automated action to backup and open a file (so that you can open it from a hotkey): right-click any file and select "Create action to backup and open" from the pop-up menu, give it a name, and then switch to the "Automation" tab to set a hotkey trigger for it.
This column shows the date and time of each backed-up file of the selected file in the Protected files list (item B). The versions are shown in newest-to-oldest order. To restore a version, double-click it in the list. To delete versions, click them (with the [Ctrl] key held down for multiple selections) and press the [Delete] key.
This column shows the age (in days) of each backed-up file of the selected file in the Protected files list (item B).
This column shows the file size of each backed-up file of the selected file in the Protected files list (item B). You can toggle between seeing the actual byte size or friendly sizes in Settings.
This column shows an option description of each backed-up file of the selected file in the Protected files list (item B). To edit the description, click the version file and press the [F2] key.
After a while, the size of your accumulated backups can grow very large, so clicking this button will keep only the last 10 versions of each protected file.
This text shows the total backup size of the selected file in the Protected files list (item B).
Search Tab
This drop-down list lets you choose which types of files to find, such as documents, images, sounds, videos, etc. Choose All files to search everything.
This drop-down list lets you choose what type of files in item A to find, such as if their filename or file data contains specific text, or whether they are bigger or smaller than a specified size.
This text box lets you specify the data to find, such as a full or partial file name, or text inside a file. If you chose a file size option for item B, then you specify the file size here in either an actual byte size (such as 136 for 136 bytes) or generic size in one of these formats: #kb, #mb, #gb, or #tb (where # is a number).
Selecting this option means you want to search file names.
Selecting this option means you want to search file data. Please note that this is a raw binary file search, so if you specify abc then any file with the world "abc" in it will be found, even if the file isn't a document. Also, some text might not be found in an expected file due to being compressed, encrypted, etc.
This drop-down list lets you choose the age of the files to find. Select any time to search all files. The past options mean within that previous time period; so choosing past week will search the last 7 days, and past quarter will search the previous 3 months.
This date picker is the date used for searching when the age selection (item F) is set to either before, after, around (within one month before and one month after the selected date), close to (within one week before and one week after the selected date), or exactly (the selected date).
This is the folder path to search, such as C:\ or C:\Users. You can click the folder picker button (item I) to choose a folder, or click the PC button (item J) to search all drives from A to Z in order.
This is the folder picker button to choose a folder (and its sub-folders) to search.
This button makes the search scan all drives from A to Z in order.
Ticking this item means to search sub-folders of the selected one (item H). This can make the search take longer but may be necessary.
Ticking this item means to search system folders, such as C:\Windows and C:\Program Files. Untick this if you know for sure that what you're looking for would not be in a system folder, as unticking will speed up the search.
This button starts the search. If this is disabled, it means your search settings are invalid (such as no size set in item C when a search type of size has been selected in item B). Correct any errors and try again. When a search has started, this button changes to "Stop" so you can click it to abort the search.
This a progress dot, which is colored grey when not searching, green while searching, and red when a search has been aborted. If the PC button (item J) has been used, then a colored letter will appear here instead to indicate which drive is currently being searched. While searching, a small animated bar will appear under this button as well (to indicate activity; not progress).
These four buttons let you load and save search settings, restore the default search settings, and reset the current search settings.
This is the file list of matching files from a search. Files shown in green are those modified today, yesterday in black, and all others in gray. You can right-click any file to perform actions on it from a pop-up menu of functions (such as opening it, viewing its header info as bytes, or searching the internet for details about it). You can also clear the list from the pop-up menu (which doesn't delete the listed files from disk).
Rename Tab
This button starts the rename process. If disabled, it means your rename settings are invalid (such as no folder specified, or clashes with renaming, or no changes to existing names). Correct any mistakes and try again. When valid, you will get a confirmation prompt about the changes, because the process is irreversible. You must hold down the [Ctrl] key when confirming the prompt as an extra safety precaution.
This drop-down list lets you choose which types of files to rename, such as documents, images, sounds, videos, etc. Choose All files to rename all matching files.
This text box lets you specify the folder of files to rename.
This is the folder picker button to choose the folder of files to rename.
This is the list of rename modifications ("mods") to add to your rename script (item F). Click a mod to read what it does in the status bar (bottom-left of the window). Double-click a mod to add it to the script. If a mod needs specific data to work, you will get a prompt for it (such as the search/replace mod). As mods are added to the script, the new name list (item N) is updated in real-time to reflect any changes. If a new name is shown in red, this means a clash has occurred with a file earlier in the list and the rename cannot proceed. Names in green in the new list are ready to be renamed.
This is your current rename script, which renames your files in top-down order of the script. Double-click an existing script mod to edit it. You can select any mods and press [Ctrl]+[Down] or [Ctrl]+[Up] to move their position in the script, or press the [Delete] to remove them. If you remove a mod by mistake, press [Ctrl]+[Z] immediately to undo the removal.
Moves the selected mod in the script list (item F) up one position.
Moves the selected mod in the script list (item F) down one position.
Loads an existing rename script (item F) from disk.
Saves the current rename script (item F) to disk.
Restores the default rename scripts to disk, for loading with item I.
Clears the current rename script (item F) to be blank. If unsaved, you will be offered to save it first.
The list of files to be renamed in the specified folder (item C). Files in sub-folders are not renamed. You can right-click this list for a pop-up menu of file options, such as manually renaming a file, or selecting some files not to be renamed.
The list of new file names as changed from the old list (item M). You can right-click this list for a pop-up menu of file options, such as manually renaming a file, or selecting some files not to be renamed.
Watch Tab
This button starts and stops the real-time watch process.
This drop-down list lets you choose which types of files to watch, such as documents, images, sounds, videos, etc. Choose All files to watch all files.
This text box lets you specify the folder (and its sub-folders) of files to watch.
This is the folder picker button to choose the folder (and its sub-folders) of files to watch.
This is the file list of watched files and their events. Events and the date/time they occurred are shown in the right-hand columns.
Right-clicking any item will let you perform actions on it from a pop-up menu of functions (such as copying the entire list of events as shown in Figure 5). You can also clear either the entire list or just selected items by using the pop-up menu (which doesn't delete the actual files from disk).
You can right-click the tab itself to set it as your favorite tab (always shown when Toolbox's window opens), or to access related Settings for it.
Backups Tab
This tab is used to create real-time backups of files opened by AlomWare Toolbox. Files must be 100 MB or less in size. The backups created are saved locally in AlomWare Toolbox's folder, and their file extension is changed so that ransomware doesn't recognize them (since these go after common file extensions such as ".docx", ".jpg", ".xlsx", etc). Having said that, you should not rely on AlomWare Toolbox to act as your sole anti-malware solution and should always have a dedicated anti-malware tool running on your PC (such as "Windows Defender" which comes pre-installed on Windows).
| Figure 1 |
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The green plus button lets you add a new protected file (up to 100 MB in size) that gets automatically backed-up when AlomWare Toolbox opens it. Alternatively, you can drag files onto the Protected files list (item B) to add them. Backing up a file is done from either double-clicking it in this list, or from an automated action that opens it with the "File: Open after backing up" step. For example, you could create an automated action to open an Excel document of your budget, so that you can rest easy knowing that whatever you edit in that file can be reverted back to an older version at any time. Important: Files that are not opened with AlomWare Toolbox will not get backed-up; you must open them from the Protected files list (item B) or with an automated action. This is the list of your protected files and are always sorted alphabetically by drive letter, folder, and filename (in that order). To stop backing up a file (or files), first click them (with the [Ctrl] key held down for multiple selections) and press the [Delete] key. This will delete the backups for each file but not the actual selected files themselves. Double-click any file to back it up and open it. To create an automated action to backup and open a file (so that you can open it from a hotkey): right-click any file and select "Create action to backup and open" from the pop-up menu, give it a name, and then switch to the "Automation" tab to set a hotkey trigger for it. This column shows the date and time of each backed-up file of the selected file in the Protected files list (item B). The versions are shown in newest-to-oldest order. To restore a version, double-click it in the list. To delete versions, click them (with the [Ctrl] key held down for multiple selections) and press the [Delete] key. This column shows the age (in days) of each backed-up file of the selected file in the Protected files list (item B). This column shows the file size of each backed-up file of the selected file in the Protected files list (item B). You can toggle between seeing the actual byte size or friendly sizes in Settings. This column shows an option description of each backed-up file of the selected file in the Protected files list (item B). To edit the description, click the version file and press the [F2] key. After a while, the size of your accumulated backups can grow very large, so clicking this button will keep only the last 10 versions of each protected file. This text shows the total backup size of the selected file in the Protected files list (item B).Search Tab
This tab is used to search for files on your PC using simple English-like phrases (such as All files larger than 100 MB on the 'C:\' drive). You compose the phrase from the tab items left-to-right, over two rows. Search phrases can be saved for later re-use. Note that AlomWare Toolbox does a real-time search without accessing the NTFS Master File Table (MFT), which means it won't search as fast as other dedicated file-search tools; but this means it does have the advantage of being able to search non-NTFS drives (such as FAT and FAT32). It's a trade-off, and we believe casting a wider net at the expense of some speed is worth it.
| Figure 2 |
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This drop-down list lets you choose which types of files to find, such as documents, images, sounds, videos, etc. Choose All files to search everything. This drop-down list lets you choose what type of files in item A to find, such as if their filename or file data contains specific text, or whether they are bigger or smaller than a specified size. This text box lets you specify the data to find, such as a full or partial file name, or text inside a file. If you chose a file size option for item B, then you specify the file size here in either an actual byte size (such as 136 for 136 bytes) or generic size in one of these formats: #kb, #mb, #gb, or #tb (where # is a number). Selecting this option means you want to search file names. Selecting this option means you want to search file data. Please note that this is a raw binary file search, so if you specify abc then any file with the world "abc" in it will be found, even if the file isn't a document. Also, some text might not be found in an expected file due to being compressed, encrypted, etc. This drop-down list lets you choose the age of the files to find. Select any time to search all files. The past options mean within that previous time period; so choosing past week will search the last 7 days, and past quarter will search the previous 3 months. This date picker is the date used for searching when the age selection (item F) is set to either before, after, around (within one month before and one month after the selected date), close to (within one week before and one week after the selected date), or exactly (the selected date). This is the folder path to search, such as C:\ or C:\Users. You can click the folder picker button (item I) to choose a folder, or click the PC button (item J) to search all drives from A to Z in order. This is the folder picker button to choose a folder (and its sub-folders) to search. This button makes the search scan all drives from A to Z in order. Ticking this item means to search sub-folders of the selected one (item H). This can make the search take longer but may be necessary. Ticking this item means to search system folders, such as C:\Windows and C:\Program Files. Untick this if you know for sure that what you're looking for would not be in a system folder, as unticking will speed up the search. This button starts the search. If this is disabled, it means your search settings are invalid (such as no size set in item C when a search type of size has been selected in item B). Correct any errors and try again. When a search has started, this button changes to "Stop" so you can click it to abort the search. This a progress dot, which is colored grey when not searching, green while searching, and red when a search has been aborted. If the PC button (item J) has been used, then a colored letter will appear here instead to indicate which drive is currently being searched. While searching, a small animated bar will appear under this button as well (to indicate activity; not progress). These four buttons let you load and save search settings, restore the default search settings, and reset the current search settings. This is the file list of matching files from a search. Files shown in green are those modified today, yesterday in black, and all others in gray. You can right-click any file to perform actions on it from a pop-up menu of functions (such as opening it, viewing its header info as bytes, or searching the internet for details about it). You can also clear the list from the pop-up menu (which doesn't delete the listed files from disk).Rename Tab
This tab lets you bulk-rename a folder of files using a script of step-by-step changes. Scripts can be saved for later re-use. Take extreme care with renaming, as it can't be undone and you can make a whole bunch of files unusable if you carelessly rename them. However, there is an old and new name comparison list (items M and N) so you can review your changes before committing them.
| Figure 3 |
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This button starts the rename process. If disabled, it means your rename settings are invalid (such as no folder specified, or clashes with renaming, or no changes to existing names). Correct any mistakes and try again. When valid, you will get a confirmation prompt about the changes, because the process is irreversible. You must hold down the [Ctrl] key when confirming the prompt as an extra safety precaution. This drop-down list lets you choose which types of files to rename, such as documents, images, sounds, videos, etc. Choose All files to rename all matching files. This text box lets you specify the folder of files to rename. This is the folder picker button to choose the folder of files to rename. This is the list of rename modifications ("mods") to add to your rename script (item F). Click a mod to read what it does in the status bar (bottom-left of the window). Double-click a mod to add it to the script. If a mod needs specific data to work, you will get a prompt for it (such as the search/replace mod). As mods are added to the script, the new name list (item N) is updated in real-time to reflect any changes. If a new name is shown in red, this means a clash has occurred with a file earlier in the list and the rename cannot proceed. Names in green in the new list are ready to be renamed. This is your current rename script, which renames your files in top-down order of the script. Double-click an existing script mod to edit it. You can select any mods and press [Ctrl]+[Down] or [Ctrl]+[Up] to move their position in the script, or press the [Delete] to remove them. If you remove a mod by mistake, press [Ctrl]+[Z] immediately to undo the removal. Moves the selected mod in the script list (item F) up one position. Moves the selected mod in the script list (item F) down one position. Loads an existing rename script (item F) from disk. Saves the current rename script (item F) to disk. Restores the default rename scripts to disk, for loading with item I. Clears the current rename script (item F) to be blank. If unsaved, you will be offered to save it first. The list of files to be renamed in the specified folder (item C). Files in sub-folders are not renamed. You can right-click this list for a pop-up menu of file options, such as manually renaming a file, or selecting some files not to be renamed. The list of new file names as changed from the old list (item M). You can right-click this list for a pop-up menu of file options, such as manually renaming a file, or selecting some files not to be renamed.Watch Tab
This tab lets you watch a folder (and its sub-folders) for any changes in real-time to see which files get created, deleted, renamed, or moved. There is a maximum rolling limit of 9999 items that are listed, because watching files is not intended to be a long-term activity. You can lower this limit if desired in Settings.
To watch the C: drive, AlomWare Toolbox must be running with administrator rights (this is a Windows security limitation).
| Figure 4 |
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This button starts and stops the real-time watch process. This drop-down list lets you choose which types of files to watch, such as documents, images, sounds, videos, etc. Choose All files to watch all files. This text box lets you specify the folder (and its sub-folders) of files to watch. This is the folder picker button to choose the folder (and its sub-folders) of files to watch. This is the file list of watched files and their events. Events and the date/time they occurred are shown in the right-hand columns. Right-clicking any item will let you perform actions on it from a pop-up menu of functions (such as copying the entire list of events as shown in Figure 5). You can also clear either the entire list or just selected items by using the pop-up menu (which doesn't delete the actual files from disk).
| Figure 5 |
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