News :: 15MR: Silent Copy v1.0.0.0

Hello all and welcome to another 15-Minute Review! Today’s application is Silent Copy version 1.0.0.0 by EnPlase Research Corporation—An application to copy directory structures without bogging down your system.

Software Description

As Giveaway of the Day states:

“When you copy a lot of files the total system performance goes down and use of applications becomes inconvenient. It happens that Windows gives almost all resources of hard drive to the copying process and all applications must be waiting for the end of the action.

Silent Copy allows you to copy your files not diminishing system performance. It moves data and distributes resources of your drives between running applications at the same time. Silent Copy allows you to set a priority to the process and control speed of the copying.

The application is extremely easy to use and intended for PC users and system administrators.”

Quick Pros

• Does as advertised; Does not apparently slow system while copying

Quick Cons

• Wizard interface over-complex
• No ability selecting files only
• Task tray icon does not provide feedback
• No ability to change modes while going
• No Explorer context menu interface
• No apparent command-line support

Expansion

I was kind of excited when I saw this application; Might have been nice for this application for the Windows Servers I manage to allow for backups that don’t sludge up the system. When I launched it, however, I found the wizard interface was overdone; What could have been done in 1 page, is done in 4 pages. While the interface wasn’t the best, it did what it was supposed to do. I copied a 546MB folder from one hard drive to another and then performed some other tasks that would normally be slowed by a file copy of this size (Loaded Battlefied 2142 map quickly) and then let it continue on its way. It took about 30 minutes to copy 546MB with loading Battlefield 2142 and then less-intensive web browser to start setting up the article. I never noticed anything going on, which was a good thing.

However, while the application does as advertised, it lacks a lot more than a simple interface. Sometimes I want to be able to copy by backup RAR only to my tertiary drive which is normally on my secondary drive of backups in a single folder with other RARs. There is no way, however, to select a single file, only entire folders. The task tray icon provides NO feedback; When I move my mouse over it, I was hoping for a progress percentage or something of the effect. Nothing; Not even a name on the icon. There’s also no ability to change what copy mode is active during a copy. I would have liked to been able to switch to ‘Fast’ mode after leaving Battlefield 2142 and after loading my web browser to speed the process, but to no avail. There is also no contextual Explorer functionality where you can simply right-click a folder, or more advanced, right-drag and give you the option for Silent Copy. To top it off, this application killed my dream of using it on a server to save resources, especially in an automated form, there is no command line support apparent and with no help files or help on their support site, there is no way to find out if there is a hidden command line feature either outside of standard options.

Final Verdict

While this application does do what it advertises, it doesn’t do it very eloquently interface-wise, or with many other features that you’d hope with an application like this. I honestly have use for an application such as this, but not in this form. There is some maturing for this application required before it becomes usable. It is one that is going to be uninstalled even though I do like the concept, just because it is not usable in any form of what I need it for. As for $14.95, I could not warrant paying for the application in this form. If you made the application have a more finished feel to it, might be worth $9.95 or possibly $14.95. Include command-line support (INCLUDING a no-interaction mode at all) and it may be worth more to server administrators.

Posted by BladedThoth on Thursday, April 05, 2007