Review: WizCode Virtual Explorer

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When it comes to file explorer, I prefer to go with something more robust than the generic File Explorer that I (and you) got with Windows Mobile. And thankfully, there are a lot of such applications out there, be it commercial or free software. One such application is Wizcode’s Virtual Explorer that was recently upgraded to 1.30 recently.

Intro

For those unfamiliar with the company Wizcode, they are the same developers who created the award-winning Pocket Mechanic Professional and Pock Hack Master. Their Virtual Explorer is more than just a file explorer as you will soon see. It runs on all screen resolutions out there (qVGA, VGA, square 240×240 & 480×480 ) as well as portrait and landscape modes. And if you are using an older version of Windows Mobile, not to worry; it runs from Pocket PC 2002 all the way to Windows Mobile 6. Their trial version runs for 30 days and if you want to get yourself a license, you can do so for $19.95. The description page of Virtual Explorer shows how feature packed it is but how does Wizcode Virtual Explorer fare?

Recycle Bin

Well for one, it’s got a recycle bin. That means anything you deleted will go to into it and be permanently deleted like before. This way, if you accidentally deleted something, you can always go back and undelete it. In the past, I always wondered why the default file explorer did not have something as useful. At least now you know that Wizcode has filled that gap with Virtual Explorer.

Shredder

In this digital age, not enough emphasis can be placed on security. With identity theft on the rise, the last thing that you want is for someone to find your device and recover files which you though you had already deleted for good. Good case scenario: the file is useless and does no damage. Bad case scenario: That file contains all your credit card numbers, CCV codes and expiration date (why would you have such a file anyway?).

So Wizcode added a file shredder ‘that comply with National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual of the US Department of Defense (clearing and sanitizing standard DOD 5220.22-M) and pseudorandom patterns.’ To be honest, I have no idea what it means exactly except that when you delete a file, expect it to be gone forever and no one can ever recover it.

Encryption

As an added level of security, you could encrypt your files if you want. Just select the file and choose the encryption option and it will ask for a password. After encrypting, you can choose to delete the source file which is not encrypted or keep it.

Decrypting is just as simple. Select the file and decrypt it with the password you had chosen earlier. Those who are looking for folder encryption would have to look elsewhere because that is not possible with Virtual Explorer.

Navigation

Now that we have security out of the way, the next requirement to a good file explorer (in my opinion) is ease of navigation. And I think Wizocde has done pretty well in this area.

Address Bar

It’s got one to show you exactly where you are but what’s great about it is that it has a history function attached which allows you to see where you have been in the past.

Buttons

There are buttons at the top and bottom and if that’s not enough, you can call up another row of buttons at the bottom. The ones at the top remind of the desktop file explorer where you can navigate back and forward as well as up one level. You could even refresh the folder list and there’s a button for search if you need to find something.

The one at the bottom has some of the more common tasks namely cut, copy, past and delete. Pretty useful if you do not like to use tap-and-hold.

Shortcuts

What I like is that it has this pull down menu called ‘Navigate’. The options available are ‘My Documents’, ‘Programs’, ‘Startup’ and ‘Windows’. This shortcut thus allows you to go into any of these locations without the need to navigate through the various files and folders. Pretty nifty eh?

However, it’s not all that great as I soon found out. The Edit button seem to be there just for show because no matter how I tried to select it, it would not be activated. Which meant I could not configure the shortcuts to what I wanted. Hopefully Wizcode can fix this issue in the next upgrade.

Viewing Mode

2 pane mode	Quad pane mode

Some of us like browsing with one pane, others 2 and then there are even others with quad pane. Well you can choose from any that with Virtual Explorer. Maybe on my qVGA device, quad pane was not a good idea because everything was so small but I guess users on a VGA resolution of those using 3.5 inch screens would fare better with this option.

What I like about the multi panes is that you can really customize it the way you want. Large icons on the left pane and details on the right? No problem. How about header on one and multi view ob the other? No problem as well. I think with all the panes and view modes, there has to be view for anyone using it.

Single tree view: Does not allow for file editing.

If you are planning on using Virtual Explorer to open files, the best view would be the 2 pane or higher (also called vertical or horizontal browser). That’s because only from this view upwards can you open the files you have selected. The single list/tree view does not seem to be able to open files no matter what settings I changed.

Search

Sometimes, you know the name of the file but you just do not know where it is. The search function in this case comes in handy. Rather than having to go to Start > Programs > Search, you can just use the built-in version.

Unfortunately when I tried to use it, it did not work. I tried searching for names of files but they did not come up which made me wonder, what exactly does it search for?

Update: The Search function works differently from what I am used to. For example, if you have a file called wizcode.txt and search for it using the terms wizcode, you would not get any result. However, if you search for wizcode* or wizcode.*, you will get results, including the file wizcode.txt any any other file with the word wizcode in it.

There are positives and negatives to this. The positive being you can now search for a specific file and eliminate search results from other similar named files. The negative is that not many might be familiar with this method of search. I hope that Wizcode would include a choice as to how to handle the search terms in the next upgrade.

Zip It Up

Need to archive certain files or folders? Well why not do it with from within the Virtual Explorer. That’s what it does and you can choose from a variety of compressions from none to maximum. I don’t zip files but in cases where I download applications from over-the-air (OTA) that are zipped, I can easily use this utility to unzip it.

Registry Editor

I think every Window Mobile user needs a registry editor on their device, just so that they can get the most out of it. Wizcode must have realized this and packed it together with Virtual Explorer. There is nothing fancy here but like most of the other features, it gets the job done well. Just go to the key that needs editing and make the necessary changes and you are good to go.

It’s not powerful in a sense that you cannot import/export keys or back it up but if you just need to change keys or add/delete new ones, this more than does the job. Like the other editing features associated with Virtual Explorer, you’ll need to be viewing in at least 2 panes to make changes.

What I Like:

• Built-in recycling bin.
• Powerful file shredder.
• Ability to encrypt/decrypt files.
• Multiple views and modes to choose from.
• Archive (ZIP) capability.
• Allows for registry editing

What Could Be Improved:

• Ability to encrypt folders.
• Edit ‘Navigate’ shortcuts.
• Allow items in single list/tree to be opened/edited.
• Password option for archive (ZIP) files.
• Provide a choice as to how the Search function works.
• File ‘properties’ does not give accurate details.
• Remove the processor graph as it serves no purpose.

Conclusion

There are many things to love about Virtual Explorer but there are also many things that makes you go hmmm. Features like a recycle bin and archive are great to have in a file explorer but the fact that some features like Search and Edit in Navigation does not work makes me wonder why. Is it because there is a certain way to use these features that I am not aware of? Or do they just not function? Whatever the reason, I hope Wizcode can answer these queries.

In the mean time, if you would like to give Virtual Explorer a try, you can grab your 30-day copy here. Or if you want to purchase it because the problems do not affect you, you can get a license for $19.95 here.

Do you use Virtual Explorer? What has your experience been like?

Update: I just received an email from Anton Tomov of Wizcode and in it he describes how the Search function works (which I have updated in the section above). He also agrees with the What Can Be Improved section, saying that these bugs have already been noted by Wizcode and will be removed in the next version. Basically v1.30 stabilized the code and fixed many issues found in v1.20 and now that everything is stabilized, they can work on these issues and adding new features (like a recycle bin support for deleted registry keys). Very exciting indeed and I can’t wait for it

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