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Aladdin Expander will watch that folder for any new compressed files and automatically expand them. Is that neat or what?
  technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

Aladdin Expander extracts Windows and Linux archives automatically


April 18, 2001


By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2001, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2001, The Syracuse Newspapers

   I'm a Windows and Linux kind of guy. But I'm a big fan of the Macintosh. I especially like the way Macs have always made things simple.
   Take downloading, for example. For years, Macintosh users have had a huge advantage over Windows users. Mac users who have a program called StuffIt don't have to do anything to turn downloads into regular files and folders. StuffIt does it all for them, automatically.
   A few weeks ago, after logging onto an ftp site and downloading more than 15,000 MOD audio files to a folder on my main Windows PC, I lamented the advantage Mac users have. On a Mac, I could have used StuffIt to watch over my download folder and automatically extract all the compressed MOD files as they came in.
   Bong! I suddenly had a flashback. I remembered that there was a version of StuffIt for Windows. I opened my Web browser, went to the world's greatest search site -- Google, of course -- and typed "StuffIt windows." (If you do this kind of searching, remember to leave off the quotation marks. I'm using them just to show you what I searched for.)
   Up popped a link to the Aladdin Systems Web site. No only did Aladdin have a version of StuffIt for Windows. It had a FREE version. The one that's free does expansion, not compression. But that was just what I wanted. I have my own file-and-folder compression utilities, and they do a fine job creating ZIP files. But nothing in my arsenal of file-extraction programs would automatically extract the contents of ZIP files as they arrive, the way I could do on a Mac.
   So as soon as I saw that Aladdin Systems had a version of StuffIt for Windows (as well as Linux and, of course, the Mac), I downloaded it -- I got it from http://www.stuffit.com/win/expander/ -- hoping it would do the same thing as the Mac version. I installed the program, called Aladdin Expander, and double clicked on the icon it put on my desktop.
   No face could have been so sullen and dejected as mine. The menu was a simple one, without the added treat I was looking for. Just before I was about to give up, I noticed a button named "More" in the little window. It was the secret door to the real power of StuffIt.
   If you do as I recommend and install StuffIt, the greatest favor you can do for yourself is to click that little button. You'll find it this way: Open the "View" menu, then the "Options" menu. The click "More."
   Doing this reveals what Aladdin Systems apparently considers a group of secondary functions. One is called "Watch." It's exactly what I was hoping I'd find, and it's what makes Aladdin's StuffIt so special.
   Under "Watch," you can specify a folder that Aladdin Expander will keep track of. Ideally, you choose the folder where your downloads go.
   (If you don't have a download folder, make one. Create a folder in the main area, or "root," of the C: drive -- or the D: drive if you have two main drives -- and call it "Downloads." The next time you download a file, make sure you RIGHT CLICK on the link so you can choose where the file goes, and navigate to the Download folder and choose it as the location. It will become the default location.)
   Aladdin Expander will watch that folder for any new compressed files and automatically expand them. Is that neat or what?
   Normally, it checks every 10 minutes, but if you have a fast computer -- 266 MHZ or higher -- you can set Expander to check the folder more often than that. I've set mine to check once a minute without seeing any slowdown.
   Aladdin Expander, like any other Windows program, uses resources, so you might want to be cautious if your PC is running a version of Windows that has the crippling resource-memory flaw (Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows Me). If you have one of those versions of Windows, run Aladdin Expander only when you are about to download files.
   If your PC is running Windows 2000, Windows NT or Windows XP, the versions of Windows that don't have the resource-memory flaw, you can put Aladdin Expander in the Startup folder (it's in the Start Menu, under Programs) and run it all the time.
   In either case, be sure you use a shortcut that automatically minimizes Aladdin Expander to keep it out of the way. Create a shortcut, then right click the shortcut icon and click "Properties." You'll see how you can run it minimized as one of the options.