Ghost Hunter is an application designed to allow you to easily delete invisible files and make files and folders invisible or visible on your computer. Ghost Hunter will run on any computer running Mac OS 7.6.1 or higher. Why don't you start Ghost Hunter up and follow along in this reference, it's very straightforward!
What's New
If you’re previous user of Ghost Hunter we are happy to report that many new features and fixes have been made! A few things that should be mentioned are:
• Improved speed in browsing your hard drive(s)
• The ability to get information on folders and set them to visible or invisible
• A button in the main window that sets files from visible to invisible or invisible to visible
• New preferences
• Improved stability and a number of bug fixes
• We have changed parts of the interface so Ghost Hunter is easier to use
• The “kind” column now is smarter
• The icons that are used in the Finder are now used in Ghost Hunter
Reference Conventions
(figure 1) - represents what image to look at
"Up" - used to represent the title of a window, button or etc.
"Hard Drive:Utilities:" used to represent the location of something on your hard drive
[command-Q] - represents what keys to press to perform a action
Note: - used to insert additional information that may be useful
file box - the file box is the listbox in the main window that shows all of the files or folders
main window - the main window is the window in which all of your actions take place, such as deleting and navigating
The Basics
When you first start Ghost Hunter you will see a window that wants you to register, you can read more about registering in the chapter named "Registering". You can use Ghost Hunter up to thirty days and after that it stops functioning. For now you can just try the demo, if you want to try the demo click "Try It". Once inside Ghost Hunter you should see a main window like this (figure 1).
Note: The window may look different depending on your version of Mac OS.
Figure 1
At the top of the main window there are four buttons: "Up", "Root", "Refresh", "Delete" “Visible”. Each has a specific function that is described below:
Up - The "Up" button is used to move up in your hard drive's directory listing, or in other words it would take you from say "Hard Drive:Internet Apps:Utilities:" to "Hard Drive:Internet Apps:". There are a number of ways to use "Up": click the button, go to the file menu and select "Up" or use the keyboard shortcut [command-U]
Note: "Up" will be grayed if it is inapplicable
Root - The "Root" button takes you to your computer’s root directory, or in other words it shows all of the mounted volumes on you computer. When Ghost Hunter starts up you begin in the root directory with all the mounted volumes. It can be selected using its button or from the file menu or using the keyboard shortcut [command-B]
Note: "Root" will be grayed if you are already in the root directory
Refresh - The button "Refresh" is used to refresh the file box. For example if you’re in the root directory and you mount a volume and you want Ghost Hunter to see it. This command can be accessed using its button, through the file menu or using the keyboard shortcut [command-R]
Delete - The "Delete" button is used to delete the selected file or files in the file box. When "Delete" is selected it will display a dialog box asking if it should carry out the action (figure 2). This command can be selected using its button or the file menu or the keyboard shortcut [command-D].
Note: Files are sent to the trash, not directly deleted!
figure 2
Visible - The “Visible” button is used to quickly set files from visible to invisible or invisible to visible. When the button is raised like in (figure 1) it means the selected file is invisible. If the buttons is depressed then it means the file is visible. You can select multipule files and folders with this button to quickly change their visibility.
Note: If more then one file or folder is selected the buttons represents the visibility state of the first selected.
Also in the main window there are a few more objects...
Location Field - The "Location Field" displays where you currently are in your hard drive.
Note: If you are in the root directory it will display "Root:"
Progress Bar & Items Textbox - The "Progress Bar" moves when the computer is thinking, it's located below the file box. When the computer isn't thinking there is a textbox where the progress bar would be. It displays how many visible and invisible items there are in the current directory.
Balloon Picture - The "balloon picture" in the upper right hand corner is used to turn balloon help on and off. Almost every object in Ghost Hunter has balloon help so it can be very handy!
File Box - The file box is the listbox in the main window. The file box displays volumes, folders and files. If you double click a folder in the file box it will open that folder up displaying its contents. If you double click a file then it will open up a special window with information about that file. This is discussed more below. You can select items in the file box and perform actions on them like deleting them or getting information on the selected files. To select more than one file in the file box hold down the command key and click on all the files you would like to get information about or delete. Once you have all the files you want selected just use the command you would like.
Note: The file menu item "Open" does the same thing as double clicking in the file box, it is there so you can just use the [command-O] shortcut for quick navigation and ect.
Display Visible Files Checkbox - The visible files’ checkbox is to the right of the button "Refresh". When it is checked it will display visible files in the file box, when it is unchecked it will only display invisible files. This can be very useful when you want to make a visible file invisible,(this is discussed under the Advanced Features section)
Note: No matter what you do the file box will always display visible and invisible folders.
Advanced Features
Ghost Hunter includes a number of advanced features for power users. Including: keyboard shortcuts, file box sorting, and specific information on files.
File Box Sorting – Inside of the file box at the top there are number of columns. If you click one of the columns it will sort the files and folders by that category. For example if you click “Name” it will sort the files, folders and volumes in alphabetical order. Experiment with some sorting techniques, this can cut the time looking for files in half.
Moving Files - New to Ghost Hunter 1.6 is the ability to move files and folders. All you have to do is select the file(s) or folder(s) you would like to move, then choose the menu item “Move...”, select the destination and your done!
Quick Keys - A few keys have been added in Ghost Hunter to speed up your searching. You can press a letter and Ghost Hunter will move you to the first file it finds beginning with that letter. If you press the left arrow it will jump you from invisible folder to the next invisible folder. If you press the right arrow it will jump you from invisible file to the next invisible file. Finally, the up and down arrow keys can be used to navigate up and down in the file box.
File & Folder Information - If you use the "Info" [command-I] menu item or double click a file it will display a window with specific information on that file or folder (figure 3 - file information) (figure 4 - folder information). Also many file or folder information windows can be opened at once by selecting multiple files or folders and then selecting the "Info" menu item. The information presented in the file information window is so extensive we are going to devote an entire section to explaining it, see the following section. Also some attributes that will be on files will not be on folders, these instances will be noted.
Note: See the subsection titled "File Box" for more information on selecting multiple files.
Figure 3 - File Information
Figure 4 - Folder Information
File & Folder Information Window
After taking a look at (figure 3 & 4) please continue reading.
The title of every file information window is the name of the file it holds information to. Inside the file information window there is many individual elements which are described below.
Note: If you change a file that is currently opened in the file information window it will not be updated until you close the current window and open information on that file up again.
Balloon Picture - Just like in the main window there is a picture of a balloon that can be clicked to activate balloon help, once again balloon help can help you learn new features quickly.
File Name - The file name textbox displays just that, the file name.
File Size - The file size textbox displays the file size in either: bytes, kilobytes, or megabytes, depending on its size.
Note: This feature is not available when viewing information on folders
Date Created - The date created textbox displays the date the file was created.
Date Modified - The date modified textbox displays the date of the last modification of the file.
File Location - The file location textbox displays the file's current location.
Visible Checkbox - The visible checkbox displays the current visibility of the file, you can click the checkbox to make the file visible or invisible.
Creator Type - The creator type textbox displays the file's creator type.
Note: This feature is not available when viewing information on folders
File Type - The file type textbox displays the file type of the file.
Note: This feature is not available when viewing information on folders
File Creator - This is a special feature to Ghost Hunter. At the bottom of the file information window there is a textbox with the name of the application that created the file. If no creator applications were found it will display "No Applications Found".
Note: This feature is not always 100% correct, such as if there are two applications with the same creator type the results may not be correct. Also this feature is not available when viewing information on folders.
Preferences
New to Ghost Hunter 1.6 is preferences. The different options are:
Note: Balloon help in Ghost Hunter will display the same information.
Relative Dates - Select this option if you want Ghost Hunter to use dates such as, “Yesterday” or “Today” when needed.
Show Read-Only Volumes - Select this option if you want Ghost Hunter to show disks that are read-only in the file box.
Make the Main Window Fullscreen - If you want the Main Window to be fullscreen on startup select this option.
Show Icon Files - If you would like hidden files named “Icon” to be shown in the file box select this option.
“Show Visible Files” Checkbox Default - Select this option if you would like Ghost Hunter to display visible files by default.
Final Notes
• We hope you find many uses for Ghost Hunter! If at any time you become stuck please visit our website and support center at: http://www.mb-software.net or e-mail our support center at support@mb-software.net
Also you can check our website for future updates along with other software.
• If you have a feature request or bug report please contact us at: bug.reports@mb-software.net
• For registration and sales questions please contact: sales@mb-software.net For more information on registering please visit the Read Me named "Registration"
• For any other questions or comments please contact: monkeybread@mb-software.net
Once again, thanks for downloading Monkeybread Software!
