Author Topic: Portable alternative for Cathy (cataloging freeware) that runs on Win7 64 bit? (Read 53,665 times)

zzynx · « **on:** October 12, 2012, 10:07 AM »

Until now, I used the freeware program "Cathy" to catalog my quite huge music library.
It is small (50Kb), portable, lightening fast in cataloging ànd searching the catalogs and produces one file per catalog.
This way I could take my searchable music librabry on a USB stick.

Recently I switched to Windows 7 64-bit and found out Cathy doesn't run on it.

Does anyone has a good alternative cataloging freeware?
It should be:
1) portable (so I can "install" it on a USB stick or in my Dropbox folder)
2) fast (or very fast) when cataloging and searching
3) the catalog should be searchable (of course) easily

It should be something like "Everything" (www.voidtools.com) but then not rescanning the disks every time you start it up,
but remembering the results of its previous scan(s) and work with that until I ask it to rescan the specific drives/folders again.

I'm aware of Gentibus CD, Visual CD and DiscLib. None of them fit the three rules above.
Any other suggestions?

ewemoa · « **Reply #1 on:** October 12, 2012, 12:30 PM »

I recently started using Virtual Volumes View.

I'm using a portable version (see links under News section at: http://vvvapp.sourceforge.net/download.html).

I don't have enough experience to speak about your points 2 and 3 though.

zzynx · « **Reply #2 on:** October 12, 2012, 12:43 PM »

Right. I forgot to mention that one (VVV)

I recently tried VVV, but imo it definitely fails on point 2) (in comparison with the speed I was used to using Cathy)

Moreover, updating a catalog also isn't that user friendly, since you always have to respecify the path.
I contacted the developer about that, but he answered that the main goal of VVV was cataloging disks (CD, DVD) which always are in your CD drive and hence remembering the path per catalog is not needed;
Only the last path.
So, I continued my search for a Cathy alternative.

Nevertheless, thanks for trying to help.

PS.
Currently I'm trying/testing "Index Your Files" (http://www.indexyourfiles.com/)
So far, it looks promising.

Ath · « **Reply #3 on:** October 12, 2012, 02:09 PM »

Quote from: zzynx on October 12, 2012, 10:07 AM

Recently I switched to Windows 7 64-bit and found out Cathy doesn't run on it.

What's not working about Cathy, in your situation? 99.9% of 32 bit apps work flawlessly on x64 Windows systems, but I haven't checked the details, so it could be a 16 bit app, and that's definitely not going to work on x64.

zzynx · « **Reply #4 on:** October 12, 2012, 02:26 PM »

Cathy starts up but it shows an "empty document" interface.
And you can't do anything with it; like creating new catalogs.
It also doesn't show my already created catalogs.
So pretty useless.

Ath · « **Reply #5 on:** October 12, 2012, 02:31 PM »

It's working as expected, on my x64 Win7 system, but I'm running with UAC turned off

, and have explicitly not installed into Program Files, ofcourse. The catalog is saved to disk, and after I close and re-open, it's still working

zzynx · « **Reply #6 on:** October 12, 2012, 02:46 PM »

Really? I wish I could say the same.

- I don't get any UAC notification when I run Cathy. (So turning off the warnings won't make any difference I suppose)
- On my machine Cathy is located in this directory: c:\gd\Dropbox\Tools\Cathy\ (and I also tried other directories)
- This is what I get when running Cathy:

tomos · « **Reply #7 on:** October 12, 2012, 02:51 PM »

I've hardly used this app, but this info might help.
I have two catalogs, both were created a year before I upgraded to a windows 7 machine. They are both of (some of) the contents of a USB stick - I cant guarantee exactly under what OS they were made. Possibly Cathy was on the USB stick as well (it's now in my portable 'install' folder)

But the point is that I can read both of them no problem...

Win 7, 64 bit
UAC on highest level
Cathy in my portable 'install' folder on C drive

[attachthumb=#]

wraith808 · « **Reply #8 on:** October 12, 2012, 04:44 PM »

you could also try the compatibility mode settings

wraith808 · « **Reply #9 on:** October 12, 2012, 05:40 PM »

And TechSupportAlert has a list of several of them: http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/best-free-file-disk-catalog-organizer.htm

zzynx · « **Reply #10 on:** October 12, 2012, 07:50 PM »

Well guys, you make me jealous

in being able to run Cathy on x64 Win 7.
I can't. Even with compatibility mode on.
I'm running win7 professional edition.

@wraith808
I know techsupportalert and saw their list. As I said, none of those apply.

Ath · « **Reply #11 on:** October 12, 2012, 08:16 PM »

Quote from: zzynx on October 12, 2012, 07:50 PM

in being able to run Cathy on x64 Win 7.
I can't. Even with compatibility mode on.

Got any specific AV or anti-spam software running? It might be interfering with Cathy.

zzynx · « **Reply #12 on:** October 13, 2012, 12:46 PM »

Quote

Got any specific AV or anti-spam software running?

Nothing that I previously hadn't running on my x32 Win7 machine. On which I could run Cathy smoothly.

DerekHal · « **Reply #13 on:** October 13, 2012, 02:28 PM »

I downloaded and started it. No problem.

Are you using the latest version (ver 2.28.3)?

Under the top menu, you should have three tabs: Search | Directory | Catalog.

MerleOne · « **Reply #14 on:** October 13, 2012, 04:48 PM »

Hey, do you launch Cathy from Windows 7 from the icon on the Desktop or using a launcher like RecentX ? It only runs fine on my Win7x64 when I launch it from the Desktop icon.

zzynx · « **Reply #15 on:** October 13, 2012, 06:15 PM »

@DerekHal

Quote

Are you using the latest version (ver 2.28.3)?

Yes, I am.

Quote

Under the top menu, you should have three tabs: Search | Directory | Catalog.

I know I should have that. But that's exactly my problem. And why I can't use Cathy.

@MerleOne

Quote

Hey, do you launch Cathy from Windows 7 from the icon on the Desktop or using a launcher like RecentX ?

I launch Cathy with a launcher (Executor). But double-clicking it in Windows Explorer or starting it via a link on the desktop doesn't help.

Quote

It only runs fine on my Win7x64 when I launch it from the Desktop icon.

That is strange. How did you create that desktop icon then? I did via drag and drop and holding the Ctrl-Shft keys.
If you don't start it via your desktop icon what do you see then?
Does it start or not? If it does, does it look like my screenshot?

Thanks to everyone so far trying to help me!

Curt · « **Reply #16 on:** October 13, 2012, 06:39 PM »

Cathy runs fine on my 64-bits Win 7.

Maybe you should delete both the folder and the shortcut,
and begin all over from a different location?

MerleOne · « **Reply #17 on:** October 13, 2012, 07:44 PM »

Quote from: zzynx on October 13, 2012, 06:15 PM

@MerleOne
I launch Cathy with a launcher (Executor). But double-clicking it in Windows Explorer or starting it via a link on the desktop doesn't help.

Quote
It only runs fine on my Win7x64 when I launch it from the Desktop icon.

That is strange. How did you create that desktop icon then? I did via drag and drop and holding the Ctrl-Shft keys.
If you don't start it via your desktop icon what do you see then?
Does it start or not? If it does, does it look like my screenshot?

Hi. I have installed Cathy on a data disk, D:, in D:\Tools\, then I right-clicked on Cathy.exe and chose send to DEsktop (create a shortcut to the desktop). When I launch it with RecentX, the existing catalogs are not found, because the current directory is not Cathy.exe's, but RecentX's. And no, it's not like your screen capture.

zzynx · « **Reply #18 on:** October 13, 2012, 09:07 PM »

Quote

Maybe you should delete both the folder and the shortcut,
and begin all over from a different location?

Done that. No success.

Quote

Hi. I have installed Cathy on a data disk, D:, in D:\Tools\, then I right-clicked on Cathy.exe and chose send to DEsktop (create a shortcut to the desktop).

Tried that. No success.
I also tried, right-click and "Run as Administrator". No success.

Cathy always starts up without any tabs.

This drives me crazy...

ewemoa · « **Reply #19 on:** October 14, 2012, 01:07 AM »

Have you tried making a new user account and testing from there?

For reference, the following is what I get when I start the application (2.28.3) up for the first time using Windows 7 Professional 64-bit:

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #20 on:** October 14, 2012, 03:07 PM »

(Win7 x64 here also) Holy crap! That thing is fast!

No compatability mode settings required to run, however if dropping Cathy on the C: drive the default NTFS permissions may be giving you problems. Make sure the Users group has Read/Write/Modify permissions for the folder Cathy runs in and it should work.

Also make sure the shortcut you launch it from has the correct path in the "Start in" target.

Just thinkin' out loud,

Stoic Joker

zzynx · « **Reply #21 on:** October 15, 2012, 07:19 AM »

Quote

Make sure the Users group has Read/Write/Modify permissions for the folder Cathy runs in and it should work.

I know it should, but it doesn't. With all correct permissions.

Quote

Also make sure the shortcut you launch it from has the correct path in the "Start in" target

That's all OK.

Quote

Have you tried making a new user account and testing from there?

I have tried that and guess what: Cathy works as expected for that new user account. (location= C:\tools\catalog\cathy)
Of course that is no workable solution...

It proves - once again - that Cathy can work under Win7 x64 without problems.

Now, what does that mean?
And how could I make Cathy work under my own account?

wraith808 · « **Reply #22 on:** October 15, 2012, 02:12 PM »

Quote from: zzynx on October 15, 2012, 07:19 AM

Quote
Have you tried making a new user account and testing from there?
I have tried that and guess what: Cathy works as expected for that new user account. (location= C:\tools\catalog\cathy)
Of course that is no workable solution...

It proves - once again - that Cathy can work under Win7 x64 without problems.

Now, what does that mean?
And how could I make Cathy work under my own account?

That does seem to point to permissions problems. Does Cathy only write to the local folder? Is there possibly another folder that you don't have access to? I'd think not... just going over the possible problems. If not, though, I'd suggest checking the security for the folder Cathy is running in, and set specific permissions for your user on that folder rather than depending on the default user permissions. Also check to make sure what groups your user is in to make sure that your user groups are what you think they should be.

zzynx · « **Reply #23 on:** October 15, 2012, 03:04 PM »

Quote

Does Cathy only write to the local folder?

I would think so, since it is portable.

Quote

I'd suggest checking the security for the folder Cathy is running in, and set specific permissions for your user on that folder rather than depending on the default user permissions.

My account belongs to the Administrators group.
Nevertheless, I added my specific account and give it "Full Control" rights on my directory C:\tools\catalog\cathy.

The problem persists...

wraith808 · « **Reply #24 on:** October 15, 2012, 03:45 PM »

Quote from: zzynx on October 15, 2012, 03:04 PM

Quote
Does Cathy only write to the local folder?
I would think so, since it is portable.

Portable only means that it doesn't need a specific location present at run time, not that it doesn't use another location temporarily. It's just that if it works for a different user, it seems that permissions is the right path to go down.