FileAtlas 1.4.4

[File-Maker]

FileAtlas 1.4.4 Release Description

FileAtlas 1.4.4 is a synchronization and reliability release on top of the 1.4.x FileAtlas foundation. It keeps the Windows 95-style native desktop experience, while tightening the two-way flow between FileAtlas Base and FAFS and making Analytics useful even while the daemon is still waking up.

Download

Installer:

FileAtlasSetup-1.4.4.exe

SHA-256:

74a298362c4dec23aa11d48753106cffe9ac942189a3f3f18a73d59a5a25612e

What Changed Since 1.0.0

1.4.4 Highlights

• FileAtlas Base now treats FAFS catalog data as the fast first answer, then performs a background catch-up scan when the catalog view is partial or shallow.
• Base scan results are submitted back into FAFS, with a retry if the daemon is still starting.
• FAFS clears its knowledge and Analytics summary caches when Base teaches it new scan data, so mapped-file counts do not stay stale.
• Base live refresh now handles FAFS service restarts where the event sequence resets, and it refreshes affected views directly after relevant FAFS events instead of suppressing updates behind a shallow signature check.
• Base retries FAFS startup status a few times before warning, so slower daemon startup no longer immediately looks like failure.
• FAFS launch checks now ignore stale dead-process status/PID markers instead of trusting old status.json files.
• FileAtlas Analytics merges live status with a direct local .faidx catalog snapshot, so mapped files, explored records, bytes, hash coverage, and parity coverage do not show as zero just because /status is slow.
• Analytics has a direct local history fallback for 1-hour, 24-hour, custom, and longer user-activity summaries while the daemon endpoint is starting.
• Dark, light, and native theme selection is now shared across Base, Analytics, and Dev through the same local FileAtlas settings file.
• Analytics FAFS Settings can change the shared theme, and Dev includes a shared theme selector for local debugging.
• The packaged FAFS executable remains a separate lightweight entrypoint; the public app version is 1.4.4 while the internal FAFS file-format version remains stable to avoid needless data retrofits.

1.4.3 Highlights

• FileAtlas Base now tells FAFS which folder the user opened, so visible/interactive folders jump ahead of background catalog work.
• Drive tiles regained classic raised 3D edges while keeping solid FileAtlas drive colors and no free-space gray split.
• FileAtlas Dev now uses the shared FileAtlas ICO and a smaller in-window FileAtlas mark.
• FileAtlas Analytics keeps the header as FileAtlas FileSystem - FAFS and refreshes metrics in place instead of repeatedly showing startup/on messages.
• FAFS health checks are lightweight; heavier knowledge, parity, settings, and filetype totals are reserved for the detailed status endpoint used by Analytics.
• FAFS now streams large catalog and analytics reads in batches rather than materializing very large result sets in memory.
• FAFS accepts existing catalog data at startup and defers retrofit, snapshot, reconcile, and deep catalog jobs so an existing catalog does not make startup slower over time.
• Duplicate FAFS launches and locked-catalog startup races back off quietly instead of surfacing Windows script errors.

FileAtlas Base

• Refresh now preserves the current search/filter text.
• Mouse-wheel zoom enlarges and shrinks treemap boxes without entering or leaving folders.
• Middle-click goes back to the previous folder.
• Delete key moves the current cleanup queue to the Recycle Bin.
• Added cleanup queue support for reviewing and deleting multiple selected items together.
• Added size filters for finding very large or very small items.
• Improved zoom/pan behavior for tiny treemap boxes.
• Added dark, light, and native theme modes.
• Added settings and help surfaces.
• Added duplicate-file marking.
• Added stronger delete protections for drive roots, Windows folders, FileAtlas data, and high-risk Program Files areas.
• Base now uses FAFS catalog data when available and sends newly scanned information back to FAFS so known areas do not need to be rediscovered forever.

FAFS

• Added FileAtlas FileSystem, the local FAFS daemon.
• FAFS starts automatically with FileAtlas Base and supports FileAtlas Analytics.
• Split FAFS into its own packaged executable so it no longer carries the heavier Base UI bundle.
• Added local filesystem event tracking for creates, deletes, renames, moves, and Recycle Bin activity.
• Added startup reconciliation so changes that happened while FileAtlas was closed are recorded at the next session start.
• Added event classification into user, system, noise, and unknown-style activity streams.
• Added event coalescing so repeated background writes are grouped instead of flooding Analytics.
• Added local .falog timestamped event segments.
• Added local .fasnap catalog snapshots.
• Added a SQL-compatible .faidx FileAtlas catalog index and moved the live catalog under FAFS internal storage.
• Added .faconfig, .farm, .fapar, .fasec, and .fachk internal files so settings, recovery metadata, parity metadata, safety policy, and checkpoints are readable by newer FileAtlas tools.
• Added startup migration and cleanup so older local SQLite history/catalog/recovery records are copied into FileAtlas internal storage and old visible catalog files are removed when possible.
• Added lazy erasure/parity metadata generation for future recovery tools. FAFS does not recover files by itself.
• Added priority-folder recovery policy so users can keep recovery/parity work focused on chosen directories while normal history remains available.
• Added local catalog learning APIs so Base, Analytics, Dev, and future FileAtlas tools can share the same machine memory.
• Added test/debug controls so development checks can run without accidentally launching the full user-facing stack.
• Added performance policy settings so FAFS can throttle heavy catalog, hash, and parity work around CPU/disk targets and idle behavior.
• Hardened daemon startup with a raw Windows lock file and safer status writes so duplicate FAFS launches exit quietly instead of showing database-lock popups.

FileAtlas Analytics

• Added FileAtlas Analytics as a tray/dashboard app.
• Added 1-hour, 24-hour, 7-day, 30-day, 1-year, and custom date/time range views.
• Analytics now displays storage added, cleaned up, net change, change counts, Recycle Bin activity, drive/folder drill-downs, and recent activity.
• Fixed history calculations so longer windows are timestamp-based rather than only showing the newest events.
• Analytics refreshes storage history in the background so the dashboard stays responsive while FAFS is cataloging.
• Added FAFS Settings inside Analytics with General, Performance, Protection, Priorities, Storage, and Advanced pages.
• Added priority-folder entry, priority-only recovery mode, cache compaction, memory-cache clearing, snapshot clearing, and recovery-metadata cleanup controls.
• Analytics now reads indexed FAFS history columns with a short summary cache instead of parsing every event payload on each refresh.
• Analytics now reads cached FAFS storage/filetype totals instead of walking internal folders from the UI thread.
• Analytics opens from the existing tray instance instead of creating duplicate tray copies.
• Analytics uses the FileAtlas icon and shared FileAtlas app identity.

FileAtlas Dev

• Added FileAtlas Dev as an optional password-protected local diagnostic tool.
• Dev can inspect FAFS health, process usage, database counts, internal files, recent history checks, and debug reports.
• Dev can open and inspect FAFS filetypes including .faidx, .falog, .fasnap, .farm, .fapar, .faconfig, .fasec, .fachk, and .fadev.
• Dev can save local .fadev debug reports.
• Dev requires the developer password during installation and requires the same password again when the app is opened.
• Fixed the Dev startup crash caused by an invalid Tk padding value.
• Dev now uses the shared FileAtlas icon and includes a larger FileAtlas brand mark in the window.
• Dev now reports FileAtlas filetype counts and the latest retrofit status.

Installer And Packaging

• Installer version is now 1.4.4.
• The installer ships FileAtlas Base, FileAtlasFAFS, and FileAtlas Analytics by default.
• FileAtlas Dev is an optional installer checkbox and is only installed when the developer password is entered.
• Reinstalling over an existing FileAtlas install stops old FileAtlas processes before replacing files.
• The installer includes Start Menu entries for Base, Analytics, Uninstall, and the project website. The Dev shortcut is added only when Dev is installed.
• When desktop shortcuts are selected, Analytics gets a desktop shortcut and Dev gets one only if Dev is installed.
• The post-install launch target was tested so FileAtlas Base stays open and starts FAFS.
• FAFS startup now uses a launch guard, raw daemon lock, and unique retrying status-file writes to avoid duplicate-start races on Windows.
• FileAtlas shortcuts share the same Windows app identity so FileAtlas windows group together more cleanly.
• The All Drives view uses solid classic blue drive tiles without free-space gray splits.
• The All Drives background now follows the light/native surface instead of turning black.
• Drive tiles keep solid FileAtlas colors and now use classic raised edges so the drive rectangles feel clickable again.

Notes

FileAtlas remains local-only. It does not upload files, filenames, scan results, analytics, hashes, or debug reports.

Unsigned installers may show a Windows SmartScreen warning. FileAtlas is not code-signed yet because code-signing certificates are expensive.

Use FileAtlas responsibly. Delete actions use the Windows Recycle Bin when possible, but files can still become unrecoverable if the Recycle Bin is emptied later.

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This discussion was created from the release FileAtlas 1.4.4.