For all practical purposes, NO. Nothing said in this thread would even imply that. The determination of folder size is complex, just about everything else is trivial in comparison. And this calculation is only done when the display is initially created and when it is updated, which in most cases is never.so, I am thinking a computer would be faster if one disables ALL columns save the file/folder name?
Having a global folder size function on all the time is not a good idea (as discussed in this topic) and W Explorer simply decides to not offer that possibility at all. Freecommander has it off by default, but can be turned on whenever needed, then click it off after one has seen the needed info. Btw, getting lots of folder sizes listed is (obviously) very fast on my SSD's, and sloooow++ on the HD's.
One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet in this thread is that the folder size numbers are only an approximation. The total space consumed on an entire drive can be determined exactly and without confusion (at least not much). But things get complicated when you ask for the space consumed by an individual folder, or even a single file. It is not that Windows is buggy but that the question can be answered in many different ways and there is no clear consensus as to which one is correct. Many factors must be considered and the answers are often arbitrary.
Just one example:
Do you use the compressed or uncompressed size of a file? I don't believe that Windows uses compression by default anymore but many people do.
If you want to know the space consumed by a folder in it's present location you want the compressed size. But if you want to know how much space it will consume on a drive that does not support compression then you want the uncompressed size. The difference can be substantial.
And that is only the beginning.
See this article for more information. It is by Raymond Chen, a developer with Microsoft since at least Windows 95.
Computing the size of a directory is more than just adding file sizes - The Old New Thing - Site Home - MSDN Blogs
Once again you give us the goods with a lucidity that overcomes my inexperience and I greatly appreciate that. Your explanation makes perfect sense and your references cast it in stone. Thank-you LMiller7.
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