What is CopyDoubler?

Sometimes all it takes to impress a jaded software reviewer is a smart utility that does one or two simple things extremely well. Case in point: CopyDoubler 2.0.1, from Fifth Generation Systems.

CopyDoubler has one main function: to copy and delete files faster than the System 7 Finder can do it. In our tests, CopyDoubler succeeded admirably at this goal, consistently performing at about twice the pace of the Finder. Other shareware and commercial programs perform similar feats, but none do it as simply or as transparently as CopyDoubler. No applications to launch, no need to patch any code in the System or Finder files — just drop the CopyDoubler control panel into the System Folder, and restart. The next time you try to copy or delete a file from the Finder, CopyDoubler will intercept the call. CopyDoubler can work in the background and even lets you select further copy jobs while one is still in progress.

If you try to replace a file-filled folder with an identically named folder from another disk, you meet CopyDoubler's most outstanding feature: Fast Replace. With this option, CopyDoubler saves time by copying only those files that differ from the versions already on the destination disk. This feature, along with CopyDoubler's ability to defer a copy request, lets you use CopyDoubler as a no-frills incremenatal -backup utility.

Our only problem with CopyDoubler was its somewhat erratic behavior during whole-disk copying (the dragging of one floppy disk's icon over another to copy files from disk to disk). When you do this in the Finder, all the files on the destination disk are deleted before the new files are copied onto it. In contrast. CopyDoubler sometimes added the new files to the ones already there. Other times, the utility deleted only some of the destination-disk files. Once, it refused to copy at all. Although version 2.0.1 is better at making whole-disk copies than version 2.0 (which had a bug that could cause files on your hard disk to be erased during this operation), you may want to wait for the next incremental release, which Fifth Generation says will fix the bugs in whole-disk copying.

Apple may someday improve the Finder's speed, but don't hold your breath waiting. In the meantime, using CopyDoubler is a great way to give your Finder a much-needed boost.

Landau, Ted. (January 1994). Quick Clicks. MacUser. (pg. 71).

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Fifth Generation Systems, who initially developed CopyDoubler, was purchased by Symantec Corporation in late 1993.

Download CopyDoubler for Mac

Architecture

Motorola 68K

Compatibility notes

Emulating this? It could probably run under: Basilisk II