Table of Contents

Maintaining the version list

The first time you run the program, your version database will be empty and you will be asked if you would like to scan disks and build the database at this time. Click the "Scan Disks" button to build your initial version database.

Version Finder keeps track of the version numbers of all your Applications on all your disks, and of your System Extensions and Control Panels on your system (boot) disk. The list is updated when a disk scan is performed. You have the option of performing the disk scan manually, which means that you choose the "Scan Disks" item from the File menu to update the list. You can also perform updates of the list automatically. There are three automatic frequency options: Monthly, every three months, and always. The options are chosen in the Preferences dialog, which can be displayed by choosing "Preferences" from the File menu.

When programs are removed from your disks or moved to different locations, the item in the Version Finder list referring to that item becomes invalid and will be displayed in italics. When you start to notice items in italics or you have recently made significant changes to your disks, you may which to re-scan your disks to update the version database.

The version number displayed in the list is always current. This is because the program actually looks up the version number before displaying the value in the list. If an item does not have a version number, then the word "none" is displayed.

Manual Scan Only
Using this option, disk scans do not take place automatically and must be performed by choosing the "Scan Disks" item from the File menu. This option is the default behavior.

Monthly Automatic Scan
If at least 30 days have passed since the last disk scan, Version Finder will initiate a scan automatically the next time you use the program. If you use the three months option, then the scan will take place after approximately 90 days has passed since the previous disk scan.

Always Automatic Scan
Version Finder will scan all of your disk for changes, additions, and deletions of programs, extensions, and control panels each and every time it is run. Since scanning takes place in the background, you can still search the list or otherwise use your Macintosh for other purposes. This disk scan does not take very long and varies depending on the speed of your machine and the size and number of disks to scan.