Ghost Hunter is an application designed to allow you to easily delete invisible files on your computer. Ghost Hunter will run on any computer running Mac OS 7.6.1 or higher. Why don't you start Ghost Hunter up and follow along in this reference, it's very straightforward!
Reference Conventions
(figure 1) - represents what image to look at
"Up" - used to represent the title of a window, button or etc.
"Hard Drive:Utilities:" used to represent the location of something on your hard drive
[command-Q] - represents what keys to press to perform a action
Note: - used to insert additional information that may be useful
file box - the file box is the listbox in the main window that shows all of the files or folders
main window - the main window is the window in which all of your actions take place, such as deleting and navigating
The Basics
When you first start Ghost Hunter you will see a window that wants you to register, you can read more about registering in the chapter named "Registering". You can use Ghost Hunter up to thirty days and after that it stops functioning. For now you can just try the demo, if you want to try the demo click "Try It". Once inside Ghost Hunter you should see a main window like this (figure 1).
Note: The window may look different depending on your version of Mac OS.
Figure 1
At the top of the main window there are four buttons: "Up", "Root", "Refresh" and "Delete". Each has a specific function that is described below:
Up - The "Up" button is used to move up in your hard drive's directory listing, or in other words it would take you from say "Hard Drive:Internet Apps:Utilities:" to "Hard Drive:Internet Apps:". There are a number of ways to use "Up", click the button, go to the file menu and select "Up" or use the keyboard shortcut [command-U]
Note: "Up" will be grayed if it is inapplicable
Root - The "Root" button takes you to your computers root directory, or in other words it shows all of the mounted volumes on you computer. When Ghost Hunter starts up you begin in the root directory with all the mounted volumes. It can be selected using its button or from the file menu or using the keyboard shortcut [command-B]
Note: "Root" will be grayed if you are already in the root directory
Refresh - The button "Refresh" is used to refresh the file box. For example if your in the root directory and you mount a volume and you want Ghost Hunter to see it. This command can be accessed using its button, through the file menu or using the keyboard shortcut [command-R]
Delete - The "Delete" button is used to delete the selected file or files in the file box. When "Delete" is selected it will display a dialog box asking if it should carry out the action (figure 2). This command can be selected using its button or the file menu or the keyboard shortcut [command-D].
Note: Files are sent to the trash, not directly deleted!
Figure 2
Also in the main window there are a few more objects...
Location Field - The "Location Field" displays where you currently are in your hard drive.
Note: If you are in the root directory it will display "Root:"
Progress Bar & Items Textbox - The "Progress Bar" moves when the computer is thinking, it's located below the file box. When the computer isn't thinking there is a textbox where the progress bar would be, it displays how many visible and invisible items there are in the current directory.
Balloon Picture - The "balloon picture" in the upper right hand corner is used to turn balloon help on and off. Almost every object in Ghost Hunter has balloon help so it can be very handy!
File Box - The file box is the listbox in the main window. The file box displays volumes, folders and files. If you double click a folder in the file box it will open that folder up displaying its contents. If you double click a file then it will open up a special window with information about that file (this is discussed more below). You can select items in the file box and perform actions on them like deleting them or getting information on the selected files. To select more than one file in the file box hold down the command key and click on all the files you would like to get information about or delete. Once you have all the files you want selected just use the command you would like.
Note: The file menu item "Open" does the same thing as double clicking in the file box, it is there so you can just use the [command-O] shortcut for quick navigation and ect.
Display Visible Files Checkbox - The visible file's checkbox is to the right of the button "Refresh". When it is checked it will display visible files in the file box, when it is unchecked it will only display invisible files. This can be very useful when you want to make a visible file invisible, (this is discussed under the Advanced Features section)
Note: No matter what you do the file box will always display visible and invisible folders.
Advanced Features
Ghost Hunter includes a number of advanced features for power users. Including: keyboard shortcuts, file box sorting, and specific information on files.
File Box Sorting – Inside of the file box at the top there is a number of columns, (figure 3). If you click one of the columns it will sort the files and folders by that category. For example if you click “Name” it will sort the files, folders and volumes in alphabetical order. Experiment with some sorting techniques, this can cut the time looking for files in half.
Figure 3
File Information - If you use the open menu item or double click a file it will display a window with specific information on that file (figure 4). Also many file information windows can be opened at once by selecting multiple files and then selecting the open menu item. The information presented in the file information window is so extensive we are going to devote an entire section to explaining it, see the following section.
Note: See the subsection titled "File Box" for more information on selecting multiple files.
Figure 4
File Information Window
After taking a look at (figure 4) please continue reading.
The title of every file information window is the name of the file it holds information to. Inside the file information window there is many individual elements which are described below.
Note: If you change a file that is currently opened in the file information window it will not be updated until you close the current window and open information on that file up again.
Balloon Picture - Just like in the main window there is a picture of a balloon that can be clicked to activate balloon help, once again balloon help can help you learn new features quickly.
File Name - The file name textbox displays just that, the file name.
File Size - The file size textbox displays the file size in either: bytes, kilobytes, or megabytes, depending on its size.
Date Created - The date created textbox displays the date the file was created.
Date Modified - The date modified textbox displays the date of the last modification of the file.
File Location - The file location textbox displays the file's current location.
Visible Checkbox - The visible checkbox displays the current visibility of the file, you can click the checkbox to make the file visible or invisible.
Creator Type - The creator type textbox displays the file's creator type.
File Type - The file type textbox displays the file type of the file.
File Creator - This is a special feature to Ghost Hunter. At the bottom of the file information window there is a textbox with the name of the application that created the file. If no creator applications were found it will display "No Applications Found".
Note: This feature is not always 100% correct, such as if there is two applications with the same creator type the results may not be correct.
Final Notes
•We hope you find many uses for Ghost Hunter! If at any time you become stuck please visit our website and support center at: http://www.mb-software.net or e-mail our support center at support@mb-software.net
Also you can check our website for future updates along with other software.
•If you have a feature request or bug report please contact us at: bug.reports@mb-software.net
•For registration and sales question please contact: sales@mb-software.net For more information on registering please visit the Read Me named "Registration"
•For any other questions or comments please contact: monkeybread@mb-software.net
Once again, thanks for downloading Monkeybread Software!
