DirectoryMonitor

This single-function, free utility monitors changes to a directory or folder, performing its job in such a simple manner that you may end up wanting more features than it offers. DirectoryMonitor has a minimal interface--a small dialog box with an entry field, three buttons, and a color-filled rectangle--that's very intuitively designed, so the lack of a Help feature isn't a drawback. You just enter a directory and filename whose activity you want to watch, then click the Monitor button. The rectangle changes color whenever any changes occur to the specified folder: files added or deleted, file sizes changed, and so forth. We didn't like that the utility's interface displayed on top of active windows. When minimized, however, an alarm would sound, but the interface didn't pop up, nor did the minimized icon display any visual changes in the task bar. Further, it offered no logs for detailing what changes occurred to a directory or folder. DirectoryMonitor performed quickly and reliably in our tests, but most users will want a utility that's more feature-rich, so they will know not only what directory changed but how it changed.