By "file management", one usually means the more administrative file tasks, such as copying, moving, or renaming files (or groups of files), finding them and sorting them based on certain criteria, etc. And in "the internet age", you'd want to include FTP support, to boot.

NT's Explorer is much more of a file browser and launcher than a "file manager", and while you can use the command line for file management when Explorer won't do the trick, it usually involves using arcane commands and batch files. But come on: Explorer doesn't even let you sort files by some of the file attributes! aargh!

So you might really want to look at a replacement file manager. I've always liked Symantec's Norton's File Manager, which was part of Norton NT Tools 1.0. It has the best sorting capabilities I've ever seen for an NT file manager; views FTP sites as if they were network drives; compares files and directories; provides file encryption tools, and so forth.

The cons: it's not overly fast; the file viewing isn't spectacular; and neither the shortcuts menu items nor the files themselves sport the icons we're all used to by now. Oh, and Symantec no longer sells it.

Updated: you can buy Norton NT Tools 1.0, and get support for it, from Sunbelt Software.

Other [shareware] replacement file managers include:

• Drag and File,
• PowerDesk '98, and
• Turbo Browser 98.

Of course, you may be happy with Explorer except for one or two things, and you might be more interested in a program that "complements" Explorer instead of replaces it.

For example:

• batch file renamers, such as Autorename or Batchname
  
• duplicate file finders, such as Clone Master (and which are usually found in "disk cleanup" utilities -- see sidebar).
  
• file/directory comparison tools, such as Beyond Compare or FileSync
  
• FTP clients, such as FTP Voyager, or Internet Neighborhood (an Explorer add-on).
  
• touch utilities (to change the time/date stamp), such as the freeware Chgname, Filo, or File Attribute Manager
  
• various shell extensions, such as Thunder Tools, which add file management utilities (and more) to Explorer and/or the system tray.
  

There a many tools in every category (and some which span categories). A good source for searching is WinFiles site which tries to super-categorize these tools for easy browsing.

Try one of the products that helps you "clean up" your hard disks: you'll usually find they can sort files many various ways (ie, by Create Date and/or Last Accessed), find duplicate files, compare files, and other important file management tasks.

CleanSweep Deluxe, the commercial product by Quarterdeck, can also help you move entire applications to another directory (ie, without breaking links) or to other media.

Shareware Disk Scrubbers

More Space 95
Space Explorer
Space Hound 32