Sonar is a security tool that provides real-time reporting of file changes on your hard drive. It is a useful diagnostic tool and an invaluable aid for anyone who is serious about computer security. Mere mortals may find Yank more suitable for their needs.
Sonar can be useful for several purposes:
* Monitor untrusted software with Sonar to ensure it is not installing spyware or other unauthorized files without your knowledge. Or use Yank with Sonar technology—to Create simple uninstaller files.
* Use Sonar to troubleshoot Spotlight-related slowdowns on your computer.
* Developers can use Sonar to monitor how frequently their software writes to the hard drive. Use this information to optimize your program’s hard drive usage.
More info
Sonar reports file system activity. It reports all changes. It does not report reading activity. Sonar cannot prevent disk activity. It only can report it. However, you can use the information reported by Sonar to delete files you don’t want on your hard drive.
Sonar requires OS X 10.4, known as Tiger. Sonar uses the same technology that underlies Tiger’s Spotlight feature. However, Sonar does not use Spotlight itself and does not interfere with Spotlight in any way. Sonar is distributed with the free open-source program Sandal.
Sonar 2.0 is a utility that displays real-time information about changes made to a user’s hard drive. It is useful in monitoring untrusted applications downloaded from the internet and for debugging system slow-downs caused by runaway applications that write too frequently to the disk.
