— 4 min read
Media Cataloger and the other disk catalogs
Find a file on a disk that is unplugged. What Media Cataloger does, next to WinCatalog, NeoFinder, DiskCatalogMaker, and VVV. Reviewed 29 September 2026.
Media Cataloger keeps the list of your disks on your computer, so you can browse them after they go back in the drawer. The name stays Media Cataloger.
This page starts from an older comparison, reviewed on 29 September 2026. Several cells changed. Prices for the other tools are what their sites showed that day, when the page was open. The rest is a landmark, not a lab test.
What Media Cataloger does
- Browse a disk that is back in the drawer.
- Search for a file by name, and a photo by its date or by the camera.
- See what uses space, the copies, and the files that exist on only one disk.
- Keep a small picture of photos, and suggest labels from the picture.
- Read the disks of another computer you connect.
- Show the interface in French.
- Run on Mac, Windows, and Linux.
Phones are not part of this offer. The product reads the date and the camera of photos, so you can find them. It does not read the place, or the title and artist of songs. Today the free download is limited to one disk. On 15 October 2026 the price is published with the download. Media Cataloger 2.
The same job, elsewhere
| Media Cataloger | WinCatalog | NeoFinder | DiskCatalogMaker | VVV | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unplugged disk | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Windows | yes | yes | yes, under another name | no | yes |
| Mac | yes | no | yes | yes | yes, Intel Mac |
| Linux | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| Phone | no | no | a reader app | no | no |
| French | yes | yes | see their site | yes | no |
| Space, copies, files on one disk only | yes | copies, yes | not their promise | not their promise | not their promise |
| Small photo pictures | yes | yes | yes | yes | no |
| Labels from the picture | yes | yes, a model on the computer | no | no | no |
| Camera data, music | date and camera | yes | yes | in part | music |
| Another computer | yes | a folder already connected | a folder already connected | a network folder | a folder already connected |
| Price | published on 15 October. Free: one disk | one purchase, about $50 for personal use | one purchase | one purchase | free |
WinCatalog 2026 is at version 2026.3.1 (August 2026), with a 30-day trial. DiskCatalogMaker shows a French interface and an evaluation period. VVV is free and open.
WhereIsIt has not been updated since 2014, according to WinCatalog’s publisher. Cathy is a small free Windows tool, left out of this table. GCstar files collections (books, films, games), not the contents of an unplugged disk. DaisyDisk, on a Mac, shows what uses space on a disk that is plugged in. It does not keep the catalog once the disk is gone.
Three readings
To find a folder on a disk in the drawer, and to see copies and space, Media Cataloger is in the right slot. It adds image labels, the date and the camera of photos, and reading another computer. It does not read where the photo was taken.
For a photo and video archive, with the place, keywords, and catalogs you already have, NeoFinder and WinCatalog go further. WinCatalog also describes photos with a model that stays on the computer.
To only see what uses space on the disk that is plugged in, other tools do only that, often for free. Media Cataloger is for when the disk is gone.
This page does not measure speed on millions of files, or reading CDs and archives. Those numbers are not invented here.