File Handle Analyzer

File Handle Analyzer is a free software application you can use to find out what files are currently being used by what programs.
It contains a basic set of options that can be quickly figured out by users, even those less experienced with file management tools.

No setup necessary

There is no installation involved, which makes File Handle Analyzer portable. It means that you can save the downloaded files to a custom directory on the disk or copy them to a removable storage unit, in order to seamlessly launch it on any PC with minimum effort.
It doesn't make any changes to your system registry, need libraries to run, or create additional files on the disk. The source code is available in the downloaded package and can be examined by programmers or those interested in coding.

View used files and the apps using them

As far as the interface is concerned, the program adopts a small window with a simple design and layout, where the currently used files are automatically detected at startup and displayed in a list.
You can find out the name and full path of each file, along with the handle, ID and name of the process using it. It's possible to refresh information if any modifications were made in the meantime, as well as to save the list with all data to a plain text document for closer inspection by specifying the output folder and filename.

Evaluation and conclusion

It didn't put a strain on the computer's performance in our tests, thanks to the fact that it needed a low amount of CPU and RAM to work properly. No error dialogs popped up an d it didn't freeze or crash.
On the other hand, File Handle Analyzer hasn't received updates for a long time and doesn't work properly on newer Windows models or 64-bit systems.