The problem with forced file list refresh

[Svamp2]

I'm not sure in which version the change was made, but not long ago you had an option where you could choose if you wanted your file list to be automatically refreshed. It's gone now. I'm on 0.691.

I have mainly two problems with forced refresh:
1. It puts an extra strain on the hard drives. I have four hard drives, and I have my computer and DC++ on 24/7. If a drive is not in use, refresh forces the drive to regularly start up and start searching, where it could stay in sleep for long periods of time otherwise. Hard drives are mechanical beasts, they will break down eventually after continuous use. It's something you want to avoid.
2. It sucks resources. It's not a pleasant thing if you're moving around files and it suddenly wants to hash a bunch of them.

I was perfectly happy back when I had the option to turn it off, I'm enough of a control freak that I'll refresh the list manually if I make changes in the share anyway. So, I'd be perfectly fine with a return of the option to turn off forced refresh. Now, I understand the rationale behind automatic refresh, so this idea might be a more appealing compromise:

Add an option to choose the frequency of automatic refreshes. A dropdown menu where you can pick everything from once every hour, every second hour, every fourth, every twelfth and once every day. Or make it a box where you can specify the frequency in hours from 1 to 24.

I'd be ok with at least one refresh once every day, even if it's more than I need. It's seldom enough to not to be an unnecessary strain.

As an aside, I also dislike the new thing with the removal of duplicate files in the share. This can be a problem with, say, music, where you might have duplicates because you have albums, singles from the album, and compilation albums. Your share might then show the tracks 01 to 15, with 07 missing because the file list only shows that track in the single! It's a pretty sad thing to download an album missing a track.

I understand the motivation behind this change, and I promptly turned on the option to keep the duplicates in my share after I found it. What I'd like to see is the option to keep duplicates to be turned on by default, so I don't run the risk of finding albums missing tracks. If you want to remove the incentative to share duplicate files to up share size, make it so that duplicates do not count toward the share size beyond the first file.

[GargoyleMT]

As an aside, I also dislike the new thing with the removal of duplicate files in the share. This can be a problem with, say, music, where you might have duplicates because you have albums, singles from the album, and compilation albums. Your share might then show the tracks 01 to 15, with 07 missing because the file list only shows that track in the single! It's a pretty sad thing to download an album missing a track.

As an aside, this can't actually happen if someone is ripping the CDs and tagging them so the files are usable... weird.

[Xan1977]

huh, good point.