File manager ??

[Nathan323]

Howdy all,

What u reckon is the best file manager for XP? Are they worth it at all? I do a lot of cutting/pasting between folders etc.

Cheerz

[Whir]

Windows Explorer works pretty well for me. :P If you need to, just open two, put one on the top and one on the bottom and go back and forth between them.

[muno]

Yep, windows explorer with dual monitors is the best
-M

[vass0922]

DOS?
If you're cutting and pasting the same files regularly write up batch scripts

Once you get the hang of it, and learn your filesystem its suprisingly fast

[BobViper]

Aloha
I only use PowerDesk Pro5!!

Too Cool!
Limited Free Version- ....
Gotta go pro.......

Aloha

[Redwolf]

Powerdesk is a very nice program. I can attest to that (built-in compression, dual-pane viewing, loads of options and features).

If you want a program that can give you a visual repsesentation of the relative size of files in directories, look for a program called TriDcomm. It's freeware.

[pgriffet]

Total Commander (previously known as Windows Commander) does the trick because you have a standard 2 pane view.

TC is a great software which does the job of many others and that's for me really important. I was a Norton Commander user since 1986 and perhaps am I looking for a tool which is in the same spirit.
Since I use it, I've got rid of Winzip, Quickviewplus, TheRename and other programs, I never use Explorer anymore.
TC uses an ini file and does not clobber your registry. It performs so many additional functions that you can remove several megs of other programs that are no longer needed. You can view picture files via a plugin.
Another point is the compression. TC compresses and decompresses a lot of format but it does it on the fly ! It means you don't even see you work with a compressed file. For example, I have a lot of JPEG files zipped (not for place) and when I open the zip file, I simply press F3, TC decompresses the file in a temporary folder and show the contents. If you want to see the contents of many files, simply select the files, with INS or with the mouse, then press F3, then N for the next file or P for previous file.
There are a lot of other fantastic features, a FTP client is included, the rename tool (to rename a list of files, with undo fuction), the CTRL+B function (not easy to discover) : it shows you all the files in the directory where you are but also all sub-dirs. If you do CTRL+B while on C:\, you will see your entire disk as if it was in a single dir (like the find files of Windows but there is a limitation to 10 thousand files in Win98 and I have more than that).
You can customize the toolbar, add or remove buttons, use one of the windows as a quickview panel (CTRL+Q). You can easily combine multiples files, compare 2 files by contents (very fast, useful to see the differences between reg files before and after an installation).
TC is available at http://www.ghisler.com, shareware with one nag screen at startup but fully functional, works with all Windows (from 3.1 to XP, all 32-bit but the 3.1 version).

Pierre.

[PresterJohn]

i can attest to PowerDesk Pro also...a very nice file manager w/a lot of other features. i actually use both windows explorer & powerdesk; it depends on what i need to do...

[Droppyale]

Personally I like windows explorer... does the job pretty well... but if you need more advanced feaures and what not... I like 2xExplorer... http://netez.com/2xExplorer/

[OuTpaTienT]

Originally posted by pgriffet
Total Commander (previously known as Windows Commander) does the trick because you have a standard 2 pane view.

Why's everyone going on about this "2 pane view" crap? What's the big deal? You have 2 pane view in Explorer too. BFD. That's always been the only way I use Explorer…ever since the first edition of Win95. Geez.

…I never use Explorer anymore.

Yes you do. Everytime you start Windows and for every second Windows is running you are using Explorer. Windows = Explorer

…You can view picture files via a plugin.

Gee. Explorer does that too. Ever heard of file associations? Works beatifully.

…There are a lot of other fantastic features, a FTP client is included,

Whoa. FTP…really? If only the file management that was built into your OS could do FTP…that's be awesome. …um,….oh wait, Explorer is an easy to use FTP utility, that's right, I forgot. Admittedly it's not the most feature-rich FTP client, but it works…rather well. And it's ALREADY there, so WTH.

I'm not the biggest Windows fan ever, but still, to me it just seems plain silly to run a 3rd-party file manager on top of the Windows file manager that operates your system. And this one in particular you speak of, Total Commander…you say it's reminiscent of Norton Commander? To me that means don't go near it with or without a 10-foot pole. I always thought NC sucked major hoo-haa. Back then it was X-Tree Gold, all the way buddy. The only way to file manage. And for those that want to relive the good'ol days, there's Z-tree. But even as much as I like Z-tree, I could never recommend it as a full-time utility, because it wouldn't be prudent to always run a 3rd-party file manager on top of the file manager you are already running…the one called Windows.

[wju425]

Yea I remember xtree gold. I used it all the time in my dos and 3.1 heydays. Did you know windows (95 & 98) still have the 3.1's file manager? Look in your system.ini and look at where it says shell=explorer.exe. You can change it to shell=fileman.exe and it becomes win 3.1.

File manager is nowhere as good as explorer but I liked the conveneince of the bar across the top where the drive icons are. It'd be nice if the explorer would have that. Explorer is a very usefull file manager and I loaded in plugins for my right click context menu and those makes it nicer.

\o/ Billy

[Redwolf]

Personally, I like other file-mans better than explorer. I DO use explorer (IE the file manager, not the shell) for basic tasks, btu Powerdesk is jsut much more powerful IMO. TriDcomm is a very different way to manage files, and I like the interface, even if it is a bit slow.

Outpatient, how do you get 2 panes w/explorer anyway? Is there a way besides using 2 copes of explorer at once?

[pgriffet]

Outpatient, I willl answer you later, you will soon have another look on TC

Pierre.

[OuTpaTienT]

I use these switches in the shortcut I use to start Explorer. I forget now which one, the /n or the /e that starts it in 2-pane view. The f: just tells it to place initial focus at the root of my f: drive.

C:\Windows\Explorer.exe /n,/e, f:

My file managing Explorer looks like this:



And all those items listed in the "links" toolbar...those are my ftp connections. Just a single click and I'm able to shuffle files to my web space. Or if someone wanted, those links could easily be shortcuts pointing to your various drives if you wanted to emulate the old 3.1 file manager.

[pgriffet]

First of all, I have no interest in the software I mention. But Total Commander is a fantastic File Manager and I've tested a lot of them. I suppose you didn't test TC, did you ?

If I've suggested it, it's because this tool is very easy to use. I do a lot of copy/cut between folders and I don't want to use the mouse or to switch between two windows. I simply press F5 and the file(s) is(are) copied in the folder opened in the other window. F6 is a move. You see that shortcuts are very important for me, that's because I've mentionned Norton Commander but of course, TC has nothing to do with NC, it was to give an idea of the look.
Your screenshot shows 2 panes but only one with files. So when I refer to "2 panes", it's 2 panes with files and not one with a folder view and another one with file view. BTW, TC has an option to have the same view as explorer (one folder pane and one file pane).
So when you say "You have 2 pane view in Explorer too", I can't agree, it's another thread of explorer.exe and you have to switch between the two, what a waste of time.

Yes you do. Everytime you start Windows and for every second Windows is running you are using Explorer. Windows = Explorer

Yes, you win . I was of course referring to Explorer as a file manager, I don't want to use another shell.

If I mention the plugin, it's because you can see in the other pane all files, even if there is no association. Ever want to open index.dat files or windows\hosts ? TC has a powerful lister which shows in read-only mode ALL files, even if you don't have the associated tool. The lister is available as a stand-alone program.
The lister opens a 10 MB file with a second, so no wait for loading a file which you only want to see the header.

because it wouldn't be prudent to always run a 3rd-party file manager on top of the file manager you are already running…the one called Windows.

Well, now the interesting part. What do you think about a tool which LIES about the folder contents ?

That's what Explorer is doing, it lies about a lot of files. Did you already search for index.dat files on your drive (whatever your Windows version) ? On my Win98 box, if I use "find files" and I ask for index.dat (with the option "show hidden/system files), I've got 3 files. TC gives me 7 files and TC is right. The same for the desktop.ini files, 23 according to "find files", 27 for TC. Why the hell does explorer (and the DOS dir command) hide these files ? Why is MS deciding what we can see on OUR drive ? Do you trust a tool which lies ? I don't.
That's why I said "I don't use explorer anymore". And I don't mention all the bugs in explorer which give errors, slow down, 100 CPU% usage.
Do you know that the first version of windows with a sort indicator in explorer was Millenium ? Yes, we had to wait until 2000 to have a little arrow indicating the sort. I've been programmer and I'm sure it was very easy to implement. But MS has other priorities, for "bells and whistles" (html file as background), explorer is THE tool but the not for a real file management.

What about a tool which locks index.dat files, even if you don't want to use them ? Explorer opens 3 index.dat files when you start windows, I don't know why. The consequence is that you can't delete these files (except in XP) because they are in use.

So you can be happy with explorer but I can't. And that's why I've posted because a lot of people don't know what is going on with explorer.

A unique feature of TC : Open partial ZIP files

Allows to open only partially downloaded ZIP files, even during the download. This allows to have a look at the contained files before the download has finished. Useful for very big ZIP files.

Your screenshot is 138 KB, did you think about 56k users ?

You can change it to shell=fileman.exe and it becomes win 3.1

nope, it's progman.exe and the file manager of 3.1 is winfile.exe (under 9X/ME/NT)

Sorry for the basic English.

Pierre.

[OuTpaTienT]

Yeah, I thought it was progman.exe. Fileman.exe just wasn't ringing any bells.

And as far as the Total Commander vs. Explorer for file management...well I'm gonna put a stop to it right here and now…I fold. What was I thinking? Joining up with the MS zombies and selling my soul to Gates? Ewwwe. I feel so dirty.

I just can't comfortably put up a convincing or honest defense to support something as imperfect as Explorer, or just Windows in general. I am aware of all the flaws/idiosyncrasies/bugs/features whatever you want to call them in Explorer. I guess I've just grown accustom to mentally factoring those things in.

The handing of specific files, like any with no current association is no big deal for me. If I can't figure it out by looking at it then I'll just throw it in a hex editor or my text editor (Metapad) and figure it out from there. And issues like opening a partial zip file aren't much trouble either. There's a number of ways to go about that.

But I will concede that you are correct about all those issues with Explorer. And I guess I'll have to change my tune too and say that yes indeed it might not be a bad idea at all to run a 3rd party file manager on top of Explorer. And now that I think about it, I guess that is exactly why I keep Z-tree around. It doesn't get used on a daily basis but every once in a while I do need it.

So anyways Pierre, thanks for setting me straight without embarrassing me too much. I'll survive.

[pgriffet]

Hi OutPatient, you are welcome.

Actually, I don't put all the unique features of TC, otherwise, it would be too long. But some of them are really great, I agree with you when you say it depends on what you are expecting from a file manager. As I expect an easy to use without bells and whistles, with a lot of customisation and plugins (you install only what you need), TC is exactly what I want.
But if tomorrow, Explorer becomes more customisable and tells the true about my data, ok, I will give up with TC.

The first tool I install when I use another computer is TC. As it doesn't write settings to the registry, I uninstall it and everything is gone. No bad surprise like MS tools.

TC's author has implement forums (English, German and French) where you can post questions, enhancements, report bugs. He uses to answer himself if needed, you can really talk with him and he knows he has to do some enhancements, it's a living tool.

http://www.ghisler.ch/board/viewforum.php?f=3

Pierre.

[BFlurie]

There's this old reg-hack making 2-pane Explorer views permanent:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Folder\shell\o pen\ddeexec]
@="[ExploreFolder(\"%l\", %I, %S)]"
"NoActivateHandler"=""

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Folder\shell\e xplore\ddeexec]
@="[ExploreFolder(\"%l\", %I, %S)]"
"NoActivateHandler"=""

I'd say any windoz version should be similar.

[wju425]

Whoops!

Progman it is. Bad memory. I couldn't check since I have winme but that's what it is.

\o/ Billy

EDIT: Never mind. I found it. My tweak proggie didn't sort the list the way I wanted. It's all there. Progman and winfile.

[pgriffet]

progman and winfile should be in Millenium too as in NT but not in 2K/XP.

Pierre.