The good news? Works for Windows 7 and 8. The really good news? There’s a portable edition as well for your “Repair Stick”.
The bad news? Well, it’s 32 bit, so you won’t have full access to the Control Panel, 64 bit programs won’t be visible. The folder %windir%\sys32 and its subfolders show different contents under 32 bit programs (like FreeCommander).
- %windir% is a system variable that points to the Windows installation folder - often: c:\Windows
- 32 bit programs are redirected from "%windir%\system32" to "%windir%\SysWOW64" automatically.
The solution:
To get a context menu with entries of 64 bit programs, FreeCommander uses an additional program FcContextMenu64.exe. This is the default. A 32 bit context menu can be selected with either LeftWin+Right Click. If with a click on the right mouse button a 32 bit context menu should appear, then you have to define ShowContextMenu64Bit = 0 in the [Form] section of freecommander.ini. LeftWin + Right Click then shows a 64-bit context menu.
From Windows Vista X64 on the hidden alias "Sysnative" exists for the genuine "System32" folder. To access the genuine "%windir%\system32" folder "%windir%\sysnative" can be used. Under the menu item "Favorites → Favorites edit..." a new favorite can be added, with "%windir%\sysnative" in the input field "active panel".
Another opportunity are symbolic links. The automatically redirection of folders is not active for 32 bit programs, if the program accesses the folder via a symbolic link. It is sufficient to define a symbolic link for the folder "%windir%\system32" to access the genuine "%windir%\system32" folder.
Features:
- File and directory operations are supported: copy, move, delete, rename
- Wipe file operation is supported
- FTP client for download/upload files
- Create and verify MD5 checksums
- Multi rename function
- Large files can be divided into smaller parts
- Context menu and properties of files and directories are displayed
- Size of directories can be determined
- Directories can be compared and synchronised
- File time and file attributes can be changed
- Time shift of several files is possible
- Directory list can be made
- Supported archive formats: ZIP and CAB ( read and write), RAR (read)
- Files can be compressed
- Archives can be unpacked
- Creation of self-extracting files is possible (ZIP)
- The intern file viewer also works in archive files
- Files can be also searched in directories and drives
- Search for file contents (text) is possible
- Search in archives (ZIP, CAB, RAR) is possible
- Display search matches
- Quick view of the files out of the matches list is possible
Views:
- Different views for file lists: list, details, small symbols, big symbols, picture preview
- Display of file symbols (fixed, registered, extracted) is definable
- File and directory information are shown in the status line
- File information can be shown as information tip
- The displayed files can be sorted by name, size, type, file time and attributes
- Several layouts can be saved
- Tabbed interface can be used
- Access to the most important system directories
- Quick access to the Start menu as well as to elements of the desktop and control panel
- A quick change into a directory or archive is possible because of directory favorites
- Additional programs can be included as favorites
- Type and colours can be changed
- The intern file viewer enables a quick view of the files in the formats such as text, hexadecimal, binary and as picture
What it looks like (just one view):
The above are all from the dev’s website.
You can read more about it here: http://www.freecommander.com/fc_details_en.htm
Download links can be found here: http://www.freecommander.com/fc_downl_en.htm
Screenies here: http://www.freecommander.com/fc_shots_en.htm You can see how feature rich the program really is.
It has help and user guides in English, Spanish and German.
There's a more detailed review here: http://www.thewindowsclub.com/freecommander-review-free-alternative-file-manager-windows
There are no toolbars, homepage or search engine switchers in the installation package.
As always, before installing ANYTHING on your computer:
1. Do your own research about the software.
2. Determine your need.
3. Create a restore point in case anything goes wrong during the installation.
4. If you haven’t done a backup within the past week, do one. It’s painless and saves quite a bit of regret.
5. Always choose "Custom" or "Advanced" installation if offered. That will allow you to view whether the software comes in a wrapper with toolbars, home page and search engine switchers or other software/Adware you might not want.