@Sensai: Downloaded/installed TerraCopy and tested it out moving the Godfather trilogy around on an external harddrive.

Impressive. I'm not sure that I notice as much of a difference as a lot of people do (given, I've used it once) but it's definitely an improvement if not for the UI alone. Will be sticking with it.

Sensai

/sigh

Fine, I'll get TerraCopy too.

I can't seem to stop downloading apps when I visit this place. It's like a disease.

Sensai

@Neo: Can the hotkey be customized?

JrezIN

It's a nice list. Personally I use TeraCopy, but unfortunately, it has stability/freezing problems... It's ok to be able to resume, but it doesn't help when the copy stopped in mid-file and when a NEED to be sure the teras I just asked to be copied/moved will be at the target location the next day...

JrezIN

And if you like to create new folders at a click of a button, you must try bxNewFolder [[www.baxbex.com]] lot of other freewares on the page.

Neo

Or just get Directory Opus. Yeah, I know. Will break the bank. Looking for when they will post it on GiveAwayOfTheDay. Might surpass Firefox 3 download.

SnickerHaHa

@Darkmatter91:
"I am a recent teracopy convert and I LOVE it - I moved 20g of high def video across my network with NO problems and FAST. Around 12+MB/sec. I want to integrate it into windows but i wish you could choose to use windows copy/paste if the file/folder was less than 100mb"
You can do that manually with the install version. There's an option for you to copy with Teracopy only if scroll lock is off. So jsut put scrolllock on if file size <100mb. It's still troublesome, but an ok workaround for me.

kureshii

@happinessiseasy: I believe I have seen this partially before and it was due to your folder's settings/type set to one of the "music" options. I tried to test it out moments ago, but did not work. Maybe you have Media Center Edition? Hmmm..

jimredbaron

or just get TC.

bubi73

haha.... Adam Green - Jessica ! classic! :)

iceman7

Another sort of windows explorer/shell addon I always recommend is Renamer Fairy
[www.olliholliday.co.uk]

Don't be fooled by the age of the product, this has been excellent for trimming mp3, picture, and document files.

-cb

dolemite01

If you're an AutoHotkey user, this Folder Menu script seems to work pretty well for selecting favorite folders from just about anywhere.

[www.autohotkey.com]

SciotoSurfer

Direct Folders is another nice program which you've had on here before: [lifehacker.com]

It covers a lot of the functions of many of these. It has favorites (Filebox Extender), PlacesBar (Placebar Editor), and also gives you a recent file/folder selection.

Also, I've used QTTab bar and the breadcrumbs of theres and they are lovely, but for a smaller memory useage program that does the same I like explorer breadcrumbs. If it does work initially you may be missing some DLL files, there is a faq on their webpage to fix it.

Braffe

"InfoTag Magic Displays File Details on Mouse Hover"

Maybe I'm doing it wrong (or right), but my XP does it off the shelf.

happinessiseasy

There is another nice app that might be an alternative / sddition to FileBoxExtender. FileBox adds a button (really an ugly one in Visa/Aero by the way) to Explorer windows, which is nice. What about when you are in an application (like Photoshop or Firefox) and want the same abiltiy to jump quickly and directly to a folder?

Take a look at DirectFolders at [www.codesector.com]

You only have to double-click on any empty spot on your desktop to pop up a list of folder "favorites" and jump straight to that folder in explorer with one click. It's free, although there is a shareware "pro" version with a few extra capabilities.

It is as easy as clicking "Add Here" when you have a folder open in explorer to add to the list, or you can use the configuration screens:

Nice utility. Worth a look.

jsmorley

personally if I have to manage with files in different folders I prefer Q-Dir but when running Explorer I use FileBoxExtender (the same 2 buttoms in the image but you can have others) + Dmexbar, about dmexbarDir: when you have a lot of folder in a directory and you enter in one, on the way back you'll find precisely the entering folder point instead of the top of the list (the normal explorer behavior) [lifehacker.com]

frankell

This is very useful stuff especially for us Vista 64 bit users

Al1enware

I use Vista, so I get 90% of this without addons, but I have to say I can't recommend TeraCopy enough. It copies much faster, gives you nice detail on exactly what it is doing, and best of all will allow you to pause/resume copy or move actions and can recover from frustrating things like a 5gig copy over your wireless network that fails because your network hiccups.

I do wish they would pretty it up a bit and make it look more "Vista'ish" when running in Aero, but that's a small thing...

jsmorley

Quizo also has explorer breadcrumbs that are more space friendly than the ones above, as it functions just like Vista's--is an address bar to replace the standard one that changes into a textbox for typing in addresses.

As for Xentient Thumbnails, the only reason I won't switch back to XP is purely cosmetic. I want to be able to, from Explorer, to view the album art that I embed within my MP3's. Vista does this natively, and all I want to know is if it can be done, for free preferrably.

tap52384

I am a recent teracopy convert and I LOVE it - I moved 20g of high def video across my network with NO problems and FAST. Around 12+MB/sec. I want to integrate it into windows but i wish you could choose to use windows copy/paste if the file/folder was less than 100mb

Darkmatter91

Hasn't LH covered all these before?

Still good for a revision tho =]

LifesSweetDrug

If you can't get Explorer Breadcrumbs to work, the QTtabBar guy has QTAddressBar which does the same thing as breadcrumbs.

Also, don't forget FindeXer, which allows you to replace the folders in the left pane in explorer with whatever folders/files you want. See review/screenshot HERE or to make it look like the Mac sidebar go HERE.

da5id_nz

Great list, I have used several of these on XP and continue to use them on Vista too, however here are few of the things you missed out.

One is Piky Basket, a great extension when you want to copy / move files or folders from different locations and paste it into one place. [www.conceptworld.com]

Then Direct Folders is another must have. [www.codesector.com]

For images quick resizing and thumbnails there is FirmTools ShellExtension [techie-buzz.com]

SourceGear Diffmerge to quickly compare files from explorer Context menu [www.sourcegear.com]

and finally Unlocker Context menu to quickly find out which process is locking a file. [ccollomb.free.fr]

There are quite a few more, but these are the ones that come in pretty handy to me while using Explorer.

Keith Dsouza

I caught a version of Teracopy I tried a while back shredding a file in the process of copying it.

Vanilla Windows never has done that to me.

VayaConQueso

Also similar to Teracopy is Copy Handler, which has also been mentioned on these pages.

da5id_nz

I'd be happy with one single change to the standard file explorer - put the drive name in the address bar.

With about 20 drives mapped on my pc (local, network, usb, etc) it's tough to keep track of things with just a drive letter. Does anyone know a simple way to add the drive name in XP?

I've spent several hours trying to configure this, but have had no luck.

forward1

I'd tried these a long time ago. And what I want is a new file management :) I choose TC. If you guys are Explorer addictive, so get these. One more useful app for daily work : DM2

Nxqd3051990

@forward1:

Or do you mean you want the drive "label" to appear? Not sure I know a way to have that happen in native XP (or Vista for that matter.)

jsmorley

@forward1:

That's a simple setting in XP. Open a folder and go to tools/folder options/view and check the box "Show entire path in address bar".

jsmorley

I like the simple StExBar, from the TortoiseSVN folks. Among others things, you can turn hidden files on and off quickly, rename files using regexes, and quickly create new folders via a shortcut in Explorer. Check it out!

thor222

@musicplanet: That's because QTTabBar has the same feature on the desktop already built-in, although sadly it doesn't work in standard dialog's.

SirSmiley

Also, while TeraCopy is great, I prefer SuperCopier2 ([sourceforge.net]) as it replaces the default explorer's copy routine. It's just better integrated.

musicplanet

I wanted to like QTTabBar, but it conflicts with Direct Folders, something that I cannot live without. :(

I wish there's an option in QTTabBar to do not intercept double click within the explorer.

musicplanet

I'll have to give a strong nod to Direct Folders as well - what a terrific timesaver! Having access to specific folders has sped up my workflow a lot, and what's awesome is you can even include links to direct files in your shortlist.

THIS IS SUPER if you sign up at a lot of Internet websites like forums and want to keep using the same profile picture. All you need to do is add it to your Direct Folders, and when prompted to select a file in the profile area of whatever website, it's right there!

Torley

@jsmorley: Direct Folders is awesome, could not agree more!
Read about it here on LH some time ago and have been using it ever since. It is something that makes so much sense that it should be integrated in Windows.

HMGS

regxplor puts registry in your explorer - [www.regxplor.com]

folderbox from babex - [www.baxbex.com]

audioshell for editing id3 tags from explorer - [www.softpointer.com]

hashtab for verifying file hashes - [beeblebrox.org]

daftary

@jsmorley: I've been using Directfolders for a while and it's an absolute god-send when working with network folders that you'd normally have to navigate to manually.

Good list. :)

@Sensai: I agree - it's addictive here...

vegbruiser

Terracopy tends to be buggy in my experience, I currently use the already mentioned CopyHandler ([www.copyhandler.com]) - which does a much better job.

Gonna check out that Supercopier mentioned though, the UI seems to be much nicer and clearer...

KoFFiE

@jsmorley:

Yes - I'm talking about the drive label. It's the text in My Computer that appears between the drive icon and and the drive letter. like - Local Disk (C:)

Seeing that text string would help me keep track when multiple file windows are open.

forward1

FileBox eXtender is a must. Period.

zzynx

I use Free Commander... all this functionality and more.

l337_7r4d3r

@zzynx: Try DirectFolders free version and you might just make the switch from FileBox eXtender to it.

Sri

My bad, it said "Dimensions" actually.

happinessiseasy

@jimredbaron: It works on my Desktop. I have Windows XP Pro Version 2002 SP3, v.3311 (but I know it worked at least on SP2).

It also works for image file. I just checked a PNG and it said "Image size: 100x100px"

happinessiseasy

I also use some other neat utlities. Always on Top : Keeps any window pinned on top using keyboard shorcut. Glass2k. Gives transparency effect to any window. Tray It ! Minmises any window to the task bar, gives you a clutter free windows bar Regards Ranjith R

ErrolJahoobies

IE Developer toolbar is also good for designers as firebug in firefox

sgergely

For thumbnails, I prefer the open source "Thumbview": [www.seriema.net]

Blaenk Denum

@musicplanet

You can disable the double click from the Qttabbar options. Right click on the qttabbar for options menu. In the options menu you will find a tab called window.Under which you will find a option "Up one level when ddl clicked on the folder margin". I had similar problem and was solved by unchecking this option. Give it a try.

Venki

I think Flash Folder is better than "FileBox eXtender". It has the same features (favorites, recent folders) plus the list of folders in currently open apps (like other Explorer windows or even Total Commander left and right panels!).

The favorites can be shared with the Total Commander favorites ("Directory menu").

Flash Folder is free software and is here:
[www.zett42.de]

dregio

The QTTabBar makes the Vista explorer look horrible....unless things have changed in the past few months. I tried it out on my Vista machine and didn't like the results. Integrates fine in XP though.

Danni

I use urThumbnail for showing PSD, DDS, XBM, and TGAs in thumbnail mode. urThumbnail

Free.

flyby

Another one is urThumbnail which shows PSD, DDS, TGA, and XBMs in thumbnail mode. www.uproar-interactive.com/tools.html

flyby

No mention of FindeXer? I love FindeXer. A handy customisable places-sidebar, based on OS X's Finder.

dr.vox

i LOVE teracopy

bloodclot

I love Copy2Clip to copy paths to clipboard. It add a new Explorer context menu.
[davide-ficano.sourceforge.net]

colin76