hotkeys to call external programs

plavo · Post by *plavo » 2013-01-28, 10:19 UTC

Girls and guys hello!

Ok so i ve been testing total commander and this other file manager to decide which one would i like to use, and have some questions for you more experienced users.

1. The thing that i liked in this other program is that you can call external program with hotkey not being on that program s screen, i have found out how to call external program with totalcmd but i would like to call it when totalcmd is minimized, did i explained it clearly?

2. How to register totalcmd to be the default file manager, replacing windows explorer completely? I am using windows 7 32bit.

I am new to this program so please, bear with me. Cheers!

MVV · Post by *MVV » 2013-01-28, 10:35 UTC

1. TC hotkeys are not global ones so they don't work when TC is not active.
2. You can't replace Explorer with TC completely e.g. because TC have no tray or task switch support.

plavo · Post by *plavo » 2013-01-28, 12:58 UTC

Ok, could somebody please recommend a program or advice how to setup global hotkey for certain program to circumvent this shortcoming.

I would like that it at least opens a folder from the desktop instead of windows explorer could it be done?

Would also like to know is there a tooltip i think it is called that?? When you hover over some item, lets say a pdf document which has a very long filename, and you cant see all of the filename, is there a way that you could see it? When you hover than it displays?

MVV · Post by *MVV » 2013-01-28, 14:12 UTC

You can e.g. put LNK into your Windows start menu and set hotkey in its properties.

TC does show tooltip for long filenames, even more, tooltips contain extended information about file/folder. But you might have disabled them in options (Configuration - Display - 'Show filename in file list as tooltip if truncated' and below).

plavo · Post by *plavo » 2013-01-28, 14:53 UTC

Thank you, you have been most helpful, tcmd is very good, it has some shortcomings but the amount of plugins and addons it posses is astonishing!

plavo · Post by *plavo » 2013-01-28, 16:35 UTC

Ok guys, i have resolved my 2. question, it is pretty easy. First you would need a program filetypesman, it is completely free, second when you start the program it will list all file extensions on your system, you just need to find (ctrl-f) extension called folder, click on it then right click on the field below and select new action (ctrl-n) and in the command line just add:

"C:\Program Files\Total Commander\totalcmd.exe" /T "%1"

/T means that it will open in new tab

This is where i installed total commander, so please navigate where your installation is.

I am working on my first question and will try to find a solution to that.

plavo · Post by *plavo » 2013-01-28, 17:21 UTC

1. problem solved, just downloaded program called hotkeyz portable version and it works like a charm, easily create\change hotkeys in windows, doesn't sit in the background, just marvelous little program.