Using Totalcommander as shell

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av1s
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Using Totalcommander as shell

Post by *av1s »

I was thinking about replacing the standart windows Explorer shell with Total Commander. Everything works fine, but the thing that bugs me is no program instant switch on start menu (Alt tab gets anoying in a while), and the programs hidden in taskbar become a problem.
Any suggestion, ideas about this? You think this is a smart move or not?
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Hacker
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Post by *Hacker »

av1s,
You think this is a smart move or not?
It is not, as some programs explicitly depend on Explorer, and TC does not include all the features of Explorer.

Roman
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icfu
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Post by *icfu »

It is not a good idea as there are zillions of free shells out there, why not use one of them if you don't like the Explorer shell?

From primitive shells:
http://www.labyrinth.net.au/~mosses/rob/liteshell.html

over advanced:
http://bb4win.sourceforge.net/bblean/
http://evildesk.netevil.org/index.php

to the top, LiteStep:
http://www.beyondconvention.net/ohussain/lsinstaller/
http://www.litestep.net/

I don't see a reason why a file manager should include shell features like taskbar, tray with clock and stuff like that.

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CoMiKe
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Post by *CoMiKe »

This is another great shell replacement:

http://www.sharpe-shell.org
av1s
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Post by *av1s »

tnx, for the response.
I wanted TC as shell, coz its practicly everything i need, but if progz depend on Explorer shell, then i wont change it.
What about other shells then, will all programs work on them?
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Xtrician
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Post by *Xtrician »

I Think it will be good to replace the My Computer and not the desktop.

For example when you press My Computer its automatic open TC and show the drives.

Or if you press My Documents its open in TC the My Documents.
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Post by *icfu »

Adjust paths to TC (watch the double backslashes!), save as blablablubb.reg and doubleclick:

Code: Select all

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{7007ACC7-3202-11D1-AAD2-00805FC1270E}\shell]
@=-
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{7007ACC7-3202-11D1-AAD2-00805FC1270E}\shell\open\command]
@="C:\\TOTALCMD\\TOTALCMD.EXE /O /S ::{7007ACC7-3202-11D1-AAD2-00805FC1270E}"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948F534}\shell]
@=-
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948F534}\shell\open\command]
@="C:\\TOTALCMD\\TOTALCMD.EXE /O /S ::{BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948F534}"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}\shell]
@=-
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}\shell\open\command]
@="C:\\TOTALCMD\\TOTALCMD.EXE /O /S ::{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}\shell]
@=-
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}\shell\open\command]
@="C:\\TOTALCMD\\TOTALCMD.EXE /O /S ::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\\::{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell]
@=-
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\open\command]
@="C:\\TOTALCMD\\TOTALCMD.EXE /O /S ::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}\shell]
@=-
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}\shell\open\command]
@="C:\\TOTALCMD\\TOTALCMD.EXE /O /S ::{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\shell\open\command]
@="C:\\TOTALCMD\\TOTALCMD.EXE /O /S ::{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}"
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wfdhfghff
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Post by *wfdhfghff »

Sry for regrabbing such an old Post, but this is regarding this .reg.

Using it only clicking "my computer" opens Total Commander - Entering a Folder in Win+R for Example still opens Explorer, just like dubble-clicking a Folder and so on?!...
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Post by *MVV »

wfdhfghff wrote:Entering a Folder in Win+R for Example still opens Explorer, just like dubble-clicking a Folder and so on?!...
I didn't check opening with Win+R, but double-click may be changed using this:

Code: Select all

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\open\command]
@="C:\\TOTALCMD\\TOTALCMD.exe /T /S /L="%1""

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chrizoo
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Post by *chrizoo »

excellent thread. love it! many thanks for sharing all this valuable information with us!
av1s wrote:tnx, for the response.
I wanted TC as shell, coz its practicly everything i need, but if progz depend on Explorer shell, then i wont change it.
What about other shells then, will all programs work on them?
what about the last question though? it hasn't been answered yet I feel.
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Post by *karlchen »

On any NT-based Windows (NT, 2000, 2003, XP, Vista, Win7, Server2008), Total Commander cannot be used as the Windows shell. E.g. Directory Opus can be used as the Windows shell, but T.C. cannot. Reason: As briefly given by Hacker.
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Post by *chrizoo »

karlchen wrote:On any NT-based Windows (NT, 2000, 2003, XP, Vista, Win7, Server2008), Total Commander cannot be used as the Windows shell. E.g. Directory Opus can be used as the Windows shell, but T.C. cannot. Reason: As briefly given by Hacker.
It's a pitty that in Windows the Windows Explorer (i.e. file manager) seems to be connected to actually unrelated things, like start menu, task bar, system tray, etc.

(Like the OP I think), I would actually like to keep the latter untouched (at least for now, I might try some of the abovementioned shells later on), but replace only the Windows Explorer with TotalCommander ... which seems to be unfeasible due to this under-the-hood interconnection :(
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Post by *karlchen »

Hello, chrizoo.

Well, telling from this thread and a number of related threads - all dedicated to the goal of replacing Windows Explorer by Total Commander - I understand that
  • you cannot use Total Commander as the Windows shell (default: Explorer),
    because T.C. does not offer all functions which Explorer does
  • you can use Total Commander as the primary Windows file manager by tweaking the HKCR\Folder and HKCR\Drive sections of the registry.
  • you will not be able to replace Explorer as a file manager completely, because a lot of File Open and File Save dialogues will still call Explorer components.
Kind regards,
Karl
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chrizoo
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Post by *chrizoo »

Hi Karl,
thanks for the reg tweak info.
you will not be able to replace Explorer as a file manager completely, because a lot of File Open and File Save dialogues will still call Explorer components.
true. I've never seen it that way, but now that you mention it, yes, some programs which are not capable of handling file OPs on their own, rely on Explorer. They should have really created a "file operations API" that can be interfaced both by Explorer and third party programs. That way, we could have gotten rid of Explorer sans sacrificing the interface.

you cannot use Total Commander as the Windows shell (default: Explorer), because T.C. does not offer all functions which Explorer does

well yes, that's the pitty and exactly what I was talking about above: "It's a pitty that in Windows the Windows Explorer (i.e. file manager) seems to be connected to actually unrelated things, like start menu, task bar, system tray, etc." But apart from my quote and the 3rd point in your list, what functions does Explorer have that lack in TC? Can't think of any!
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chrizoo
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Post by *chrizoo »

Sorry for asking for clarification, but the reg tweaks posted by icfu ... what are they doing exactly? Making default folders such as "my documents", etc. open in TC? Which folders are concerned actually and how can I add more?

And I also didn't really understand this part:
MVV wrote:
wfdhfghff wrote:Entering a Folder in Win+R for Example still opens Explorer, just like dubble-clicking a Folder and so on?!...
I didn't check opening with Win+R, but double-click may be changed using this:

Code: Select all

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\open\command]
@="C:\\TOTALCMD\\TOTALCMD.exe /T /S /L="%1""

I mean, on my system, folders (in Explorer) only open via double-click anyway, so what does this reg entry do ?
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