How to install programs in total commander. Total Commander is the best file manager for Windows, its capabilities, installation and customization (including plugins). Column Sets tab

Is a mega-functional file manager. It is the favorite of many advanced users, but, alas, it is not without some drawbacks. And among them is such an important thing as the lack of a function for export-import of settings. With that set up inside you can do a lot, especially if you actively use horizontal and vertical toolbars.

The developers have thought out a mechanism for saving settings in case of reinstalling the program, and when you remove it from the system, by default, all settings are saved.

Due to the fact that this data does not disappear from the catalog , the next time you install it, it will instantly be brought into working condition. And it will start with our interface settings, individual functions, toolbars, with our selected catalogs and history of open paths. If the file manager was activated with a license key, the activation file will also be present among this data. The manually added by us to the installation directory will not be deleted either. content, such as folders with portable programs and icons.

So when it comes to reinstalling the file manager, you don't need to do anything special. But if the need arises to reinstall Windows or change seats with a finely tuned for yourself Total Commander to another computer device, without unnecessary red tape, it will be possible to do this only when using its portable version. If the work is carried out with the usual version of the file manager - the one that is installed in the system, you can reduce the red tape with the settings to a minimum if in the installation directory after its new installation replace some files. What exactly can be replaced?

Open the file manager installation directory in Windows Explorer, usually this is the path:

C: \\ totalcmd

In the explorer search engine, enter:

* ini

This request will filter all files with the extension ".Ini" ... This is the configuration data of the Total Commander, in which, in fact, its individual parameters are stored. In our test case, 2 types of files were found ".Ini" .

In principle, there are several types of them, but all of them will be present in the program installation directory only in rare cases when using the file manager's capabilities to the maximum. But some will show up on all users.

File "Wincmd.ini" - the main. It stores basic settings :

Appearance of the program (scale, fonts, colors, tabs, view of toolbars) ;
functional (associations, basic operations, etc.) ;
open tabs;
selected catalogs;
etc.

Another config file that should be in each case is "History.ini" ... It keeps a history of open paths.

Also, when installing the filter, other configuration files may be found:

"Wcx_ftp.ini" - built-in data storage FTP -client;
"Usercmd.ini" - storage of user commands;
"Contplug.ini" , "Lsplugin.ini" , "Fsplugin.ini" , "Pkplugin.ini" - repositories of plugin parameters.

All detected files ".Ini" copy and store, for example, together with the installer .

Another type of configuration data that can be transferred to another computer is with the extension ".Bar" ... We enter the filter into the explorer search engine:

* .bar

We will find 2 files that can be copied for transfer:

"Default.bar" - these are the parameters of the horizontal toolbar, the one at the top of the program window;
"Vertical.Bar" - these are the parameters of the vertical toolbar, the one in the center, between the working panels of the program. If, of course, such a panel is enabled in the component settings .

Direct view of toolbars - type of icons (modern or classic) , the appearance and style of buttons - stored in the main configuration file "Wincmd.ini" . "Default.bar" and "Vertical.Bar" they define the contents of toolbars, i.e. what exactly is put on the toolbar - internal functions of Total Commander, system functions, shortcuts for launching third-party software.

All this can also be transferred along with a new installation of the file manager. But in the case of shortcuts for launching programs installed on a new system on a different path, you will have to manually edit these paths.

Saved files ".Ini" and ".Bar" after installing the file manager on a new Windows, they are placed in its installation directory (remember, this is usually the path C: \\ totalcmd) ... When copying, you must select the option to replace them.

Total Commander is essentially an analogue of Windows Explorer, but it is much more efficient and easier to manage. For many users, this file manager has long become a vital tool for starting work on a PC. The popularity of Total Commander is also largely determined by its weak degree of payment protection. This file manager is distributed under a Shareware license, that is, it is meant to be used for free for a month. But in fact, even after the free month of use has expired, Total Commander is not blocked.

It is enough to press one of the three digits (1, 2 or 3) and after the seconds count down the manager will start. In this case, there will be no restrictions on the functionality of the program.
You can download the current version of Total Commander on the official website page. At the time of this writing, the endless trial version of Total Commander 8.51a, both 32-bit and 64-bit, is relevant.
I would like to draw your attention to the fact that during the installation of Total Commander you can select the folder where the configuration files are located, for which you need to click on the button "Set path to INI files". Now you can easily transfer your Total Commander settings to another computer by simply copying the INI files.

For storing INI files, I chose the program directory (it is convenient when the program is used from different operating systems). If you use several versions of Total Commander on your computer, then it is better to store INI files in the Windows directory.

The user interface of Total Commander is made in a classic two-pane form, which is very convenient when performing a variety of manipulations with files and folders.

Setting Total Commander

Let's go through the settings of the Total Commander, for this you need to select "Configuration" - "Settings" from the top menu. Window view - here are concentrated some of the most important settings that determine the appearance of the file manager window.

In order to add or remove certain components of the main window, it is enough to uncheck or check the checkbox, after clicking the "Apply" button, you can see the changes made with your own eyes. If you are tired of everything - click "OK".
In the tab "Panel Contents" it is possible to set up work with files and folders on the manager panels.

Settings items: Icons, Fonts, and Colors set it to your liking.
In the tab "Tabulators" set up tab stops (size, file type, date), and also set a template for displaying the file size. For me personally, it is more convenient when the size of files (folders) will be shown not in bytes, but in Mb, Gb or Kb.

Agree that it is not very convenient to often open a folder that is located somewhere deep in the directory.
You can pin frequently used tabs to the file pane as follows. Open the desired folder and right-click on it. From the context menu, select the option or "Rename / Lock Tab" ... You can also use the hotkeys: Ctrl + T - create a tab, Ctrl + W - delete a tab.

If there are a lot of locked tabs, then they can be evenly distributed on both panels of the manager by simply dragging them with the mouse. Remember to save changes from the top menu "Configuration" - "Save position" and "Save settings" ... Now you have the tabs you need, which will not disappear until you change the settings. During long-term work with the program, it may happen that you have many tabs open. In order to close them on any of the tabs, right-click and select the item "Close all tabs" or press the hotkey combination "Ctrl + Shift + W"... This will close all unlocked and inactive tabs on the panel of the file manager that you selected.
The next important item of settings "Basic Operations" .

We connect the Notepad ++ editor by default to Total Commander (Total Commander)

The best text file editor in my opinion is Notepad ++. How do you make it the default editor in Total Commander? On the next settings tab "Edit / View" you can connect external programs for viewing and editing files in Total Commander by pressing the F3 (view) or F4 (edit) button.
We choose Program editor - the path selection window will open, where you need to find Notepad ++ on your computer.

Configuring hotkeys in

It is worth noting that Total Commander by default has a huge number of keyboard shortcuts to work with. The list of hotkeys can be viewed by clicking on the "Help" button in the upper right corner of Total Commander. It is noteworthy that in the settings item "Miscellanea" you can redefine hotkeys in the manager at your discretion. Let's set, for example, show and hide system files with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + H - cm_SwitchHidSys.

So, I recommend assigning the following keyboard shortcuts:
"Ctrl + W" - cm_CopyNamesToClip - copy file names to the clipboard. You can copy one or more file names at once.
"Alt + W" - cm_CopyFullNamesToClip - copy file names with their location paths to the clipboard. Saves a lot of time!
"Shift + Home" - cm_OpenDesktop - open the "Desktop" tab in the Total Commander window. It is often convenient to start work from the desktop, and from here you can go to the Control Panel, etc.
"Shift + BackSpace" - cm_GoToRoot - go to the root directory of the disk from anywhere. It's also a very useful thing. By clicking "Ctrl + \\" you also, by default, change to the root directory of the drive. Well, just a key "BackSpace" by default, in Total, it moves one level higher.

A great variety of plugins can be found and downloaded on the official website of the Total Commander developer: http://www.ghisler.com/plugins.htm. If you do not want to mess with the translation of their description into Russian, then visit the Russian-language site http://wincmd.ru. New plugins are also available from the unofficial TC site (http://www.totalcmd.net/).
If you open the tab "Plugins" in the Total Commander settings, you will see that the plugins themselves are divided into four types: Archiving plugins (have the WCX extension), File system plugins (WFX), Internal viewer plugins (WLX) and Information plugins (WDX).

Archiving plugins allow you to work with archives that are not initially supported in the file manager or are supported with limitations. With the help of archiving plugins, support for working with a number of other file formats is implemented - CHM, MSI, ICL, DLL, etc. File system plugins allow accessing disks that are inaccessible from Windows, remote systems, internal Windows modules, media with other file systems. Internal viewer plugins allow viewing files of various formats, incl. not supported by the internal Lister viewer, such as images, tables, databases, etc. Information plugins are designed to access advanced information about files (MP3 tags, image attributes, etc.)
There are two ways to install plugins: automatically and manually. Automatic installation does not cause any difficulties: just open the downloaded archive with the plugin in the Total Commander panel and the manager will offer to install the detected module. However, automatic installation is not provided for all plugins.

Connecting additional plugins manually will also be easy. To install the plugin, unpack the contents of the archive into a separate folder. It is best to create a subdirectory in the directory with Total Commander "Plugins" , where already and create separate folders for each plugin separately. In the future, such a policy will allow you to avoid confusion in the Total Commander folders.
Now you need to open the Total Commander settings Configuration - Setting where in section Plugins click on the button "Setting" with the desired plugin type. In the drop-down window, click "Add" and select the file with the .wfx extension (wdx, wcx or wlx) - the actual file of the plugin to be installed from the folder we created. All! The plugin is installed.

In order to see which plugins of each type are installed in your Total Commander assembly, click the button "Tune" in the relevant area. I have emphasized the archiving plugins in my manager assembly.

Thanks to the installed plugins, you can view any folders and files on the adjacent Total Commander panel using a combination of hot keys "Ctrl + Q"... If you move through the files in one panel, their contents will be displayed in the adjacent viewing panel.

There are many software tools for managing Windows OS parameters - these are plug-ins built into the system, and various tweakers, and system utilities. Many plugins have been developed for Total Commander that solve the same problem. Using plugins of the TS file system allows you to keep your finger on the pulse of your computer OS from the familiar and very convenient interface of the TS file manager and perform many operations much faster than through the built-in Windows toolkit.

File system plugins are available in Total Commander via network environment

Very easy to use plugin Uninstaller 64 , which is designed to quickly uninstall applications that are in the list "Installation and removal of programms" Windows Control Panel. The plugin allows you to view all entries, including hidden ones, and works much faster than the built-in Windows uninstaller. To uninstall an application with this plugin, select the line with the program name and press the Enter key. The plugin is also used to remove invalid links (Del or F8 buttons) and view the uninstall command (F3 or Ctrl + Q).

Thanks to the plugin ProcFS Task Manager you can view running processes on your PC, including those that can hide from the standard Windows Task Manager. The panel shows the name of the process, its type, the amount of memory occupied by the process and the time it started. The plugin allows you to view the properties of the running processes and the libraries they use (F3), change the priorities of the processes (double-click on the process) and unload them (Del).

Services2 plugin is a handy tool for working with Windows services. This plugin allows you to view the list of services, and by the appearance of the icons, you can immediately understand whether the service is running or stopped. The plugin allows you to quickly change the launch mode of a specific service (manual, automatic, disabled), you can pause the service, delete or start the service. All the above operations are performed in the service properties window, which is opened by double-clicking on the service line or by pressing the Enter key.

Quick tabs and files in Total Commander

Open the folder in Total Commander that you want to save and have quick access to it, and press the keyboard shortcut "Ctrl + D" or click on the star in the upper right corner of the panel. In Google Chrome, this keyboard shortcut adds to bookmarks, and in Total Commander - to the shortcut menu. In the context menu, select "Add current directory" .

You can choose any of the offered types of submenus. By clicking again on the asterisk or keyboard shortcut "Ctrl + D" you can view a list of your directories that you have quick access to. This menu is also called with the help of the mouse - by double clicking on the name of the current directory.

Total Commander Control Panel

It is quite easy to add shortcuts to programs, internal commands, as well as to any system command to the Total Commander toolbar. It is necessary either to pull the exe file of the program to the panel itself or to register the path to the program manually.
First option. Go to the "Program Files" folder and drag the exe file of the program to the Total Commander panel with the mouse.

Second option. Right-click on an empty space on the toolbar and then "Edit". In the window that opens, click "Add" and add the program by specifying the full path to its exe file. I prefer using the first option.

If, after clicking the "Add" button, click the small button with a magnifying glass, then you will see a grandiose list of commands provided in Total Commander.

At the bottom of the window in the box "Filter" , specify, for example, the command number 2400 (group rename) and click "OK". An additional icon will appear in the toolbar, by clicking on which you can rename a whole list of files at once.

The Total toolbar is also interesting because other files and folders can interact with the programs fixed here. Drag, for example, the folder containing the mp3 files to the AIMP3 player icon in the toolbar. Your audio files will start playing one by one. Likewise, drag the CSS file onto the Notepad ++ text editor icon and the program will immediately open it. Drag "n Drop (take and drop) from the file panels to the shortcuts of the folders we created earlier will cause files to be copied to these folders!
If your Total Commander is at startup, then thanks to the installed icons for launching programs directly from the toolbar of the TS manager, you will not need to install unnecessary shortcuts on the desktop. If necessary, unnecessary icons can be easily removed from the toolbar in the same way as they are installed: having selected the unnecessary icon, click on the "Remove" button and the icon will disappear.
At the bottom of the manager are the function key buttons

These buttons also support Drag "n Drop, therefore, it is most convenient to use them not by pressing the F3, F4, F5 buttons themselves, but by dragging the selected files and folders onto these buttons. Believe me, it's more convenient this way. And if you right-click on the F8 button, a context menu will open where you can empty the trash or view its properties.

FTP client integrated into Total Commander allows you to connect to your site (blog) without any problems and provides the necessary information. To select a connection, just press the CTRL + F key combination, and if you have not configured any connections yet, then in the window that opens, just click on the "Add" button.

The FTP connection settings are not much different from the FileZilla FTP client settings, so you already know what to do next.

Connecting network drives in Total Commander

Turn on "Net" in the settings menu of Total Commander. Select function .
In the window that appears, select the drive and folder in which you want to store information. You can specify the path to the site where images and documents will be stored.

Basic operations with folders / files in Total Commander

All actions with folders / files in the file manager are extremely simple, literally, by pressing one or two buttons.

Selecting files

Before performing operations with several objects at once, you first need to select them. This can be done by clicking on each object with the right mouse button or with the left button, after holding and holding the Ctrl key.

Renaming files

Move the cursor over the desired file / folder and double-click on the object (but not very quickly!) With the left mouse button, the object will turn blue, and then set a new name.

Deleting files

Select the desired file / folder or select several pieces at once. Then, press F8 - delete key.

Copy / move files

Select the desired file / folder in one panel of the file manager or several pieces at once. Then, in another panel, select the folder where you want to copy / move these objects and press the F5 or F6 button respectively.

Select on any panel the desired number of files that need to be renamed using a specific mask and press the key combination Ctlr + M.

Setting up internal associations is available from the "Files" menu. All files that you open in Total Commander with a double click can be associated i.e. configure them to open with any programs on your computer.

Working with archives

You can compress (Alt + F5), unpack (Alt + F9) and check (Alt + Shift + F9) archives using archive plugins installed in Total Commander. In addition, you can enter the archives as in regular folders, which significantly saves your time.

Search by files in Total Commander

To quickly find important folders or files on the disk, use the search function integrated into the file manager by clicking on the magnifying glass icon in the toolbar or use the Alt + F7 key combination. If you search for files in Russian, do not forget to check the "UTF-8" checkbox. All additional settings (size, creation date, available attributes) for search can be found in the tab "Additionally" .

Splitting a file into fragments

Splitting a large file into fragments of a given size is available from the menu "Files" ... The cut file can be reassembled in reverse order through the same menu. This function can be useful, for example, when sending large files by email.

This is the most basic thing that you may need when using Total Commander. However, if you delve deeper into the study of this file manager, you can use its capabilities much more!
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In the list of file managers, Total Commander (hereinafter TC) is the most popular. And this is not surprising, because the program provides very convenient work with disks, folders and files and, in addition to providing standard features typical for this class of applications, has many interesting features that simplify work. In particular, it remembers frequently used directories, supports working with bookmarks, provides quick searches (including inside files), allows you to configure hotkeys, etc. In addition, the program provides support for popular archivers and has a built-in FTP client that allows you to download files in several streams, supports resume and can work on a schedule. And its capabilities can be expanded through plug-in plugins. This article will be devoted to acquaintance with the most interesting of them, but first we will briefly dwell on the types of plugins and the nuances of their installation.

What are plugins and how to install them

There are four types of TC plugins: archiving plugins (with the WCX extension), file system plugins (WFX), internal viewer plugins (WLX), and content plugins (WDX). Archiving plugins are used to work with archives that are initially not supported in the file manager or are supported with limitations. In addition, with the help of archiving plugins, support for working with a number of other file formats is implemented - CHM, MSI, ICL, DLL, etc. File system plugins are available in TC via network environment (Fig. 1) and provide access to disks, remote systems, internal Windows modules, media with other file systems. Internal viewer plugins allow viewing file formats not supported by Lister internal viewer - images, tables, databases, etc. Content plugins are designed to access advanced file information such as MP3 tags, EXIF \u200b\u200bheader information in JPEG images, and more.

Figure: 1. TC window with Network Neighborhood open on the left pane

Today there are already more than one hundred plugins for TC, and it is impossible to even simply list them within the framework of the article, and it does not make much sense, since many plugins, if not duplicating each other, have a very similar purpose. We will focus only on those solutions that may be of interest to a wide range of users.

The most popular and well-established plugins, along with their brief descriptions, are presented on the official website of the program (http://www.ghisler.com/addons.htm), as well as on the Russian-language website "All About Total Commander" (http: // wincmd .ru /). New plugins are available from the unofficial TC site (http://www.totalcmd.net/).

You can install plugins automatically or manually. Automatic installation does not cause any difficulties: you just need to open the downloaded archive with the plugin in the file manager and the program itself will offer to install the detected module (Fig. 2). However, this automatic installation is not provided for all plugins.

Figure: 2. TC window with a proposal to install the plugin

Connecting additional modules manually is done in the settings window, called by the command Configuration -\u003e Settingwhere in section Plugins click on the button with the required plugin type and specify the location of the plugin to be installed. For archiving plugins additionally in the list Files with extensionyou will need to specify the extension of those files that should be associated with the plugin being installed (Fig. 3). If there are several similar extensions, then the operation of specifying a module with a plugin is performed several times, each time entering a different extension.

Figure: 3. Installing the archiving plug-in through the Settings window

Comfortable viewing

The built-in file manager viewer (Lister) lets you view a fairly limited list of file formats when you press the F3 key. The situation is easy to fix by installing the appropriate plugins.

After connecting the plugin IEView (http://wincmd.ru/plugring/ieview.html) it will be possible to view files in a variety of formats. This plugin uses the same engine for viewing files as Internet Explorer and is perfect for viewing hypertext documents (including documents in MHT and CHM formats). In addition, it allows you to view documents of other formats through the software installed on your computer - PDF documents (if you have Acrobat Reader installed - Fig. 4), Word / Excel documents, PowerPoint presentations (if you have MS Office), etc. You can also customize viewing files in DjVu format by installing Browser Plugin and uncommenting in the section file ieview.ini the corresponding line. The viewing of AutoCAD documents is configured in the same way (an appropriate viewer is required - for example, VoloView), etc.

Figure: 4. View PDF document using IEView

The IEView plugin can also be used to view Shockwave Flash files. However, it is more convenient to use specialized plugins for this purpose - for example SWF Lister 2.0(http://wincmd.ru/plugring/swf_lister.html; Fig. 5), because there is a scroll bar for playback.

Figure: 5. Viewing a SWF file via SWF Lister

Using this plugin in the file manager, it will be possible to create and unpack archives in 7z format, as well as view their contents. To use the plugin, for example, to pack files, you need to select them, press the Alt + F5 key combination, in the window that opens, in the list of archivers' extensions, select option 7z and, if necessary, adjust the archiving settings by clicking on the button Setting up (fig. 9).

Figure: 9. Creating a 7z archive using the 7Zip Plugin

Working with CD / DVD-disks and images

If you want to make working with CD / DVD discs more comfortable and reliable, you should get a virtual CD drive by installing the plugin Virtual Disk (http://wincmd.ru/plugring/virtdisk.html). It will be possible to mount CD / DVD images into such a drive much faster than inserting them into a real drive, and at the same time without any harm to the discs themselves, which often cease to be read from active use. This plugin allows you to emulate a virtual CD drive and connect images (in ISO format, as well as some BIN and NRG images) made from unprotected CDs to it. In addition, it can be used to emulate a local hard disk or floppy disk.

For the plug-in to work, in addition to installing it in automatic mode, you need to install the virtual disk driver by calling the command in Windows Explorer from the context menu on the Program Files \\ totalcmd \\ plugins \\ wfx \\ VirtualDisk \\ VD_Driver \\ vd_filedisk.inf file Install... And then restart your computer.

The principle of mounting images into the virtual drive created after installing the module is very simple: copy it in the file manager to the folder Virtualdisk (this folder will appear in Networked environment after installing the plugin) the necessary image files, and then to mount one of them on the virtual drive, double-click on this image, select the mode CD / DVD and click on the button To plug (fig. 10). You can also enable the checkbox Recover on reboot, which makes sense if you have to work with the mounted image regularly. After that, the required virtual drive with the connected image will appear in the rollout of disks in TC and in the Windows Explorer window.

Figure: 10. Mounting the image into a virtual drive VirtualDisk

There is another option - install the plugin ISO (http://wincmd.ru/plugring/iso.html). With its help it will be possible to read images in ISO, BIN, IMG and NRG formats without mounting them into a virtual drive. This will allow, for example, to quickly view the files from the image (Fig. 11) and copy all or part of them to the hard disk for further work.

Figure: 11. Viewing the contents of the image through the ISO plugin

Data cataloging

It is not easy to navigate among folders and files stored on a variety of disks, because most users of CDs alone have dozens, if not hundreds, of pictures, documents, audio recordings and even more. Therefore, today you cannot do without the use of some kind of cataloger, which would provide an opportunity to quickly find out where the required disk or file is located. If the cataloged data is relatively small, then it is quite possible to get by with the capabilities of specialized TC plugins.

When working with a computer, most often you have to perform the same type of operations: creating files and folders, copying them, moving them, deleting them. For these purposes, you can use the best file manager Total Commander, but, as practice shows, most users use the ordinary built-in Windows Explorer for these purposes. Of course, the Explorer of modern Windows operating systems has great features and a user-friendly interface, but, nevertheless, it is a basic program designed to perform only basic operations with files. If you want to optimize the work with files, make it more productive and faster, you should use special software. And here the file manager Total Commander is in the first place. It is not just a file management program, but when used correctly, it is a computer control center.

This article will not be a complete guide to the TC program, there are other sites for this, in particular, the official sites www.ghisler.com and wincmd.ru.

My task is to show the capabilities of the file manager to optimize computer work.

To work with the program, you need to download and install it. To download, go to the Russian-language site of the program wincmd.ru and download the latest version.

Despite the fact that the program is paid, it continues to work even after the end of the test period.

Vehicle setup

You can work with the manager immediately after installation, but it's still better to make some settings. Having mastered the program, everyone sets it up individually, "for himself." I would like to suggest some "secrets" that will help you save time in the future.

To open the settings window, run the commands Configuration - Settings.

As you can see, there are quite a few items in the list of settings. Most of them can be left unchanged. I will write about those that I propose to change.

Customizing appearance

First of all, after installing Total Commander, I make small changes to the appearance of the program.

For example, I don't like the default bold font in the panels. To change it, go to the tab Fonts and choose the one you like.

I also remove the square brackets around the folder names. Customization - Panel Content - Show square brackets around file names.

On the first tab View windows I put all the checkmarks.

You can change the appearance of the buttons on the toolbar Configuration - Toolbar.

Column Sets tab

In each vehicle panel, information is presented in the form of columns (Name, Type, Size, Date ...). The program makes it possible to work with columns: add, remove, change, create ready-made sets of columns. For example, if the catalog contains photographs, we are interested in some data about files, and if text documents, then others. You can make several ready-made sets of speakers and easily, right-click, switch them.

Basic Operations Tab

Here I recommend checking the box When changing disks, always go to the root directory... It is also more convenient to put the selection with the mouse Left button (as is customary in Windows).

In the tab Quick search i choose an item Only a letter... Then, if there are many files in the directory, you can press the first letter of the file name on the keyboard and the transition to files starting with this letter will occur.

In the tab miscellanea I want to draw your attention to the first section Ask for confirmation when :.

If you uncheck all the checkboxes, the operations will be performed faster, without opening an additional window, but you can skip some errors. So think about which checkboxes to remove and which ones to leave.

File operations panel

As already mentioned, the main purpose of the file manager is to work with files, so the main commands are presented in the form of buttons and hotkeys are assigned to them. Let's go over these buttons.

Button F3 Browse launches a special program Lister to view files. I usually don't use this button. It is difficult to achieve correct display of different types of files by one program. You can configure the F3 button to launch an external program corresponding to the file type, for example, for psd-files run Photoshop, but it seemed inconvenient to me, I use another method.

The next two buttons are for file transfer operations. What's the feature here? Total Commander allows you to perform copy and move operations in turn. What is the advantage of this method? If you need to transfer several large files from a directory to a directory, for example, a video, then the usual Conductor performs these operations at the same time, and the process takes a long time. The speed drops dramatically, especially if the reading occurs from one physical medium. The TS performs them in turn, and the information transmission channels are not overloaded. You can perform other actions at this time.

Working with archives

Another advantage of TS is that it works with archives in the same way as with regular directories. You can enter the archive, see in the manager panel what files are in it, add new files to the archive, etc. Archiving and unzipping occurs automatically.

This "feature" of Total Commander I like the most. But first, an old anecdote about a lady with a purse.

In general, it was like this:
Court.
- Defendant, why did you kill the woman?
- I'm on the bus, the conductor comes up to the woman, demanding to buy a ticket. The woman opened her purse, took out her purse, closed her purse, opened the purse, took out the purse, closed the purse, opened the purse, put the purse there, closed the purse, opened the purse, took out the money, opened the purse, took out the purse, closed the purse, opened the purse, put the purse there , closed the purse, opened the purse, put the purse there.
- So what?
- The controller gave her a ticket. A woman opened a purse, took out a purse, closed a purse, opened a purse, took out a purse, closed a purse, opened a purse, put a purse there, closed a purse, opened a purse, put a ticket there, closed a purse, opened a purse, took out a purse, closed a purse, opened a purse, put the wallet there, closed the wallet, opened the purse, put the purse there, closed the purse. “Take the change,” came the voice of the controller. The woman ... opened her purse ...
- Yes, killing her for that is not enough, - the prosecutor cannot withstand.
- So I did it :))).

This is approximately what we do when we need to open a folder with Windows Explorer... If the folder has to be opened often, but it is somewhere deep, then it is tiring and annoying.

In TS, such directories can be selected as favorites, similar to browsers. Click on the button with an asterisk (or Ctrl + D) - and here we have a list of the most visited directories.

And next to it is another interesting button (Alt + down arrow) that opens the history of recent visits.

This is exactly the element of the manager that makes him a computer control panel. The panel contains various buttons that you can remove and add, that is, customize at your discretion.

For example, you can put the buttons of the most frequently used programs on it and launch them directly from the TS. This is done simply. Open the folder with the program and drag the program icon to the toolbar. Now the same file can be easily opened by different programs. Let's say files with the extension .jpg by default opened by the program FastStone Image Viewer, and by dragging it onto the icon Ps, you can open it for processing, or files .NEW opened by the program by default Adobe lightroom, and by dragging them you can open them in the viewer.

Can be added to command buttons from the manager's huge list. Let's look at the example of adding a button to display hidden and system files.

Open the settings window Configuration - Toolbar

Push the button Add to and open the list of commands by clicking on the search button.

To find the command you need, in the window we begin to enter the keyword. It was enough for me to dial skr... The team we need has the number 2011. Click Ok, choose the appropriate icon, and again Ok.

Now the panel has a button that allows you to quickly turn on and off the display of hidden and system files and folders.

In this way, you can customize the toolbar in a way that suits you.

Another way to save time is by using hotkeys. In addition to the default ones, you can customize the keys for the commands you need. The settings window opens by command Setting - Miscellaneous.

Another interesting feature of the manager is showing all files in folders, without the folders themselves. This is sometimes necessary when you need to select some files from a variety of directories. AT Explorer to do this, you would have to open and close all directories (see the anecdote above), in Total Commandere, just click on the button Show all files without subdirectories (Ctrl + B) and all files will be visible. They can be sorted as if they were in the same folder, copied, etc.

I use this function to rename photos. After shooting with a digital camera, the pictures have little-spoken names, for example, SDC13191.jpg... To quickly rename them, select all the necessary files and execute the commands File - Batch Rename (Ctrl + M).

A window for renaming opens, in which you can create a mask for the new name.

Image thumbnails

By default, all files in the manager are shown with icons, but for those who work with photographs or drawings, it is convenient to see thumbnails of images. In the file manager, this feature is enabled by the command View - Thumbnail View... I put this button on to switch faster. The dimensions of the thumbnails can be adjusted in the preferences window.

Another useful "feature" of the TS is the opening of several tabs in the panel. A new tab opens with a combination Ctrl + T. Using tabs, you can open multiple directories at once and easily navigate between them.

And one more useful tip: to open a folder in the adjacent panel, click Ctrl + left / right arrow.

How to learn how to effectively manage your time. To be able to distribute it so that, first of all, really important things are done that move us forward, and only then everything else?

You can take books on time management, but, unfortunately, most of these books were written a long time ago and do not take into account the modern rhythm of life and the availability of modern cloud-based task management tools with synchronization between all your devices.

I offer you a more interesting solution in the form of a new work by Evgeny Popov, which has received the title.

This concludes my review, which turned out to be quite long. I hope you found it useful, but in fact, this is only a small part of the useful functions of the program. Only by trying to work with Total Commander, you will be convinced that it is really the best file manager, and having mastered it, you will learn even more different "tricks".

Among all file managers that are actively used by users, a special place should be given to the Total Commander program. This is the most popular utility among those applications whose tasks include navigating the file system and performing various actions with files and folders. The functionality of this program, which is further expanded by plug-in plugins, is simply amazing. Let's figure out how to use Total Commander.

Navigation through the file system in Total Commander is carried out using two panels designed in the form of windows. Switching between directories is intuitive, and moving to another disk or network connections is done in the top menu of the program.

With one click on the panel, you can switch the standard file view, thumbnail view or tree view.

File operations

Basic operations on files can be performed using the buttons located at the bottom of the program. With their help, you edit and view files, copy, move, delete, create a new directory.

When you click on the "View" button, the built-in file viewer (Lister) opens. It supports not only text files, but also images and videos.

Using the "Copy" and "Move" buttons, you can copy and move files and folders from one Total Commander panel to another.

By clicking on the "Selection" top menu item, you can select whole groups of files by name (or part of the name) and extension. After selecting these groups of files, you can simultaneously perform the actions that we talked about above.

Total Commander has its own file archiver. It supports formats such as ZIP, RAR, TAR, GZ and many more. In addition, it is possible to connect new archiving formats through the plugin system. In order to pack or unpack files, just click on the corresponding icons located on the toolbar. The final product of the unpacking or packaging will be transferred to the second open Total Commander panel. If you want to unzip or pack files in the same folder where the source is located, then identical directories must be open in both panels.

Another important function of Total Commander is to change file attributes. This can be done by going to the "Change attributes" item in the "File" section of the top horizontal menu. Using the attributes, you can set or remove write protection, enable reading of the file and perform some other actions.

FTP data transfer

Total Commander has a built-in FTP client, with which you can download and transfer files to a remote server.

In order to create a new connection, you need to go from the main menu item "Network" to the section "Connect to FTP-server".

A window opens in front of us, in which you need to enter the connection settings provided by the server for communication with it. In some cases, in order to avoid connection breaks or blocking of data transmission altogether, it makes sense to coordinate some settings with the provider.

In order to connect to the FTP-server, it is enough to select the required connection, in which the settings are already registered, and click on the "Connect" button.

Working with plugins

Numerous plugins help to significantly enrich the functionality of the Total Commander program. With their help, the program can process archive formats that it did not support until then, provide more in-depth information about files to users, perform actions with "exotic" file systems, view files of various formats.

In order to install a specific plug-in, you must first go to the plug-in control center in Total Commander. To do this, click on the "Configuration" button in the top menu, and then "Settings".

After that, in a new window, select the "Plugins" section.

In the opened plug-in management center, click on the "Download" button. After that, the user with the help of the automatically opened browser will go to the official website of Total Commander, from where he can install plugins for every taste.

As you can see, Total Commander is a very powerful and functional, but at the same time user-friendly and easy-to-use file manager. It is thanks to these qualities that he is a leader among similar programs.