spiritpyre

I just tested it and didn't have any problems from my end...maybe the server was down before. Anyway, I noticed that I had forgot to update the first post with the new links so thats been fixed now too.

@everybody Sorry, I've been away so long. I know the files are all down and I've been working on a solution. No luck yet, but I threw them up on my school's server for now along with some ad-hoc documentation that I might use if I ever get my own site. anyway, here are the direct links: BrowserBack_3.0_Setup.exe CmdPromptHere_3.0_Setup.exe FileExtToggle_3.0_Setup.exe HiddenFilesToggle_3.0_Setup.exe NewWindowFavorites_3.0_Setup.exe SelectAll_3.0_Setup.exe SubMenuPack_1.0.11.0_Setup.exe UpOneLevel_3.0_Setup.exe and i threw the binaries into a 7-zip file if you want to go the manual setup route: ShExtBinaries_3.0.7z if anybody wants to offer suggestions for making the pages better, you can check them out here: shell extension pages (btw they might be a little wordy... i've been around too many profs lately... ) As for other news, I submitted a request to start a sourceforge project with these, which should help a lot for hosting and updates if it goes through...unfortunately, I didn't have the webpages at the time but oh well (well, technically they were up but they've only been about half done until today and there weren't any download links before). I hope I can get some more stuff done soon, but i haven't had much time

glad to hear you got it working as for the other; I've noticed that depending on what's actually being refreshed, F5 either doesn't seem to work at all or it will. I remember trying it out alot without any luck. I may try and address this issue again eventually as I've had time to learn about a few more techniques and some tools that may help me identify what happens when you do it the 'normal' way (clicking the button in the Options dialog).

Are you saying that the extension(s) isn't refreshing the list of files in explorer automatically? If so, what OS version are you using and what locale is the computer set for? It should be opening a windows menu and choosing the Refresh option automatically. Not the most awesome bit of programming out there, but since MS doesn't provide a good method for doing this in COM (and F5 doesn't work the same) it was the only way to go. At least I've never been able to find a better way to pull off the same effect. In short it would be really really nice if MS had just provide a RefreshExplorer() api method. Anyway, my point was that a lot of things can get in the way of choosing refresh from the menu (btw most of the time you shouldn't even see it open the menu and choose refresh because it happens so fast). Other extensions can steal the shortcut for refresh (because some programmer doesn't look first!). The shortcut can change in other locales. Or it could be something else entirely (such as a compatibility problem with vista or xp 64bit). ====================== And completely unrelated, I haven't had anytime to work on this all summer between my internship, my student project, and life. However, I have been considering some changes for the project such as switching to the .net platform [as I've heard it has much better api calls, is more portable, and generally a lot easier to work with] or possibly even sharing the project with another developer. I've also been considering some revisions many aspects of the project from the way data is organized to how it's stored [i like the idea of xml support] and even the way everything presents in windows. This may eventually lead to more extensions ....but no promises.

Ok, I was just going over old posts for some info (I updated the documentation not all that long ago and I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything) and I noticed I forgot to mention a few things. 1) plonkeroo requested re-encapsulate the thread to reduce clutter (not to mention that many of the posts are outdated--mostly my fault as I never updated my posts that refer to old registry and/or file locations, etc.). I think that's a good idea, but I'd like to hold off until my next major update. Then I can just start another thread and post everything there. In the meantime, I did already craw through the previous posts (at least in this thread) and attempted to update the big list of shell extensions (in the 2nd post). I didn't include everything that everybody mentioned. I passed by anything that didn't have a freeware/opensource license or that I just couldn't find anywhere. But other than that I tried to be really thorough. 2) I involved with an internship this summer so I don't expect to have much freetime over the next three months as much more of my week is taken up (as opposed to during the school semester). 3) I've been thinking about what to do with my SubMenu extension project alot lately. Especially the config utility which has become a major pain in *** (but I think that, hopefully, its at least a worthwhile pain in the ***). Anyway, I think I'd like to combine my FileMenu project with the SubMenu one into the same project. They already basically do the same thing; they just work with different context menus (and perhaps I could even make another version to work with some of the other context menus). The main advantage is that I could have one config utility that would work on everything---I'm even considering pages that will work with the other extensions (ie., you could setup the Toggler extensions with it, etc). It'll make things alot more work, but it will (hopefully) organize things a bit, make it easier to import/store settings, and (also hopefully) make updating the thing a little easier. Bottomline: It'll prolly be awhile before I have any major updates with this project. (I'll try to get around to the No Start Menu Item installer problem by the end of the month though if I'm able though)

ok, I think I fixed the (un)installers. I found a problem where the admin/nonadmin cases were reversed during install and normal during uninstaller (so it was looking in the wrong place). If you have entries in Add/Remove Programs that won't go away, you can remove them manually by deleting the following keys: REGEDIT4 ; Remove (v3.0) HKLM entries [-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\BrowserBack Extension 3.0] [-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\CmdPromptHere Extension 3.0] [-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\FileExtToggle Extension 3.0] [-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\HiddenFilesToggle Extension 3.0] [-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\NewWindowFavorites Extension 3.0] [-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\SelectAll Extension 3.0] [-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\UpOneLevel Extension 3.0] ; Remove (v3.0) HKCU entries [-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\BrowserBack Extension 3.0] [-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\CmdPromptHere Extension 3.0] [-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\FileExtToggle Extension 3.0] [-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\HiddenFilesToggle Extension 3.0] [-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\NewWindowFavorites Extension 3.0] [-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\SelectAll Extension 3.0] [-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\UpOneLevel Extension 3.0] ; Remove (old version) HKLM entries [-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\BrowserBack Extension] [-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\CmdPromptHere Extension] [-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\FileExtToggle Extension] [-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\HiddenFilesToggle Extension] [-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\NewWindowFavorites Extension] [-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\SelectAll Extension] [-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\UpOneLevel Extension] ; Remove (old version) HKCU entries [-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\BrowserBack Extension] [-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\CmdPromptHere Extension] [-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\FileExtToggle Extension] [-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\HiddenFilesToggle Extension] [-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\NewWindowFavorites Extension] [-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\SelectAll Extension] [-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\UpOneLevel Extension] the updated installers (and corresponding 7-zip archives) have been reuploaded. <edit> I noticed today, that somewhere along the line my No Start Menu Items button became broken... at least on some of the installers (haven't tried it using the cmdline switches). Apparently I need to go back and completely retest everything...

The checkmarks should work without the installers, but you might have to click once or twice before they'll create the appropriate entries. By default, the checkmarks are displayed when items are shown but you can make them appear when items are hidden by changing the "CheckValueOn" value. If clicking doesn't work, try adding the entries to the registry. REGEDIT4 ; CheckValueOn: "1"=Check when shown (default) or "0"=Check when hidden ; CheckState: "1"=Check Displayed or "0" Check not displayed (changes when toggled) [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SpiritPyre Extensions\FileExtToggle] "CheckState"=dword:00000001 "CheckValueOn"=dword:00000001 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SpiritPyre Extensions\HiddenFilesToggle] "CheckState"=dword:00000001 "CheckValueOn"=dword:00000001 I'll look into the uninstaller issue and xp64 issue as soon as I can. I'm still on 32bit windows so I wasn't aware that they changed the registry around (as I currently have no way of testing it). Depending on te problem, I may have to release another build for the 64bit version (which should be easy if its only a matter of changing where to write to...) edit: I think I found the reason the extensions don't work on xp64 bit: here ...but if this is true, then I don't understand how CmdPromptHere is working. Unless you only tested it on the folder/drive context menus which don't use the dll (as opposed to the folder background/desktop context menu, which would actually requires the dll to work). By the way, do the extensions show up in the menu correctly but just fail to perform an action when clicked or do they not show up at all? as of yet, I have no idea how to go about compiling a 64-bit extension dll (or even if its possible without win xp 64bit). I'll see if I can't figure something out, but in the mean time wiki did offer up this workaround: update: after doing some reading, I think it may be possible. The bad news is that in order to do it, I will need to upgrade to VS 2005 (Pro?). Since I'm still running on a student copy of VS 6.0 (from my old community college), I'll have to see if the college I'm at now has a similar copy for cheapskates like me (or if it can be done with the express version...which is free).

ok, finally had some time last night to finish up the readme's and repack the installers and upload them. I just updated the links in thefirst post. @Brando569: Can you tell me anything else about the problem (ie, are there any errors and if so what do they say, etc.). They only guess I can throw out at this point is that there's probably something interfering with the extensions accessing the registry. CmdPrompt is the only one of those that doesn't need to access the registry after it's been installed. The other 3 depend on it in order to work. nuhi or someone who's worked with nLite more would probably be more help than me as I haven't ever needed to use it. @Kelsenellenelvian: done. You can even choose which state (shown or hidden) the checkmark should be displayed on. @plonkeroo: I can look into it I guess but I'll have to go through and remake "The List" with all the new extensions everybody has posted on -- after 1) I can confirm that they're free and 2) I can find a good link (and preferably the author's name). I've done a little bit which I could repost, but it's not complete and if my "development schedule" is any indication that could be awhile. @all: please let me know if you guys have any problems with anything (links, installers, etc) edit: @kof94: forgot to mention, that CmdPromptHere was also updated so that you can add it to folders and drives (if you're using the installer).

Quick Update...incase any one is wondering where I've been and why I haven't released any new stuff: The short version is that I seriously underestimated the workload I would have this semester and my professors dumped alot of stuff on me. At the moment I'm trying to juggle normal class work, a term project, a research project, several job prospects, and normal life so I probably won't be able to release until after my finals (May something or other). I know some of you are probably thinking, "big whoop..I've seen other people handle large workloads." Well, you're certainly entitled to your own opinion but my view is that this is just a hobby for me (i.e., something I do when I have free time that doesn't really cut into my life). Anyway, I do have some good news: - All the extensions except submenu pack have been converted to unicode and have new installers that have much better commandline options (Thanks to kof94 for mentioning this). These are just basically waiting on documentation (ie updated readmes covering new features). - submenu pack / file menu are basically fully functional but the catch is that all the settings must be altered manually via the registry. The config utility is seriously out of date and needs to be updated. I'm considering rewriting it in VB (as opposed to C++ w/ MFCs) so that future maintenance would be simpler. I also think this would reduce the size of the final executable (almost everybody has vb6 runtimes installed). - Finally, I'm looking to do some heaving trial testing (post-release) of all of the extensions to see if I can wipe out as many issues as possible. I'm looking to make all of the extensions are compatible with newer versions of Windows (ie Server 2003, Vista) if they are not already. I also would like to test that my extensions can be installed under limited user accounts (perhaps to a usb drive), etc. That's roughly the order I'm planning on doing things. My main focus right now is going to be on my term & research projects followed by my final exams. After I have a chance to relax, I'll try and get back on it.

actually that helps alot. I've been going about it the hard way and trying to code it in C++ as a dll... what was I thinking? Writing another section in the nsis script to add the lines above is just a couple quick lines. I'll try to get to it soon, but I had a flash drive go bad on me (don't care about the drive so much but my report was on it... ) so it'll have to wait til I'm done playing catchup. In other news, I drew up a few sketches and played around with a new layout for the SubMenu/FileMenu config utilities. I'm considering a rewrite in vb with the hope of cutting down the size of the exe but then I have to brush up on my vb... unless we have any vb peeps out here that are really bored and looking for something to do?... god I wish computers would run themselves...

@kof94: doesn't sound too hard too do, I'll give it a shot when I get a chance. bad news is I've been swamped at school lately, but the good news is I have spring break around the corner so i might be able to donate a day or two to getting some stuff done. as far as the switches go, I think I figured out how to get that much done already. I know how to get it to appear on the folder's menu and I think I know how I could get away with keeping it as one dll, but I haven't done anything with the drive-menu's yet so I'll need some time to read up on it (and hopefully find out that its pathetically easy... ....or to at least see if it'll work.)

This might do what you're asking, but I didn't test it out: http://bluefive.pair.com/recase.htm if not, I could probably whip something up when I get caught up with my other projects...but it could be awhile ============================================= As far as my projects go, I've had a lot on my plate, but I had some time this week to throw in towards getting them all caught up. I've made alot of headway with my FileMenu extension and I've got a whole bunch of new surprises either finished or at least somewhat workin. On a less cryptic note, I'm switching to the process of updating the config utility by adding Unicode support and working all the new features in (which is the main thing holding me up from any releases). Sorry still no reliable ETA at this point BUT not only does the file-type filtering work now, but you can even use wildcards (*) The downside... even when I finish this thing, I'm gonna have a helluva time writing up all the documentation. Also I recoded the File Extension and Hidden File Toggle extensions the other day... not only do they now support Unicode, but they also support checkmarks now (and yes you can choose which state they will be displayed for). I still need time to rewrite the installers for them so it might be a few days before I re-release them. I plan on doing something similar with the standalone versions, but I have to come up with a more dynamic system for them (since they could be called from different programs) -- which will probably be a commandline parameter of some sort.

Update on the File-Menu Ext: I'm going to have to revise the release time on this due to several factors. The main issues are that the project has experienced some feature creep (i.e. I've come up with more features so it'll take me longer to implement them) and I'm trying to redesign some aspects to work better (mostly for compatibility and "intuititive-ness"). My other problem is that between school and work I've only been able to squeeze in 2-3 hrs/week coding, so there's definately been some slowdown. If all goes well I might finally be able to get some stuff done over the weekend though. Here's some of whats done so far: - an extension that is accessible from the file-context menu - a '%LIST%' variable that is replaced with a delimited list of the files selected - Items can now use "Delimiter" and "FilterByType" to specify what delimiter to use and what file types are allowed. - a "DebugInfo" feature that will display some debug info (for example, if you're command/parameters aren't working, it will show you what is being executed) when enabled Since the extension uses code from the SubMenu extension as its basis, it probably means an update for it too when I get closer to finished. I'm also considering either completely merging these 2 extensions or maybe making them part of a single package. Any thoughts? And as always if you find any bugs or a feature isn't working please let me know. // UPDATE (1-27-07): I was finally able to add UNICODE support last night: I also was able to get rid of a few bugs I was having with a few new features like the option to enclose the command path in quotes automagically and eliminating the need for case conversions while the variables are being expanded (noticed that a favorite program used case to specify between two different parameters) a few other things I'm working on are the option to perform the same command repeated for each file selected or just feed it a list of the valid files (default). I'm also trying to re-work to algorithm for filtering by filetype so that its more effective. I have a few other little surprises I'm planning on but I'm going to keep them to myself until I'm sure I can actually implement them. btw... I tried pasting in some chinese characters I find with google and didn't have any luck, but I noticed that they turned into squares as soon as they were entered into regedit. I'm wondering if it doesn't just have to do with my locale settings in windows. on the other hand, when charmap displays the codes too and it looks like UTF-16 might not have them...besides it couldn't display the arrow or the club either. // END UPDATE

ha! I figured out why the link for SubMenuPack on Zxian's server wasn't working: the file had spaces and the link had underscores. my bad; all fixed. // edit been busy at school/work, but i got a little done tonight.... apparently I had forgot to compile the MFC as a static dll. Good news, now it works without "MFC42D.DLL" but the filesize went way up. Fortunately, I have a "b" version for those of you who would prefer to just search google and download said dll. This version also has a bugfix for the escapable variables. //post-edit alright, i added the new links and even threw up some long over-due screenshots.

Ok, I'm at school right now and I have a class in twenty minutes but I had these with me, so here are some rapidshare links incase anyone is having problems with Zxian's server. I'll try to add the rest later: CmdPromptHere_1.0_Setup.exe FileExtToggle_2.0_Setup.exe HiddenFilesToggle_2.0_Setup.exe SubMenuPack_1.0.10.7_Setup.exe //edit: note this is the old version; see first post for the newest version. // edit: here are the rest: BrowserBack_2.0_Setup.exe NewWindowFavorites_2.0_Setup.exe SelectAll_2.0_Setup.exe UpOneLevel_1.0_Setup.exe