Try it and you'll ever use the brain-damaged Microsoft Briefcase again. Just keep a copy on a floppy, and run it from there on the other machine.Īnother useful feature is synchronization of the contents of two directories (or directory trees).
#TOTAL COMMANDER FTP WINDOWS#
Although this may seem an obsolete feature, more than once I found it a lifesaver when having to transfer data between two computers who wouldn't communicate in any other way (after all: this is Microsoft, what would you expect? One Windows talking to another?). There is also an option to exchange files via a Laplink cable. The FTP client functionality mimics the "normal" file management to a large degree: you can even view and edit remote files without explicitly downloading them to your local machine ( Total Commander does it behind the scenes). The picture above shows the program with the right pane set to a directory of my remote Web server. Each of the FTP clients I've tried in the past had something missing or something I didn't like now they all went to the trash can, as Total Commander meets all my FTP needs. One or both directory panes may actually refer to remote FTP sites and you can treat them just as if they were normal directories, including file transfer between two remote servers. Total Commander is also an FTP client, in an understated yet powerful way. This metaphor is even preserved for archives inside archives! You can also copy files between archives without unzipping them first. For example, if you compress a whole directory tree into an archive, you can browse it, climbing the folders up and down, without even noticing that you are actually inside an archive. Zipped files are what most of us usually need, and, from my viewpoint at least, Total Commander handles them in a better way than most programs, including WinZip or ZipMagic (or, for that matter, Windows XP).
#TOTAL COMMANDER FTP ARCHIVE#
It also offers direct support for unpacking of some other archive standards (including LHA, ARJ, TAR and GZ), but for packing you will still need external, third-party programs (then, why would you like to pack files into one of these less-popular formats?) Total Commander will also open Microsoft's CAB files and self-extracting EXE files.
#TOTAL COMMANDER FTP ZIP#
The built-in ZIP archiver supports long filenames, multi-disk archives and all other ZIP features (except encryption), and it is respectably fast. You can view the contents, add, delete and access files without changing your habits. The support for ZIP archives is exemplary: Total Commander treats them like directories. Sure, for longer command sequences I can always open a Take Command session window, but doing it from the Total Commander is so much faster! (The command history and editing are also included.) bak files from the current directory: just hit the right arrow key and type the command del *.bak, bingo. Then, assume you would like to delete all. You can hide it to save the screen space. There is also a line to enter DOS commands at the bottom of the window. I'm not using the tree mode much, but you may want to. You can have one of the panes display a directory tree, so that the whole thing behaves like the Explorer in the Explore mode. Excluded are the irritating rough edges and inconsistencies of the Explorer, and yes, what a welcome relief it is. Most importantly, all three groups of functions are smoothly integrated into a single, seamless package, the design is thoughtful, and implementation impeccable.Įach of the two resizable directory panes offers the functionality of the Windows Explorer, including support for Drag-and-Drop operations to/from other D&D-compatible applications, right-click context menus, file associations and all you've got used to. It combines the Norton Commander functionality (two directory panes to perform file operations, execute programs and access data files) with that of the Windows Explorer, WinZip, FTP client and then some. Total Commander (before v5.5 known as Windows Commander) is much more than just an NC look-alike for Windows. Remember the Norton Commander for DOS? This was the program which for some people became a way of life, a working environment from the moment of booting the computer up to the moment of switching it off. : Top Rank Shareware: Total CommanderĬategories: Utility, Command Shell, File Operations, File Compression, FTP Client