System requirements
Recommended minimum system requirements for FreeCommander:
- Windows XP (32 bit only), Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows 11 – 32 or 64 Bit
- 2 GB RAM
- 100 MB hard disk memory
- 1024×768 display resolution
FreeCommander XE on Windows X64
The actual version of FreeCommander XE is a 32 bit program. For this reason FreeCommander is (like all 32 bit programs on Windows X64) subject to the following restrictions:
-
- 32 bit programs (e.g. FreeCommander) have not full access to the control panel.
- In the context menu, entries of 64 bit programs will not be visible
- The folder “%windir%\system32” and its sub folders show different contents under 32 bit programs (e.g. FreeCommander).
Notes:
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- %windir% is a system variable that points to the Windows installation folder – often: c:\Windows
- 32 bit programs are redirected from “%windir%\system32” to “%windir%\SysWOW64” automatically.
For more detailed information see: Microsoft: File system Redirector
Solutions
To get a context menu with entries of 64 bit programs, FreeCommander uses an additional program FcContextMenu64.exe. This is the default. A 32 bit context menu can be selected with either LeftWin+Right Click. If with a click on the right mouse button a 32 bit context menu should appear, then you have to define ShowContextMenu64Bit = 0 in the [Form] section of freecommander.ini. LeftWin + Right Click then shows a 64-bit context menu.
From Windows Vista X64 on the hidden alias “Sysnative” exists for the genuine “System32” folder. To access the genuine “%windir%\system32” folder “%windir%\sysnative” can be used. Under the menu item “Favorites → Favorites edit…” a new favorite can be added, with “%windir%\sysnative” in the input field “active panel”.
Another opportunity are symbolic links. The automatically redirection of folders is not active for 32 bit programs, if the program accesses the folder via a symbolic link. It is sufficient to define a symbolic link for the folder “%windir%\system32” to access the genuine “%windir%\system32” folder.
Example:
- Navigate to the folder “c:\windows” in FreeCommander
- Press and hold the Shift-key and activate the menu item “Tools → DOS box…” at the same time
- Confirm “User Account Control”
- The DOS box is opened with the folder “c:\windows\system32”
- Create symbolic link: mklink /J “symlink_System32” “c:\windows\system32”
- It is possible now, to navigate to the genuine “c:\windows\system32” folder via the symbolic link “symlink_System32”
Warning!
Symbolic links should only be used by experienced users.