Version summary

System requirements

Recommended minimum system requirements for FreeCommander:

  • Windows XP (32 bit only), Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10  – 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:

    • %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.

Comments are closed.