6 ms·

I use the New context menu exclusively to make new txt files. Everything else is open the app first territory. Explorer is weird in a few ways. - doesn't show

I use the New context menu exclusively to make new txt files. Everything else is open the app first territory. Explorer is weird in a few ways. - doesn't show NTFS alternate data streams. - hides "copy as path" behind a shift-rightClick context menu. This is handy for running scripts, but why the "shift" modifier? Same for "Open commandline/powershell" when right clicking whitespace of directory. - copy and paste a file listing. IE a simple "dir". Or checksums to verify downloaded files. Nope, that requires 3rd party extensions. Thankfully newer explorer has much better UX for copying/overwriting/deleting files these days.

naikrovek 5y ago
> copy and paste a file listing. IE a simple "dir". I think you can do "dir | clip" at the command line or in the address bar of an explorer window to get this. > checksums to verify downloaded files. there is a PowerShell commandlet that does this out of the box, if I remember correctly.
- _carbyau_ 5y ago
  The command line is useful. But in the same way most users are not likely to "touch newfile.txt" the GUI isn't helpful.
  - naikrovek 5y ago
    yes, I know. I can't fix the Windows GUI, but I can try to offer workarounds. Not everyone knows all of the little things you can do, including myself.
- accrual 5y ago
  Get-FileHash myfile.txt An optional -Algorithm flag lets you choose between MD5, SHA256, etc. It's nice to have this built-in. For 3rd party options I really like HashTab [0] which is free for personal use. It places a configurable list of hashes in right-click > Properties, with a bonus of comparing the hashes against one you might already have on your clipboard and giving you a green "OK" if it matches. [0] http://implbits.com/products/hashtab/ http://implbits.com/products/hashtab/
- _carbyau_ 5y ago
  Ok, figured out more what you were getting at I think. As per sibling post to yours you can run executables from your PATH environment variable in the address bar. So while you can't run "dir" directly you can run CMD and pass it dir | clip, or as I did "powershell -command ls|clip" Nice one! Thanks for the direction!
  - naikrovek 5y ago
    I try to help when I can. I can't usually solve the actual problem, but I can come up with a workaround. and I often mess those up, so I'm glad I helped you, even if it was only a little bit.
gruez 5y ago
>- doesn't show NTFS alternate data streams. How would that even work?
- _carbyau_ 5y ago
  Even if it were in the properties of a file it'd be something. Or treating the file like it does a compressed directory. Or any indicator at all.
- CRConrad 5y ago
  > >- doesn't show NTFS alternate data streams. > How would that even work? Throw a new pane into its main content preview frame, tabs on both the new and old, label them "Main stream" and "Alt stream" respectively? Something like that.
ergot_vacation 5y ago
Same here. Exclusively for txt files. Especially useful because sometimes you ONLY need a txt file with a title, no content, to act as a crude bit of meta-data for a folder. The excuse given in the article however just seems like rewarding bad behavior, and explains at least one reason why the Windows GUI is such a disaster (at this point, it's just years and years of junk accumulation as well, but even in 95 there always seemed to be at least 3 ways of doing the same thing).
- tomc1985 5y ago
  That sort of multipath convenience is a dying art. That there are so many ways to accomplish a task is one of the things I admire most about Windows (and to a lesser extent Linux) GUI design Modern app design almost always forces you into the developer's wonky custom save feature, if there is even a manual save at all, and with webapps you are forced to use cloud storage (possibly with a rental fee attached) as opposed to files on your local device. It would be really nice is everyone gave me standard open/save dialog boxes with all the OS accoutrements; I can't emphasize enough just how handy it is to be able to copy/paste, or create a new folder, or even manage files/directories or even launch programs from within a standard dialog... all because it is using the same view controls that Explorer uses!
  - joshspankit 5y ago
    I always respected Windows’ multipath convenience. It felt inclusive in a way that accessibility measures still struggle with.
- MarkLowenstein 5y ago
  I'll bet you wish "New Text Document" would be the first choice by now too, using most-recently-used order. Has anyone ever right-clicked and said "Yeah I want to make a new Microsoft Access Database here"?
  - BitwiseFool 5y ago
    It's too late, my muscle memory is firmly embedded. I still find myself going to where "Add/Remove Programs" in the old control panel but Windows changed it to "Programs and Features" decades ago.
lp0_on_fire 5y ago
>This is handy for running scripts, but why the "shift" modifier? Same for "Open commandline/powershell" when right clicking whitespace of directory. Not a solution to your particular gripe but you can actually type "powershell" or "cmd" (minus quotes) into the address bar in windows explorer and it will open in that directory.
- _carbyau_ 5y ago
  Holy crap, you can too. Thanks for the tip!
  - _carbyau_ 5y ago
    Further clarification: google and 3 seconds of testing advise you can run any executable in your PATH environment variable. Though there is some other step going on as "powershell" will set the current working dir on startup. Possibly a class entry in registry defining the full command to run.
- amanzi 5y ago
  Wow - news to me! thanks.
- ToFab123 5y ago
  On win 11 typing cmd open a command prompt. Typing powersshell makes explorer navigate to "documents\powersshell". Edit: typing powershell.exe does the trick
  - drdeca 5y ago
    You sure it isn’t just because you wrote powershell as powersshell ? The former worked for me
    - int_19h 5y ago
      Better yet, "pwsh".
    - 5y ago
JoBrad 5y ago
In some contexts pasting a copied file pastes the full path to it. For example, copy a file, then paste into the Open dialogs name input, and you’ll get the full path to the file.
- laurent92 5y ago
  I hate that macOS got rid of the textfield for the path. You can display it only using Ctrl+Shift+G, and it opens a second popup with the single text field, but it is not working together with the UI…
contextfree 5y ago
Since Windows 8 added the ribbon to Explorer I've always put the copy-as-path button in the quick access toolbar (right click on the button -> Add to Quick Access Toolbar) for simple pervasive one-click access. Apparently Windows 11's Explorer is ditching the ribbon for a simpler looking toolbar. Most people I've seen who've tried it seem to be responding positively due to the less cluttered appearance, which is understandable, but TBH as someone who actually uses a lot of the Explorer functionality I'm not looking forward to more stuff being buried.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
hoseja 5y ago
You can get the "dir" in the file properties. A little annoying but it's there.

naikrovek 5y ago

> copy and paste a file listing. IE a simple "dir". I think you can do "dir | clip" at the command line or in the address bar of an explorer window to get this. > checksums to verify downloaded files. there is a PowerShell commandlet that does this out of the box, if I remember correctly.

_carbyau_ 5y ago
The command line is useful. But in the same way most users are not likely to "touch newfile.txt" the GUI isn't helpful.
- naikrovek 5y ago
  yes, I know. I can't fix the Windows GUI, but I can try to offer workarounds. Not everyone knows all of the little things you can do, including myself.
accrual 5y ago
Get-FileHash myfile.txt An optional -Algorithm flag lets you choose between MD5, SHA256, etc. It's nice to have this built-in. For 3rd party options I really like HashTab [0] which is free for personal use. It places a configurable list of hashes in right-click > Properties, with a bonus of comparing the hashes against one you might already have on your clipboard and giving you a green "OK" if it matches. [0] http://implbits.com/products/hashtab/ http://implbits.com/products/hashtab/
_carbyau_ 5y ago
Ok, figured out more what you were getting at I think. As per sibling post to yours you can run executables from your PATH environment variable in the address bar. So while you can't run "dir" directly you can run CMD and pass it dir | clip, or as I did "powershell -command ls|clip" Nice one! Thanks for the direction!
- naikrovek 5y ago
  I try to help when I can. I can't usually solve the actual problem, but I can come up with a workaround. and I often mess those up, so I'm glad I helped you, even if it was only a little bit.

gruez 5y ago

>- doesn't show NTFS alternate data streams. How would that even work?

_carbyau_ 5y ago
Even if it were in the properties of a file it'd be something. Or treating the file like it does a compressed directory. Or any indicator at all.
CRConrad 5y ago
> >- doesn't show NTFS alternate data streams. > How would that even work? Throw a new pane into its main content preview frame, tabs on both the new and old, label them "Main stream" and "Alt stream" respectively? Something like that.

ergot_vacation 5y ago

Same here. Exclusively for txt files. Especially useful because sometimes you ONLY need a txt file with a title, no content, to act as a crude bit of meta-data for a folder. The excuse given in the article however just seems like rewarding bad behavior, and explains at least one reason why the Windows GUI is such a disaster (at this point, it's just years and years of junk accumulation as well, but even in 95 there always seemed to be at least 3 ways of doing the same thing).

tomc1985 5y ago
That sort of multipath convenience is a dying art. That there are so many ways to accomplish a task is one of the things I admire most about Windows (and to a lesser extent Linux) GUI design Modern app design almost always forces you into the developer's wonky custom save feature, if there is even a manual save at all, and with webapps you are forced to use cloud storage (possibly with a rental fee attached) as opposed to files on your local device. It would be really nice is everyone gave me standard open/save dialog boxes with all the OS accoutrements; I can't emphasize enough just how handy it is to be able to copy/paste, or create a new folder, or even manage files/directories or even launch programs from within a standard dialog... all because it is using the same view controls that Explorer uses!
- joshspankit 5y ago
  I always respected Windows’ multipath convenience. It felt inclusive in a way that accessibility measures still struggle with.
MarkLowenstein 5y ago
I'll bet you wish "New Text Document" would be the first choice by now too, using most-recently-used order. Has anyone ever right-clicked and said "Yeah I want to make a new Microsoft Access Database here"?
- BitwiseFool 5y ago
  It's too late, my muscle memory is firmly embedded. I still find myself going to where "Add/Remove Programs" in the old control panel but Windows changed it to "Programs and Features" decades ago.

lp0_on_fire 5y ago

>This is handy for running scripts, but why the "shift" modifier? Same for "Open commandline/powershell" when right clicking whitespace of directory. Not a solution to your particular gripe but you can actually type "powershell" or "cmd" (minus quotes) into the address bar in windows explorer and it will open in that directory.

_carbyau_ 5y ago
Holy crap, you can too. Thanks for the tip!
- _carbyau_ 5y ago
  Further clarification: google and 3 seconds of testing advise you can run any executable in your PATH environment variable. Though there is some other step going on as "powershell" will set the current working dir on startup. Possibly a class entry in registry defining the full command to run.
amanzi 5y ago
Wow - news to me! thanks.
ToFab123 5y ago
On win 11 typing cmd open a command prompt. Typing powersshell makes explorer navigate to "documents\powersshell". Edit: typing powershell.exe does the trick
- drdeca 5y ago
  You sure it isn’t just because you wrote powershell as powersshell ? The former worked for me
  - int_19h 5y ago
    Better yet, "pwsh".
  - 5y ago

JoBrad 5y ago

In some contexts pasting a copied file pastes the full path to it. For example, copy a file, then paste into the Open dialogs name input, and you’ll get the full path to the file.

laurent92 5y ago
I hate that macOS got rid of the textfield for the path. You can display it only using Ctrl+Shift+G, and it opens a second popup with the single text field, but it is not working together with the UI…

contextfree 5y ago

Since Windows 8 added the ribbon to Explorer I've always put the copy-as-path button in the quick access toolbar (right click on the button -> Add to Quick Access Toolbar) for simple pervasive one-click access. Apparently Windows 11's Explorer is ditching the ribbon for a simpler looking toolbar. Most people I've seen who've tried it seem to be responding positively due to the less cluttered appearance, which is understandable, but TBH as someone who actually uses a lot of the Explorer functionality I'm not looking forward to more stuff being buried.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

hoseja 5y ago

You can get the "dir" in the file properties. A little annoying but it's there.