12Ghosts™ ShellX

Extend the right-click menu of files and folders, remove entries

Tucows:

ZDNet "5 Star"

What does it do for me?

Add powerful commands to the context menu, or right-click menu, of files and folders. Just right-click on a file in Explorer, or any Open or Save As dialog box, to access a dozen new user defined commands. You can save time, save clicks, and have your most often used commands always at a right-click distance.

This program also removes other entries! Some context menus are so cluttered that you can hardly find the useful commands. With 12-ShellX you may remove undesired entries, and add useful ones!

Copy Path to Clipboard

Copy the full path name of the selected file(s) to clipboard. If more than one file is selected, all paths will be copied to the clipboard as a list.

You can insert the path into any edit field by pressing Ctrl+V or by right-clicking and selecting Paste.

Note, if you click on a shortcut, this will copy the target path of the shortcut.

Copy Short Path

Copy the short 8.3 path of the selected file(s) to clipboard. If more than one file is selected, all paths will be copied to the clipboard as a list.

Copy File Name

Copy the file name of the selected file(s) to clipboard. If more than one file is selected, all paths will be copied to the clipboard as a list.

DOS Prompt Here

Bring up a DOS prompt (aka Command Line) with the selected folder as the current path. Note, that you may call any other program, for example 4DOS, with a normal "User Command". To change the current directory use these parameters:

4dos.exe /c cd "%1"

DOS Prompt and Start

Did you ever wonder what a batch file did, but the DOS box was set to "close on exit"? 12-ShellX's "DOS Prompt and Start" now supports DOS executables and batch files by opening a DOS box, executing the DOS exe or batch file and STICKS AROUND after all that! This way you can read the output even if you have "close on exit" enabled in the _default.pif. And you are still on the command line, so you can enter more commands! To try this, just right-click on a DOS executable or batch file and select DOS Prompt Here.

(Tip: to exit a DOS box with only one key stroke, it's a good idea to create a batch file called "e.bat" in your Windows folder, which just contains the line "exit". To exit you only need to type "e" and hit Return.)

New Subfolder Here

Create a new subfolder below the selected folder.

Save Directory List

Creates a "dir" as text file in the same folder and opens the text file in one step. Now you can format or print the directory listing.

Print Dir List

This is not really a built in command but an example to show how you can call DOS commands. Note: If you use Win9x you need to replace cmd.exe with command.com.

cmd.exe /c cd "%1" && dir /s > c:\treeprint.txt

The command line parameter "/c" will carry out the following command and then terminate.

First the current directory is set to the folder you right-clicked by calling 'cd "%1"', where "%1" is enclosed in double-quotation marks to handle long file names. "&&" is used to set two commands on the same line.

The default command uses "dir" to create a directory listing. You may add more parameters to the "dir" command to control formatting. ">" tells it to direct output to a file, in this case "c:\treeprint.txt".

Display and Copy File Properties

Display the following properties as a menu entry (all properties also appear in the status bar and you can copy them to clipboard):

Size in bytes. For folders, you have an additional option here: you can choose to calculate the size including subfolders only if CTRL is pressed. Depending on drive speed and folder size, calculation may be time consuming.
Date created
Date last modified
Date last accessed
The operating system for which the executable was designed for (of course, only if the developer set this value correctly.) The display of "Win32" means the application was designed to run on Windows 95/98/NT. "on NT" indicates NT is expected to be running, not DOS. "Win16" and "DOS" files rarely include a type or version.
Version of the file, if available. Most executables, DLLs and device drivers provide this information, for example to find the newest version of a file. Win16 and DOS files rarely include a type or version.

Copy To

Copy the selected file to a different folder. You will be presented with a browse box where you can choose the destination folder.

Move To

Ditto, but move the selected file.

Delete Now

Delete the file without using the Recycle Bin. Note, that the file could still be recovered with a disk editor. To permanently overwrite the file contents use 12-Shredder.

Copy File Here

Copies a file to the folder that you right-clicked. Enter the path to the file in the Path field when adding this command.

12-ShellX Settings

Open the 12-ShellX Settings window. In the Start menu you should also find a link to 12-ShellX settings to change the entries in the context menu.

12Ghosts File Management Programs

Add one of the four file management tools delivered with 12Ghosts:

12-Shredder: Nobody will ever be able to recover a file you put into 12-Shredder

12-FileDate: User-friendly dialog box to change the file times created, modified and last accessed. It also accepts command line options, for example 12filedate.exe /now "%1" to set all file times to the current time

12-Replace: Replace any text in files and folders, with file mask and preview

12-Zip: Fast compression, compatible to ZIP standard.

Remove any other entries

Some context menus are so long and cluttered that you can hardly find or identify the useful commands. With 12-ShellX it's simple to remove all but the most important ones.

12Ghosts Menu Just select in the list which commands you'd like to disable. You may re-enable them any time by removing the selection. Hold down CTRL while selecting more than one item.

If, for any reason, the entry you'd like to remove does not appear in the list you may add it. Just click the Plus button and enter the menu text.