Altap Salamander 3.0 Changelog

Release date: April 1, 2014

  • Compatible with Windows 8.1, 8, 7, Vista, XP, and 2000 (both 32-bit and 64-bit). Fixed compatibility warning when starting Altap Salamander on Windows 8.1.
  • New native x64 (64-bit) version of Altap Salamander to bypass limitations of x86 (32-bit) version (File System Redirector, Registry Redirector). With x64 version you will see real directories on your disks instead of redirected ones, x64 keys in Registry (x86 keys are under Wow6432Node), and context menu items coming from x64 shell extensions. All plugins were ported to x64 except of UnACE (there is no x64 version of UnACE library) and third-party plugins: WinSCP and Eroiica Viewer. Start x86 version for tasks you cannot finish with the x64 build. Both x64 and x86 versions of Altap Salamander 3.0 can be installed at the same time and sharing the same configuration in the Registry. Note: we plan to port Eroiica Viewer to x64 version.
  • Copy files on Windows 7 and later: we have added faster asynchronous algorithm for copying files to/from network. Its speed on our local GLAN network is 111 MB/s, conventional algorithm speed is 86 MB/s. It affects also moving of files in case you are not moving in scope of one volume (then it is just rename, not copy and delete).
  • Support for WinRAR 5.0.
  • Support for progress bars in Windows 7 and 8 taskbar buttons.
  • Hot paths are available in Altap Salamander jump list (Windows 7+ feature).

Altap Salamander 3.0 has most reliable copy routine on the market

  • When copying is interrupted (e.g. network is temporarily disconnected or target disk is full), Salamander can resume copying and continue where copy operation was interrupted. It verifies end of unfinished target file against source file to detect potential write errors. It's especially useful for long transfers via VPN or other slow networks. Explorer and Total Commander (TC) always start from the beginning, resuming is not supported.
  • Copying/moving links (junction points, symlinks, or volume mount points) to different disk: choose if you want to copy link target or skip it and just create empty directory. Explorer always skips links when moving and copies link target when copying, TC always copies link target.
  • Copy can optionally remove ADS from copied files/directories.
  • Copy is also optimized for slower VPN. It uses smaller blocks, so progress is smooth and you can cancel operation instantly. Explorer and TC uses always large blocks, so progress is changing slowly and cancel is unresponsible.
  • Copy files or directories with ADS to disk not supporting ADS (e.g. FAT32 flash disk). Salamander asks if you want to continue and shows list of streams which will be lost. Explorer asks if you want to copy without properties. TC copies quietly without streams (it loses data without any warning).
  • Note: Altap Salamander, Windows Explorer, and Total Commander were tested with default settings.

Cloud Storage Services support

  • Change Drive Menu and Drive Bar newly contain items for most popular Cloud Storage Services. Currently we have supported Google Drive, Dropbox, and Microsoft SkyDrive.
  • Google Drive icon overlay handler crashed when called from two threads simultaneously (for left and right panel), so we have added synchronization. We use this handler only for files/folders located in Google Drive folder (it is relatively slow).
  • Fixed getting of location of Microsoft SkyDrive local folder on Windows 8.1. Better displaying of files which are available online-only (they were hidden together with hidden and system files).

Language translations

  • New language versions: Dutch, French, Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Slovak. Note: Dutch and French versions are not completely translated.
  • Existing language versions: English, Czech, German, Hungarian, Romanian, and Spanish.
  • All language versions were changed to work well with any DPI user chooses (see Control Panel: Adjust font size). Many dialogs and their controls were enlarged to prevent clipping of contained texts.

Other changes

  • When Salamander is started "As Administrator", it displays "(Administrator)" in main window title just after version.
  • Shift+F3: focused file name is selected in Windows Explorer window.
  • Completely revamped bug reporting system with minidump support and option to upload report to Altap server.
  • Commands Paste (Change Directory) and Change Directory (Shift+F7) trim double quotes (see forum.altap.cz/viewtopic.php?t=4160) and expand environment variables.
  • Create Directory: added removing of spaces from beginning and end of specified directory name.
  • Compare Directories: compare by content is faster (up to 100%) for large files (more than 5MB) on Windows Vista/7/8/8.1.
  • Drive Information: it has displayed incorrect used space and free space for volumes with enabled disk quota.
  • User Menu: reading icons for menu items in separate thread, so it does not delay start of Altap Salamander even if icons are placed on network drives or encrypted drives. Reading of these icons have higher priority than reading of icons for invisible parts of panels. Until reading of icons is finished, User Menu contains just simple icons but you can use it as usual. See https://forum.altap.cz/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=6753.
  • Copy dialog: if you have "Preserve owners and permissions" as default and start copying from FAT32 drive (e.g. USB flash disk), it is no longer trying to preserve owners and permissions (it is not supported of FAT32).
  • Copy/Move with checked "Overwrite older and skip other existing files without asking": speed up when used to copy/move from slow network disk (e.g. from virtual private network - VPN) to local disk.
  • Copy/Move dialog new option: Ignore alternate data streams (ADS). Use this option to remove unwanted ADS from copied files/directories. Use this option also when you know copied/moved files and directories do not contain ADS and you are copying/moving from slow network disk (e.g. from virtual private network - VPN), it can speed up operation drastically, detection of ADS for all copied/moved files/directories is very slow.
  • If filename contains ':' (impossible on Windows, but possible on unix), Salamander reports error instead of working with ADS (Alternate Data Stream).
  • Command line parameters -L, -R, and -A can contain paths to archives which can be expanded up to 520 chars (long path in archive on long path). Whole command line limit is 4096 chars now.
  • Fixed missing 'SystemDrive' environment variable that caused problems during starting various software (for example Visual Studio *.SLN) from Altap Salamander: https://forum.altap.cz/viewtopic.php?t=6929&p=26525.
  • Windows 8: fixed broken command Open With invoked from the context menu. https://forum.altap.cz/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=6730 and https://forum.altap.cz/viewtopic.php?t=6782.
  • Paths for left/right/active panel passed in command line parameters are expanded (environment variables), it is possible to use %APPDATA%, etc. https://forum.altap.cz/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=6943.
  • Fixed disabled look of "owner draw" buttons.
  • Flat progress bars look.
  • Using external packer/unpacker on path containing '$' failed due to erroneous expansion of initial directory for packer/unpacker.
  • Find window: double click and Enter key open focused file or directory (not all selected ones as in Explorer). You can still use Open command from right click context menu to open all selected files if you need it.
  • Fixed environment variables reload problem: https://forum.altap.cz/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6188.
  • Fixed wrong TortoiseSVN icon placement in Windows XP context menu: https://forum.altap.cz/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5627.
  • Fixed context menu icons on Windows 7 with DPI > 100%.
  • 64-bit Windows and x86 Salamander: Drag&Drop and Copy&Paste from archives or file systems (e.g. FTP) to Explorer is working again (we have added 64-bit shell extension).
  • If viewer window is disabled, it does not accept any commands. It has fixed problem with ClipMate. See: https://forum.altap.cz/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=7346.

Automation plugin

  • Fixed bug that caused Altap Salamander to crash when executing Python scripts. See https://forum.altap.cz/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6934.
  • Some blocking operations (Form, Sleep, MsgBox etc.) can now be aborted.
  • Improved plugin stability when using Ruby scripting engine.

Check Version plugin

  • Plugin is not auto-unloaded when Save configuration on exit option is turned off and plugin configuration is changed. It is now possible to keep changed plugin settings.
  • Added link with option to ignore specified module version.

Checksum plugin

  • Support for SHA-512 (from SHA-2 family, based on FIPS 180-2 standard).

File Comparator plugin

  • If two compared files have the same bytes, File Comparator reports that they are identical. If it just cannot find any difference (all differences are ignored: encoding, white spaces, etc.), it reports only that files appear equal.
  • Fixed displaying of long text lines with differences (over 4681 chars).
  • Fixed opening File Comparator with fcremote.exe while Salamander window was minimized.
  • Small utility for starting File Comparator plugin from the command line, see plugins\filecomp\fcremote.exe.

FTP Client plugin

Registry Editor plugin

  • Registry Editor is using reg.exe instead of regedit.exe for Registry exports. The UAC escalation is not needed anymore.

TAR plugin

  • Don't touch OldGnuHeader if archive is not OldGnu format.

UnRAR plugin

  • Support for new RAR 5 format.

WinSCP plugin

Other links

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