<< Home

How Do I Set My Preferences?

Universal Explorer has two major functions (not including all the Special Tools) - to allow you to easily manage the files on your system/network and to allow you to view/edit almost any file without opening the file's native application.

There are a multitude of Preferences that can be set in Universal Explorer to make the program work better with the way you intend to use it.  The main preferences can be set from the Options menu item and it is important to set these the first time you use UE.

Configuration | Font | Filters | Quick Lanuch Bar | Other Preferences


Configuration

Configuration - General

Move icon to system tray when mimimized - if checked, will move UE to system tray when minimized.

Allow only 1 copy of Universal Explorer running at a time - if left unchecked, multiple instances of UE can be run at the same time.

Flat user interface (tool buttons) - if checked, all toolbar buttons will appear flat without any shadows or "button" appearance.

When starting, always open the following folder first - if checked and entered folder is exist, UE always opens this folder first.

Open folder on single click - if checked, folder will open on single click in UE file manager.

Configuration - Preview

When preview, skip file size over - when checked, you can specify a maximum file size to be launched into an associated Viewing/Editing window.  For instance, if you specify 50KB - any file under 50KB will be automatically launched into a Viewing/Editing window - while those larger will not.

Maximum number of preview - you can also designate a maximum number of Viewing/Editing windows to allow at one time.  The default is "0" or Unlimited.

Auto Preview Delay - when using Auto Preview, you can set the amount of time UE will wait between previewing of files. You set it by number of seconds. Default value is 3 seconds.

Document Font - the default font used to display text based documents - click the "!" button to change. The Default font is Windows system font.

Configuration - Other

When using Windows Explorer instead of Universal Explorer, options to launch Universal Explorer from the right-click menu are added. You can remove these options by unchecking the appropriate boxes.

The default path for any temporary files you open is the standard C:\windows\Temp directory. You may change this path if desired by clicking on the "!" button.  It is recommended you leave the "When exit, delete temporary files" option checked. This will automatically delete all temporary files placed in this directory by UE when it is closed.

When making changes to the Options - Configuration options - make sure the Save Settings option is checked so your changes are saved for future UE sessions.

Configuration - ActiveX

UE version 3.0+ supports ActiveX technology. So you can view Word/Excel files within UE without launching Word/Excel. Although it is slow but gives you accurate and extact display. To enable this feature, check "Word" and "Excel" options.

UE native HTML viewer can perfectly display most of the html files, except Java. So you can leave uncheked the "Internet Files" option.

 


Font

Here you can set program font and it reflects file manager panels, all list views, etc. The default font is MS Sans Serif.

 


Filters

By default, any file extension not defined in the Options - Filters will be opened in a Binary/Hex window. The filters in UE are pre-configured with the most popular file extensions assigned to the proper Viewing/Editing windows.

However, there may be certain file types you use that are not designated by default.  For instance, if you work with .csv files (comma delimited text) - that particular file extension is not setup as a default and therefore will open into a binary/hex window.  To correct this, go to the Document tab and place your cursor in the New Extension box - the dot "." will automatically appear - and type the new extension and click Add.  Now, every time you select a *.csv file in the UE File Manager - it will be launched into a Text Viewing/Editing window as it should be.

Note: If extension is not pre-defined, UE version 2.2+ auto checks first two lines of file's contents and opens the file in Text Editior if checked contents is plain text, otherwise opens in Hex Editior.


Quick Lanuch Bar

Use this dialog box to add popular application icons in the right side of UE main toolbar. You can add up to 10 icons here. When UE lanuched first time, it takes program icons from desktop. You can change default icons using this dialog. Always click Save button after you modify the list. If you do not wish this feature, delete all icons/titles from list and click Save button.

Note: if you are using 640*480 screen resolution then you will not be able to see quick lauch bar icons.


Other Preferences

The other preferences you may wish to change from the default settings are accessable via the Show and Preview menu items:

The Show menu controls what file types (associated in the filters) are displayed in File Manager and the Preview menu controls which Viewing/Editing windows will be launched when associated file types are selected in File Manager. By default, all files type will be displayed and launched.