Pavel Chuchuva

Far Manager is console-based file manager. I like it very much. Here’s how I configure it to get the maximum out of it:

1. Set raster font, 10 x 18. Set window size 80 x 26. Turn off selection with mouse (QuickEdit mode).
2. Turn on “Clear R/O attribute from CD files”: go to Options | System Settings. I never need files to be read-only when I copy them from CD or DVD to hard drive.
3. Turn on displaying hidden ($) shares: Options | Plugins configuration | Network browser | Show hidden shares. Now I can type net:computername and see C$, D$, etc.
4. Options | Confirmations. Turn off confirmations for:
   • Delete non-empty folders
   • Exit
5. Copy these command line archivers to C:\Program Files\Far folder:
   • pkzipc.exe
   • rar.exe
   • MsCab.exe
   • tar.exe

   Unfortunately Far Manager is not bundled with any archiver so you need to get them manually, from various web sites. Update: see below.

6. Options | Panel Settings | turn on “Select folders”. This allows using NumPad Star to select folders.
7. Go to Options | Interface Settings. Turn off “Clock in panels”. I already have a clock in lower right corner. There is no need for extra clock.Turn on “Show total copy progress indicator”. Otherwise I have absolutely no clue when operation is going to finish when I have lots of files to copy.
8. Go to Options | Editor Settings. Check “Del removes blocks”. Set tab size to 3. Default 8 is way to much.
9. Switch to Wide Mode. Press Left Ctrl + 4. I prefer this mode because I can see long file names and file sizes. Go to Options | File panel modes | Wide mode. Set Column Types to N,SC and Status line column types to NR,SC,D,T. This adds comma to file sizes:
   
10. Install EMenu plugin. Go to C:\Program Files\Far\Plugins\EMenu folder and execute Hotkey.reg. Now I can press Context Menu key to get Explorer menu for selected file or folder.
11. Can you read gray text on green background? I can’t.
    
    Go to Options | Colors | Dialogs | Unchanged text input. Set Foreground to black.

Update: Download pkzipc.exe, Rar.exe, MsCab.exe, gzip32.exe and tar.exe:

Extract far_archivers.zip to C:\Program Files\Far folder.

Tags: far-manager

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 at 16:17 and is filed under Software. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.