UE context menu item missing

UE context menu item missing

8
NewbieNewbie
8

    Apr 06, 2021#1

    The right-click UltraEdit menu item is gone.  Any guess as to why?  To my knowledge, I didn't change anything to cause this.  Could Windows updates be doing this?

    In any case, how do I correct this?  Deselecting and reselecting "Integrate with Explorer as" does not fix the problem.  I'd rather not mess with the registry unless it's just loading a reg file.  Will reinstalling UE correct this?  This is Win 10 and UE 25.00.0.58.  Thanks

    6,687587
    Grand MasterGrand Master
    6,687587

      Apr 07, 2021#2

      First, make sure that in the program files folder of UltraEdit there are the files ue32ctmn.dll and ue64ctmn.dll which are the 32-bit and 64-bit shell extension DLLs for Windows File Explorer context menu integration. If they do not exist, uninstall UltraEdit, restart Windows to complete the uninstall (pending file rename operations to delete files currently in use), and install UltraEdit again. You must have the installer executable or MSI file of UE v25.00.0.58.

      Then open Advanced - Settings or Configuration - File Associations and uncheck the check box option Integrate with Explorer as. Click on button Apply. Users of newer UltraEdit versions with no Apply button must close the configuration dialog now to apply the change to the Windows registry hive of current user and then open the configuration dialog once again. Then check the option Integrate with Explorer as and click on button OK to apply the change once again to Windows registry hive for current user and close the configuration dialog. Users of a newer UltraEdit version with no button OK must close the configuration dialog once again to apply the change in Windows registry.

      It could be that your anti-virus application interprets the shell extension DLLs false positive as threat and prevents Windows File Explorer loading the appropriate UltraEdit shell extension DLL.

      There have been two updates for the shell extensions DLLs since UE v25.00.0.58:

      UE 27.10.0.148 released 2020-11-05
      • Fixed Windows File Explorer integration on Windows Server 2019
      UE 26.20.0.46 released 2019-10-17
      • Addressed blending issues with Windows Explorer context menu icons (dark mode support)
      It is possible to extract the two files ue32ctmn.dll and ue64ctmn.dll from MSI file of latest version of UltraEdit and replace the two files installed with UE v25.00.0.58 while not currently loaded by Windows File Explorer (uncheck integration in UE, restart Windows (to restart explorer.exe running as Windows shell), replace the files, check integration in UE).
      Best regards from an UC/UE/UES for Windows user from Austria

      8
      NewbieNewbie
      8

        Apr 07, 2021#3

        ue32ctmn.dll and ue64ctmn.dll were missing.  I replaced them and now the context menu is back.  I scanned them with Win Defender and they show as not a threat.  Weird.  In any case thank you!

        6,687587
        Grand MasterGrand Master
        6,687587

          Apr 10, 2021#4

          I thought about the missing DLLs because that is a common issue for many applications when a user uninstalls and reinstalls an application without restating window after the uninstall before the reinstall.

          A user uninstalls an application, but the uninstaller could not immediately delete all files and directories as some files are currently loaded by another process like Windows Explorer which has loaded the the context menu DLLs. So the uninstaller uses the Windows function MoveFileEx to tell Windows to remove the currently used files and folders on next start of Windows at a very early state during the start. Most uninstallers including the uninstallers of the IDM applications do not inform the user that a restart of Windows is necessary to complete the uninstall as most users are not happy about such a message. Such a file operation done on start of Windows is called a pending file rename operation.

          It can be executed in a Windows command prompt window:

          Code: Select all

          %SystemRoot%\System32\reg.exe query "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager" /ve
          %SystemRoot%\System32\reg.exe query "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager" /v PendingFileRenameOperations
          %SystemRoot%\System32\reg.exe query "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager" /v PendingFileRenameOperations2
          If the first one is successful, i.e. the registry key is correct entered, and the second and third command produce an error message because of neither the multi-line registry string value PendingFileRenameOperations nor PendingFileRenameOperations2 (never seen by me) exist under this registry key, then it is safe to immediately reinstall the just uninstalled application. But if either PendingFileRenameOperations or PendingFileRenameOperations2 is output by the second or the third command, it is highly recommended to restart Windows before reinstalling the application into the same directory as before as it could otherwise happen that some files of the already reinstalled application like the shell extension DLLs of UltraEdit are deleted on next restart of Windows.

          I always restart Windows after an uninstall of an application before I reinstall it in same, newer or older version. Sometimes I can see after an uninstall that there are left program files in program files directory of the just uninstalled application. In some cases the program files directory and some files and subdirectories of an uninstalled application are even left after restart of Windows. In this case I delete as administrator the program files directory of the uninstalled application when I am 100% sure that the remaining files and directories are really no longer needed after the uninstall, i.e. the remaining files and directories are not user configuration files and also do not belong to another application or service of the same company which are still installed. For example UltraEdit, UEStudio and UltraCompare use all the files in %ProgramFiles%\IDM Computer Solutions\Common (64-bit) respectively %ProgramFiles(x86)%\IDM Computer Solutions\Common (32-bit). That are so called shard DLLs managed with a counter for each file in Windows registry, so that the uninstaller of each application knows when it is safe to remove also the files used by multiple applications.
          Best regards from an UC/UE/UES for Windows user from Austria