Excellent question - I was having issues where I could not get consistent operation with the DeFraggler shell context menu option and discovered that I was saving my settings to an INI file. I am posting a procedure below outlining the steps, in order, of how to accomplish the task of getting DeFraggler?s shell menu extension up and running in a consistent fashion. For further help understanding the Windows shell context menu options in relation to DeFraggler operations see: the ?NOTES? section below the activation procedure at the bottom of this response for some quick tips.
Might be a touch late in response but, the context menu option can be enabled very easily:
1.) Open/start-up DeFraggler
2.) Choose 'Settings' from the DeFraggler System menu bar between the 'Action' and 'Help' menu options.
3.) Select the 'Options...' menu selection from the 'Settings' drop down menu.
4.) From inside the "Options" dialog pop-up window click the 'General' tab if it?s not the current tab with focus.
5.) Un-Check the 'checkbox' to the left of the second entry of the ?Advanced? group of options labeled "Save all settings to INI file.?
6.) Now, click the ?checkbox? at left of the last entry in the ?Advanced? group of options labeled ?Enable Shell Extension.?
7.) Click the "OK" button at the bottom-right of the "Options" dialog pop-up window.
Trouble shooting:
- If after you install DeFraggler and followed the directions in this post ensure that you have the required ?Administrative/User Group Privileges? with authorization to make the necessary system modifications for DeFraggler context menu support.
- Ensure that you are aware that specialized firewall settings and Anti-virus software may impede the proper installation and/or operation of context menu operations and you may have to consult the user documentation and/or support channels for such systems to eliminate security clashing.
- Make sure that no one has put a spell or curse on you.
- Don?t shoot me.
NOTES:
- DeFraggler immediately activates/de-activates the shell extension once you click the "OK" button of the "Options" dialog pop-up window after making changes to the setting.
- If the 'checkbox' and "Enable Shell Extension" option is grayed-out/inactive and you want to utilize this functionality then ensure that: you have not enabled the "Save all settings to INI file" by unchecking the 'checkbox' to the left of this dialog entry found in the "Options" dialog pop-up window under the 'General' tab and in the "Advanced" group of options ? it is the second entry down in the group.
- Due to the nature of using shell extensions Windows registry entries must be created and the system settings, including initialization settings, must be registered with Windows natively to use native system services; this means that an INI file will not be allowed to request system services as this could compromise UAC and security software like anti-virus. This being said, portable versions of DeFraggler will not currently be able to provide context menu accessibility for defragmentation operations on systems that don?t have the shell extension registry entry/entries required. These types of services must be registered and known by Windows at boot-time and is why you restart Windows after installing DeFraggler with shell context menu support; etc - this supports secure operations keeping you and your data safe/safer than otherwise.
P.S.
I use Windows 7 64bit and have the shell context menu option enabled and it works fine now; I disabled saving settings to an INI file which you really only need if you intend on using DeFraggler as a portable application on something like a thumb-drive or want a no-install system - there's the trade off. It's a small price to pay, having to natively install the DeFraggler system, to gain shell support if that's want you truly want.
Take care.
