PowerExt Is A .Net Extension For Windows Explorer

May 10, 2011

PowerExt is a C++ is an extension for Windows Explorer, which is made for .Net Assemblies. It can display assembly version, assembly name, public key, strong name etc (in Windows Explorer). PowerExt  adds an additional .NET tab to the Windows Explorer’s File Properties dialog. It is an ATL COM component which registers itself as property sheet handlers for .DLL and .EXE files. When a user right-clicks on a DLL or EXE file within Windows Explorer window and selects Properties, the extension will try to determine if the selected file is a .NET assembly or not. In case the file is a .NET assembly, you will see a new .NET tab next to the General tab. This tab displays information such as assembly name, assembly version, assembly strong name, public key token and the public key. The information is particularly useful for programmers working with different versions of the same assembly. Without PowerExt, this information is not displayed by Windows Explorer in Windows Vista or Windows 7.

 

 

Requirements

  • Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable is required.
  • .NET Framework – Although PowerExt itself doesn’t use any managed code the unmanaged APIs that it uses are installed by .NET Framework so you will need a version of .NET Framework.

Troubleshooting

  • Module C:\Program Files\PowerExt\PowerExt.dll failed to register. HRESULT -2147010895. Contact your support personnel. – If you get this error then you need to install Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable
  • For  64-bit version of Windows 7 and after installing PowerExt you don’t see the .NET tab in the File Properties dialog then you might have installed the 32-bit (x86) build. Uninstall the 32-bit build and install the 64-bit build from the releases page.

Files

  • PowerExt.dll – The main add-in or extension dll
  • DnaInfo.exe – .NET Assembly Info (Diagnostics tool)

Limitations

  • It Might not be able to identify some .NET assemblies
  • On some machines the extension isn’t able to register the property sheet handlers and as a result you might not see the .NET tab

Tips

  • In Windows Explorer select a file and hit Alt+Enter to bring up the File Properties dialog.

Note: This application is still in Alpha stage and therefore, users might face functionality issues.

 

PowerExt works on

  • Windows XP
  • Windows Vista
  • Windows 7
  • Windows Server 2003
  • Windows Sever 2008

(Provided you have .Net Framework 3.5 or higher)

Download PowerExt