C++ Re-code: NFE: Razer - R1

Noxen File Explorer: Razer Native — v2.0 R1

Release type: Major native rebuild / final v2.0 R1 release
Build name: NoxenFE: Razer Native
Version: v2.0
Release: R1
Platform: Windows x64
Framework: C++ / Qt 6 / Native Windows APIs
Status: Final release build

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Overview

Noxen File Explorer: Razer Native v2.0 R1 is a full native C++ rebuild of the original Python/PySide6 Noxen File Explorer.

The original Noxen File Explorer had the basic idea and layout already working, but the Python version could become laggy, buggy, and more crash-prone on newer Windows systems. This release rebuilds the project as a faster, more native Windows file explorer while keeping the original Noxen-style workflow and bringing back many of the older features in a cleaner way.

This release is not just a small update. It is a full rebuild with a new internal structure, native Windows integration, a modular feature-DLL system, MTP phone browsing support, built-in archive/ISO tools through 7-Zip, improved view modes, a better start page, Quick Access tools, preview/details pane, licensing windows, and a special optional one-file EXE build.

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Download Options

This release is meant to have two main distribution styles:

Recommended Build

Use the normal installed or extracted build for the best stability.

This build keeps the EXE, Qt runtime files, custom feature DLLs, resources, 7-Zip files, and licenses as normal files and folders. This is the cleanest layout and the easiest to update or debug.

One-File EXE Build

A one-file EXE version is also available for users who want a single portable executable.

The one-file build embeds the full runtime payload inside the EXE. Because Windows and Qt cannot reliably load all normal DLLs and Qt platform plugins directly from inside an EXE, the one-file build extracts its private runtime on launch and then starts NoxenFE from that extracted runtime.

Runtime extraction location:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Noxen File Explorer\OneFileRuntime\

From the user's point of view, only one EXE needs to be downloaded and launched.

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Project Links

• GitHub: https://github.com/sonicFanTech/Noxen-File-explorer
• Website: https://sonicfantech.org/Site/DownloadNFE/

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Major Changes in v2.0 R1

Full Native C++ Rebuild

Noxen File Explorer has been rebuilt from the older Python/PySide6 version into a native C++/Qt application.

This rebuild is designed to improve:

• Startup speed
• Folder browsing responsiveness
• Stability
• Native Windows behavior
• File operation reliability
• Long-term maintainability
• Runtime packaging
• Feature expansion through custom DLLs

The new build is no longer treated as a Python script converted into an EXE. It is now a real native desktop application.

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Final Release Highlights

New Native UI Foundation

The main NoxenFE window has been rebuilt in C++/Qt with a Windows desktop layout inspired by the original Noxen File Explorer.

Included UI areas:

• Menu bar
• Toolbar
• Address bar
• Search box
• Sidebar/navigation pane
• Tab system
• Folder view
• This PC view
• Home/Quick Access page
• Preview/details pane
• Context menus
• Settings window
• About window
• License windows

Tabbed File Browsing

The tab system is now part of the native C++ build.

Added tab features include:

• Multiple folder tabs
• New tab support
• Close tab support
• Duplicate tab support
• Close other tabs
• Remembering open tabs between sessions
• Better startup behavior so the Home page still opens properly
• Tab right-click menu

Address Bar and Navigation

The address bar supports normal path entry and direct navigation.

Added navigation behavior:

• Enter a folder path directly
• Use Ctrl + L to focus and select the address bar
• Back navigation
• Forward navigation
• Up navigation
• Refresh current folder
• Home page navigation
• This PC navigation
• MTP path navigation
• Command running from the address bar for command-style entries

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Home / Quick Access Page

A new Home page was added as the main start page.

The Home page includes:

• Common folders
• Quick Access locations
• Pinned folders
• Recent locations
• Recent files
• Drive shortcuts
• Cleaner startup workflow

Quick Access data can now be managed more easily.

Added cleanup actions:

• Remove pinned folder
• Remove all pinned folders
• Clear recent locations
• Clear recent files
• Clear all Quick Access data

These tools make it much easier to reset the Home page without manually editing settings files.

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This PC and Drive Support

The new This PC page provides a custom native drive overview.

Drive features include:

• Local drives
• Removable drives
• USB drives
• HDD/SSD detection through Windows drive listing
• Storage usage bars
• Custom drive color settings
• Drive context menu
• Open drive
• Eject drive where supported
• Open Disk Management

The drive bars were also upgraded with customizable colors so the user can control the visual style of drive usage indicators.

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View Modes

Folder view modes were added to make NoxenFE feel more like a real file explorer.

Supported folder view modes:

• Details
• List
• Small icons
• Medium icons
• Large icons
• Extra large icons

The selected view mode is saved in settings.

Ctrl + Mouse Wheel Icon Zoom

Icon/list views now support Explorer-style zooming with:

Ctrl + Mouse Wheel

This changes the icon size while browsing folders.

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File Actions and Keyboard Shortcuts

Several normal file-manager actions were added or polished.

Added shortcuts:

• F2 — Rename selected file/folder
• Delete — Move selected file/folder to Recycle Bin
• Ctrl + L — Focus/select address bar

Added file actions:

• Open selected item
• Rename file/folder
• Delete to Recycle Bin
• Open file location where possible
• Shortcut target handling
• Archive actions
• ISO actions
• MTP actions

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Preview and Details Pane

A preview/details pane was added so NoxenFE can show more information about selected files and folders.

The pane can show file/folder information such as:

• Name
• Path
• Type
• Size
• Modified date
• Basic preview/details information

The preview/details pane can be toggled from the View menu and saved in settings.

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Settings Window

The Settings window was expanded during the v2.0 R1 rebuild.

Settings now include options for areas such as:

• Startup behavior
• Session restore
• Default view mode
• Icon size
• Preview/details pane visibility
• Drive bar colors
• Quick Access behavior
• Other UI preferences

Settings are stored so NoxenFE can remember user preferences across launches.

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MTP / Phone Device Support

One of the biggest additions in this release is built-in MTP device support.

This allows NoxenFE to browse phones and portable media devices without needing the device to appear as a normal drive letter.

MTP Support Includes

• Portable device scanning
• MTP phone detection
• MTP device listing in the sidebar / This PC-style areas
• Browsing device folders
• Opening MTP folders
• Refresh / rescan device support
• Reduced background scanning to prevent lag
• Worker-thread scanning so the UI does not freeze as easily

MTP File Actions

MTP action support was later expanded with:

• Export selected MTP files/folders to a PC folder
• Send local files to the current MTP folder
• Send a local folder to the current MTP folder
• Rename MTP files/folders where supported
• Open current MTP folder in Windows Explorer
• MTP toolbar buttons
• Better MTP context menu grouping

MTP Feature DLLs

MTP support is split into modular feature DLLs:

Resources\FeatureDLLs\MTPsupport\NoxenMtpDeviceScan.dll
Resources\FeatureDLLs\MTPsupport\NoxenMtpFs.dll
Resources\FeatureDLLs\MTPsupport\NoxenMtpActions.dll

This keeps MTP-specific code separate from the main EXE and makes the feature easier to maintain.

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Archive Support

Archive support was rebuilt around a bundled 7-Zip runtime.

Users do not need to install 7-Zip separately for NoxenFE archive features to work.

Supported Archive Actions

Archive context-menu actions include:

• Open archive
• Open archive in 7-Zip File Manager
• Extract Here
• Extract to archive-name folder
• Extract to chosen folder
• Test archive
• Create ZIP archive from selected files/folders
• Create 7Z archive from selected files/folders

Supported Archive Types

Archive support is powered by 7-Zip, so the supported formats depend on the included 7-Zip runtime.

Common supported formats include:

• .zip
• .7z
• .rar extraction/listing
• .tar
• .gz
• .bz2
• .xz
• .cab
• .iso
• and other formats supported by the bundled 7-Zip version

Note: RAR creation is not supported. 7-Zip can extract/list RAR archives, but RAR compression is proprietary and is not implemented as a create option.

Bundled 7-Zip Files

The release includes 7-Zip runtime files so archive features work out of the box.

Bundled files include:

7z.exe
7z.dll
7zFM.exe
7-zip.dll
7-zip32.dll
License.txt

These files are kept as third-party runtime files in the normal build.

7-Zip File Manager Integration

Because 7-Zip redistribution is allowed when the required license information is included, NoxenFE includes an option to open archives in the real 7-Zip File Manager.

Added action:

Archive > Open in 7-Zip File Manager

This gives users a familiar full archive viewer without requiring NoxenFE to recreate every part of 7-Zip's interface.

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ISO Support

NoxenFE no...

NFE - 2.0.1

Noxen File Explorer: Razer Native — v2.0.1 R1.1

GitHub tag: RN-R1.1

This release updates NFE from the base native rebuild into the first updater-ready version.

Quick Summary

v2.0.1 R1.1 adds the updater foundation for Noxen File Explorer. The main app is still the Razer Native C++ / Qt file explorer line, but this release adds update package downloads, SHA-256 checksum validation, updater settings, rollback/log/cache folders, built-in themes, SaveData storage, Backspace-as-Up behavior, and a Win32 fallback repair mode.

Recommended Download

Use the Normal folder build unless you specifically need the one-file wrapper.

Build	File	Recommended for
Normal folder build	NoxenFE_RazerNative_v2_0_1_R1_1_NormalBuild.zip	Most users, update testing, repair testing, and troubleshooting.
One-file build	NoxenFE_RazerNative_v2_0_1_R1_1_OneFileBuild.zip	Users who want a single EXE-style wrapper.

New in v2.0.1 R1.1

• Added resources/update/NFEUpdate.exe as the external updater launcher.
• Added resources/update/NFEUpdateQt.dll for the Qt updater UI.
• Added Win32 fallback / repair mode so the updater can repair resources/Qt/ without loading Qt.
• Added server-side SHA-256 checksum validation for update packages.
• Added updater folders:
  • Logs/
  • RoleBacks/
  • cashes/
  • Checksums/
  • DownloadedUpdatePackage/
• Added updater settings under resources/SaveData/.
• Added built-in themes under resources/Themes/built-in/.
• Added future custom theme folder under resources/Themes/custom/.
• Added Backspace-as-Up folder navigation behavior.
• Moved settings/save data into resources/SaveData/.

Update Package Paths

The updater expects the website update folder to use this layout:

update/
├─ latest.zip
├─ latest.7z
├─ latest.tar
├─ update.wim
├─ Checksums/
│  ├─ latest.zip.sha256.txt
│  ├─ latest.7z.sha256.txt
│  ├─ latest.tar.sha256.txt
│  └─ update.wim.sha256.txt
└─ OF/
   ├─ update.zip
   ├─ update.7z
   ├─ update.tar
   ├─ update.wim
   └─ Checksums/
      ├─ update.zip.sha256.txt
      ├─ update.7z.sha256.txt
      ├─ update.tar.sha256.txt
      └─ update.wim.sha256.txt

Install Notes

1. Download the build ZIP.
2. Extract it to its own folder.
3. Run NFE.
4. Open Settings → Updater to configure update behavior.
5. Use Tools → Check for Updates to open the updater from inside NFE.

One-File Build Note

The one-file build is still a wrapper around an extracted runtime. That is expected because Qt plugins, feature DLLs, updater files, and helper tools need to exist on disk.

When testing a new one-file build, delete the old extracted runtime first:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Noxen File Explorer\OneFileRuntime

Known Notes

• Normal folder build is the safest/recommended release package.
• The updater uses bundled NFE 7-Zip files, not the system-installed 7-Zip context menu.
• Normal update mode skips resources/Qt/; Repair mode uses the Win32 fallback when Qt files need to be replaced.
• If an update fails, check resources/update/Logs/.

Release History Context

This is the first updater-ready Razer Native release. The previous public GitHub releases are:

• RNR1 — v2.0 R1, the first Razer Native C++ rebuild.
• R3.1 — final Python-era bug-fix / quality release.
• R3 — Python-era big update.
• R2 — Python-era feature update.
• R1 — first public Python-era release.

Website

• NFE Download Center: https://sonicfantech.org/Site/DownloadNFE/
• Repository: https://github.com/sonicFanTech/Noxen-File-explorer
• All releases: https://github.com/sonicFanTech/Noxen-File-explorer/releases

NoxenFE R3.1

R3.1 (v1.4.1) — Bug‑fix & quality update
This release is focused on fixes and reliability after the big R3 update.

Fixes

• Copy / Paste / Cut / Paste reliability fix:
  • Paste now correctly handles folder structures (including empty folders) and no longer “does nothing” after the progress‑UI update.
• Disk Management (drive context menu → “Open Disk Management”):
  • Now launches reliably (via MMC) instead of failing silently.
• Ejected drive ghosting:
  • Drives that were ejected and hidden no longer re‑appear unexpectedly while still plugged in.

Startup performance / stability:

• Device scans are now cached/throttled to reduce CPU usage and UI hitching.
• Minor runtime fixes (startup crash + warnings):
• Fixed missing helper method in the “This PC” view (_drive_type_str).
• Fixed an escape‑sequence warning that could show up in logs.

New

• Companion‑app workflow for true MTP browsing:

• NoxenFE launches NoxenMTPBrowser when the user opens a detected phone/camera device.

NoxenFE

1. Recent Locations + Recent Files (left sidebar)
   New Recent section in the left tree:

Recent Locations
Recent Files
It auto-updates when you:
navigate into folders (locations)
open files (files)
Stored in a new config file: recents.json

2. Context menu upgrades
   Open file location

If it’s a .lnk shortcut, it resolves the shortcut target and opens the target’s folder in a new tab.

Send to submenu
Desktop (create shortcut) (creates .lnk files)
7-Zip: ZIP archive (only appears if 7-Zip is detected)
“Better file-type aware” behavior:
ZIP-only stuff shows only for ZIPs

Open-with only enables for valid single-file selections, etc.

3. Copy/Move progress UI improved
   The progress dialog now shows more Explorer-like info:
   item count (X / total)
   current file path
   bytes done / total
   speed estimate
   ETA estimate (best-effort)

4. Drive eject behavior
   If you eject a removable drive, it now disappears in NoxenFE immediately (Explorer-style).
   This does not apply to CD/DVD drives (those still “eject disc”, not remove device).

5. Address bar upgraded (edit box + basic commands)
   the address bar can now run basic commands like Explorer:

cmd
powershell / pwsh
wt
explorer
cd
this pc

6. Remove items from Pinned / Recent
   Right-click in the left sidebar:
   Pinned items → Unpin
   Recent items → Remove from Recent
   Recent sections → Clear Recent Locations / Clear Recent Files

Setup installer coming soon, Only main EXE File

NoxenFE

updates

Right-click menu → New is now a proper New submenu (Folder, TXT, MD, PY, JSON, INI, BAT)

ZIP/Archive support: checks for 7-Zip. If found, adds:

Open archive in 7-Zip
Extract Here
Extract to “\”
Extract… (choose folder)
If 7-Zip is not installed, .zip files fall back to Browse ZIP… + Extract ZIP Here

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Notepad++: if installed, right-click shows Edit with Notepad++
Open with… fixed (more reliable method + fallback)
Backspace now goes up one directory
Drive eject improved (optical tray eject first, then fallback)

ISO right-click:

Mount (if not mounted)
Open mounted drive (X:) + Eject (Dismount) (if already mounted)

Delete keys:

Del = Recycle Bin
Shift+Del = permanent delete

NoxenFE

R1

Update README.md