Readme for the LZX plugin for Total Commander


The current version of the LZX plugin is 2.2 !

This documentation explains how to install/update/uninstall the LZX plugin. It contains also the feature list, the contact information and the version history. It was last modified on 13.07.2012.

For a German version see Liesmich für das LZX-Plugin für Total Commander.

This documentation is part of the archive lzx_plugin.zip available on the plugins page of the website of Total Commander.

Features of the LZX plugin

The LZX plugin "Unlzx.wcx" makes it possible to unpack LZX archives with Total Commander. LZX is a popular AMIGA pack format. More LZX stuff and information can be found at The LZX Page by Jonathan Forbes and Tomi Poutanen. This webpage is from the authors of the LZX compression algorithm and the original LZX programs.

The plugin has following features:


Please read the documentation INI settings of the LZX plugin for detailed information about the INI file support by this unpacker plugin and the special features.

Known limitations: Paths with Unicode characters are not supported by the plugin!


Contact information

V2.2 of the LZX plugin was developed by Ing. Ofner Michael.

If you have suggestions for further improvements, or if you have found a program error or a mistake in the HTML documentations, post a reply on Total Commander plugins forum topic Updated version of the LZX packer plugin available.

The LZX plugin was first written by Sebastian Erbert.

For developers and programmers: The source code of the LZX plugin is also available in the archive lzx_source.zip.


Instructions for a new installation

If a previous version of the LZX plugin is installed already, please continue reading at chapter Updating the LZX plugin.

Since v6.50 Total Commander supports a guided automatic installation of plugins. Just double click on "lzx_plugin.zip" stored on a local drive or open it with key Enter or Return and follow the instructions, if the plugin is not installed already with this method.

A little disk space can be saved by deleting the German HTML documentations of the LZX plugin in the installation directory of the plugin. Also the English documentations can be deleted, if an extracted version is not needed.

If the automatic installation feature is disabled with AutoInstallPlugins=0 in Wincmd.ini or if a version of Total Commander prior v6.50 is used, do following to install and configure the plugin manually:

  1. Unzip at least the file "Unlzx.wcx" to the preferred directory.
  2. Choose from menu "Configuration" the menu item "Options".
  3. Select the branch/tab "Packer".
  4. Click on the button "Configure packer extension WCXs" or "Configure packer extension DLLs" depending on your version.
  5. Type "lzx" as new extension in the small field in the upper right corner.
  6. Click on button "New type", browse to Unlzx.wcx and open it.
  7. Click twice the button "OK" to finish the configuration of the plugin.


The described steps should add following into the INI of Total Commander:

[PackerPlugins]
lzx=128,path to unlzx.wcx\Unlzx.wcx

The number after the equal sign is the info for Total Commander, that this packer plugin supports the text search in archived files (PK_CAPS_SEARCHTEXT).


Updating the LZX plugin

If a previous version of the LZX plugin is installed already, install the new version either with the automatic installer to the same directory as the already existing plugin or manually by unpacking new "Unlzx.wcx" with overwriting existing Unlzx.wcx. If write access is denied to the file because the plugin is already loaded, close Total Commander and restart TC to unload the plugin and get write access to the file.

If the text search capability of the LZX plugin should be available, the LZX plugin packer options must be reconfigured now manually by executing following steps:

  1. Choose from menu "Configuration" the menu item "Options".
  2. Select the branch/tab "Packer".
  3. Click on the button "Configure packer extension WCXs" or "Configure packer extension DLLs" depending on your version.
  4. Select the extension "lzx" in the small field in the upper right corner.
  5. Set the cursor at start of the large field "Associate with" and replace the number 0 with the number 128. If there is no number (after an automatic install), do nothing here. Total Commander will get the packer options from the plugin on first usage.
  6. Click twice the button "OK" to finish the reconfiguration of the plugin.


At least v5.51 of Total Commander is needed for usage of the text search feature.

Additionally delete the file "lzx_read.txt" in the plugin directory which exists maybe from a previous version of the plugin and unzip the new HTML documentations to the plugin directory (optional).


Uninstalling the LZX plugin

If the LZX plugin is not needed anymore and should be uninstalled, execute following steps:

  1. Choose from menu "Configuration" the menu item "Options".
  2. Select the branch/tab "Packer".
  3. Click on the button "Configure packer extension WCXs" or "Configure packer extension DLLs" depending on your version.
  4. Select the extension "lzx" in the small field in the upper right corner.
  5. Set the cursor into the large field "Associate with", remember the path to Unlzx.wcx and delete the complete text in this field.
  6. Click twice the button "OK" to finish the deletion of the LZX plugin from the INI of Total Commander.
  7. Browse to the LZX plugin directory and delete all files starting with "unlzx" and also the directory itself, if it is empty now. If the plugin Unlzx.wcx cannot be deleted, close Total Commander and restart it to unload the plugin and so get write/delete access to the file.
  8. Finally search for "pkplugin.ini" in the directory of Wincmd.ini and if this INI exists, open it with a text editor, search for the section [Unlzx] and delete the whole section, or the whole INI file, if it does not contain settings from other packer plugins. If pkplugin.ini was not used, search for "Unlzx.ini" in the directory of Wincmd.ini or the plugin directory and delete this file too.


Thanks for testing/using the LZX plugin!


Version history of the LZX plugin


V2.2 from 13.07.2012

64-bit version now available with same functioning as 32-bit version.

The used functions from the Windows libraries are embedded in x64 version of the plugin to avoid a dependence on msvcr100.dll. But that makes the x64 version considerable larger as the x86 version of the plugin which is linked dynamically with kernel32.dll and msvcrt.dll.

Bug fix:


V2.1 from 28.12.2011

Bug fixes:


Small enhancements:


V2.0 from 03.01.2007

Bug fixes:


New features:


Further improvements:


All these fixes and improvements were added by Ing. Ofner Michael.

All previous versions were written and released by Sebastian Erbert.

Thanks to Sebastian Erbert and Christian Ghisler for additional support and information!


V1.1 from 01.09.2004

Last version released by Sebastian Erbert, first author of the LZX plugin.

Fixed error caused by not initializing the output buffer to 0. (Changed version number to 1.1 since first release was named 1.0.)


V0.4 from 28.08.2004

Workaround for files with bad CRC which are not extracted furthermore as before, but are reported to Total Commander now. So the user is informed now, which files were not unpacked because of a CRC error. Main reason for bad archives - see question 1 in the LZX FAQ at The LZX Page by Jonathan Forbes and Tomi Poutanen.


V0.3 from 03.03.2002

Bug fix: some archives were not unpacked correctly.


V0.2 from 12.01.2002

Bug fix: subdirectories in the archives were not created.
Progress monitor implemented (code from Christian Ghisler used).


V0.1 from 17.12.2001

First test version.