Total Commander

Hi. I frequently perform copy/move operations when already performing other disk activity operations (with other software, like Steam or Onedrive, for instance).

The fact is I seldom start 2 concurrent processes that use the same drive to avoid a performance loss, but I frequently also plan in advance in teh meanwhile for the next copy/move actions to be started once the current actions are completed.

A sort of "[Shift F2] Enqueue only (don't start)" option or action button that puts the selected files in the copy/move queue but doesn't actually start the copy/move action would help with this.

Currently I start the copy/move and immediately Pause the copy/move action, but it would be more efficient to not start the disk operation at all until it is desired. (I know that with SSD's fragmentation is not an issue, but having this option may help with this too in older HDDs).

A partial solution:
You can launch background transfert manager with command cm_OpenTransferManager and pause.
Then prepare your background operations and finally execute. As only one "Queue" is available you will not be able to execute and prepare at the same time.

nsp wrote: 2025-05-12, 04:19 UTC A partial solution:
You can launch background transfert manager with command cm_OpenTransferManager and pause.

That's what I actually do. Mark > F6 Move > F2 Enqueue > immediately Pause. Although the Move operation actually starts. which is not desired.
Then I continue browsing other dirs for further enqueuing additional files for Copy/Move (disk maintenance or project backups, for instance)

Helix751 wrote: 2025-05-12, 12:09 UTCAlthough the Move operation actually starts. which is not desired.

The proposed workaround with command cm_OpenTransferManager just open background transfer dialog without any operation if no transfer started. You can pause manually [pause] or add a delayed sleep using [+] url sleep:3600000 (time in ms).
once paused, no need to specify do not start each time you want to copy/move in bg.

Using an ahk/auto-it/powerpro/... script you can pause it sending <tab><tab><tab><space> key to the "Total Commander" dialog #32770. Build an em_usercmd to chain call of cm_OpenTransferManager and call of script.
then prepare your backgroud operations and click continue when ready.