A: Amiga Explorer was first released in 1997, when Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 were the latest operating systems on the PC side.

As we kept improving the software, both the Windows operating system and the development tools we use (e.g. Microsoft Visual Studio) raised the bar on the system requirements. While we tend to be more proud of our latest versions, "legacy support" is in our DNA, so if you badly need to run an older version, here is a list of installers to cover all versions of Windows:

• Current Version (requires Windows Vista or newer; if version 9.0 or higher is installed, see the Changelog tab in the Amiga Explorer Properties dialog; includes experimental windows XP SP3 support)
• Amiga Explorer 7.0.1.0 (2019: last version to officially support Windows XP, requires Windows XP SP3 or higher)
• Amiga Explorer 2008.0.0.0 (2008: last version to support Windows 9x, requires Windows 95 or higher, Windows NT 4.0 SP 6 or higher)

Known Issues

Older versions of Amiga Explorer do not support the latest features and protocol enhancements, including the ability to set the Amiga clock from the Windows side, file system operations (random read and write, append, etc.), CRC-32 checksums of files and disks, and queries for Amiga system properties (platform and branch, RAM, ROM version and CRC-32, various date and time attributes, etc.) Newer versions of Amiga Explorer also support a broader set of operating system versions on the Amiga side.

On Windows 95 (including SP1 and OSR2), files copied from the Amiga to the PC have their original dates "touched", i.e. changed to the current time. This is a limitation of the original Windows namespace extension code, and has been solved in Windows 98 and in more recent versions of Windows.

The Desktop Update included with Internet Explorer 4.00 introduced a side effect whereas nested directories (i.e. directories containing subdirectories) copied from the Amiga to the PC may in rare cases result in some subdirectories being copied to the root of the destination, rather than in their correct location. This issue has been fixed in newer versions.

On Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0, when Amiga Explorer cannot communicate at all with the Amiga side (e.g. for a cable problem, or incorrect speed setting, etc.), double-clicking the Amiga Explorer icon may cause the Desktop to become unresponsive until Amiga Explorer (and/or TCP/IP, if used) give up the initial attempt to communicate. This is because Windows namespace extensions (like Amiga Explorer) share the same task as the Desktop code, so that each task has to wait for the other to be complete. It appears likely that separate tasks will be used for this purpose in new versions of Windows, solving this issue. In any case, this delay should normally not last more than about 30 seconds, although it may take a bit longer in certain TCP/IP configurations, and in certain (particularly unfortunate) incorrect serial wirings it may occur that the serial interface receives an apparently correct signal that makes it wait for an indefinite amount of time.

If Amiga Explorer was originally installed on a Windows 95 or Windows 98 system, and fails to work after an upgrade to Windows 2000 or Windows XP, it may be necessary to reinstall Amiga Explorer, so that it can write some new registry settings which were not available on certain versions of Windows 95 and Windows 98. 

Related Links

• Amiga Explorer Home Page
• Amiga Forever System Requirements
• Amiga Explorer Troubleshooting