Thanks - I added the options in submenu (originally they were in main menu) and now they appear. Maybe there is a conflict with BC2 in the explorer main menu options because before I shifted BC3 explorer options to a submenu they didn't appear at all ???

After uninstalling BC2, a lot of files were still left behind. I dropped to a cmd.exe shell to delete them (can't delete files used by active shell extensions with explorer ), and after I nuked those last traces, it was finally BC3 that was responsible for the "Select left file for compare" etc. shell context menus

Glad to see the BC3 discussion and discount. BC has been high on my most-useful shortlist since version 1, and BC3 Pro adds so much to older versions that it's a no-brainer must-have, especially for file management, remote and local backup, and text/source management. I also use its data (e.g. CSV) comparison module, which lags significantly behind folder and text comparison in power and friendliness but is still invaluable at times.

I bought BC3 and had a couple of questions.
Scooter Software was pleasant and efficient in its responses.