Windows 7 Taskforce

litemininyuszika wrote on January 6, 2009, 4:00pm

+1!
I'm NOT an initial/starter user, however, I can't change as many options from HKCR (HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT) as I can from XP's file types tab in Folder Options!

If someone knows how to make those changes in HKCR (or in another location at registry), please tell me!

Tian [MSFT] wrote on January 11, 2009, 10:20am

Please launch "Indexing Options" from the Start Menu (or Control Panel) and click Advanced to access the File Types tab. In Windows Vista, the File Types tab is also located in this window. The change in location corresponds to changes in Windows Search and Windows Explorer, both of which rely on the indexer to retrieve information concerning file properties and contents.

Sem wrote on January 12, 2009, 3:02am

Thanks for the reply
i tried what you said but there appears to be no way to manipulate it at all

its just a list of programs the indexer should add
can we please somehow manipulate it, by editing the description, open commands and deleting them completely etc.

Jereck wrote on January 19, 2009, 10:09pm

I definitely agree with this proposition !

WhatAPainToUseThisOS wrote on January 17, 2010, 5:18am

The only real good question is: how to perform custom task on a given file extension thanks to the former XP folder options \ File types tab.
Answer: you cannot because Microsoft staff is stupid and wants everybody else to behave like them: the stupid way.
So if you have a contextual menu to right click for jpeg resize, this feature is gone forever with Win7
Workaround: switch to Linux

nyp wrote on January 17, 2010, 5:37am

Try using this alternative instead:
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/file_types_manager.html

isjabelka wrote on January 22, 2010, 3:39pm

Option isn't missing, it is under:

Control panel\Programs\Default Programs\Set Associations

nyp wrote on January 23, 2010, 4:26am

@isjabelka - Then could you show us how to edit the context menu using just the default tools and not regedit? Seriously.

SomethingElse wrote on May 12, 2010, 5:21pm

YES! definitely!

xpclient wrote on September 25, 2010, 11:13am

+1000000000000000000000000000. I remember in the Vista beta timeframe when this got removed and the reason MS stated was "This was a lesser used GUI" and "n00bs ended up damaging their file associations by using this UI". That's why it was removed and got replaced by the dumbed down "Default Programs" feature. Ridiculous.

There are a ton of other file association editors but they are either ugly, complicated to use or don't expose the full functionality of XP's File Types tab. Default Programs Editor (http://defaultprogramseditor.com/) goes a long way in repairing the damage caused by this removal. Vote for all features of this tab to be added to Default Programs Editor as well here: http://defaultprogramseditor.uservoice.com.

Kiana wrote on October 11, 2010, 12:24pm

Oh boy... My prayers are finally answered

Here's a good looking app that does just that (change icons and menu commands for file types) : http://defaultprogramseditor.com/download

I found it here : http://www.winhelponline.com/blog/default-progr...-icon-windows-7-vista/

Edit : Heh, xpclient-san beat me to it (^_^)

Comment edited on October 11, 2010, 2:26pm

volkerk wrote on March 16, 2011, 3:52pm

The File Types feature was always arcane and hard to use, but removing it and forcing people to rely on the registry editor or third party apps is even more arcane and hard to use. The problem with Windows is that many default settings are completely unusable, and by hiding the way to correct them the product does not become easier to use for novices, but utterly frustrating and impossible! We constantly have to guide our users to change stupid or non-functional default settings, and now we can't even do that anymore without providing them .reg files to download and double-click, something that I really don't want non-savvy users to get used to doing! Microsoft is seriously hurting themselves and all their users with this approach!

Just as an example, the "browse in same window" default for MS Office file types leads to a world of hurt, especially with WebDAV-enabled servers, due to the many bugs in Microsoft's WebDAV functionality (for one thing they've had to issue service packs to fix basic file opening behavior in DAV-enabled environments in every single Office release since 2000).

BMN wrote on April 16, 2011, 6:22am

heck yes. i once accidentally changed stupid .exe to even more stupid notepad. and then like a smartass stupid of stupidest, changed the 'open with' config to explorer. infinite crash ensues. oh and the memory... =.= thank goodessess for da and ghost..though had to redo(the word here being 'lose') everything within months and months time =...= ;;