Allow a Limited user to change file association

[Guest]

Hi

I have XP Pro SP2 with an Admin and a Limited account. Someone used the
Limited account (with my permission) and created a text file but gave it a
..DPO extension (I don't know why!). When opening the file, he said to
associate the extension with Notepad.

I've deleted the file (as it's not needed any longer) but the association is
still there (Windows Explorer>Tools>Folder Options>File Types) and the
options New, Delete, Change and Advanced are all disabled.

I went into the Admin account and, whilst these buttons are not disabled,
the .DPO file type and association are not listed there. I had thought that
it would be a computer-wide setting that I could change from an Admin account
but it seems that it's not.

How can I delete the .DPO extension, along with it's association to Notepad?
I guess that I need to be able to enable the Limited user's buttons. I
suppose I could elevate the privileges temporarily but I just wonder if
there's another way to do it. XP allowed the file association to be added by
the Limited user so why can't it be deleted?

Thanks for your time.

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE]

Hi

I have XP Pro SP2 with an Admin and a Limited account. Someone used the
Limited account (with my permission) and created a text file but gave it a
.DPO extension (I don't know why!). When opening the file, he said to
associate the extension with Notepad.

I've deleted the file (as it's not needed any longer) but the association
is
still there (Windows Explorer>Tools>Folder Options>File Types) and the
options New, Delete, Change and Advanced are all disabled.

I went into the Admin account and, whilst these buttons are not disabled,
the .DPO file type and association are not listed there. I had thought
that
it would be a computer-wide setting that I could change from an Admin
account
but it seems that it's not.

How can I delete the .DPO extension, along with it's association to
Notepad?
I guess that I need to be able to enable the Limited user's buttons. I
suppose I could elevate the privileges temporarily but I just wonder if
there's another way to do it. XP allowed the file association to be added
by
the Limited user so why can't it be deleted?

Thanks for your time.

Windows Explorer | Tools | Folder Options | File Types

 

[Guest]

Thank you Frank.

All the buttons are disabled on that screen for the Limited user, otherwise
that's how I would have done it. When I checked the same for the Admin user,
the .DPO file extension and association to Notepad aren't listed.

I need to be able to enable the options for the Limited user. Any other
ideas?

 

[Sharon F]

Thank you Frank.

All the buttons are disabled on that screen for the Limited user, otherwise
that's how I would have done it. When I checked the same for the Admin user,
the .DPO file extension and association to Notepad aren't listed.

I need to be able to enable the options for the Limited user. Any other
ideas?

Just leave it? One extra file association (unused at that) is not going to
slow down or mess up XP. If in the future you install a program that uses
that extension, it is most likely that it will rewrite the relative
registry key and associate the extension to itself.

 

[Guest]

Thank you.

It's not so much as removing the association (I'd still like to do that - I
assumed that there'd be a registry tweak - can you be explicit?) as enabling
the disabled buttons on the Limited user's Windows Explorer>Tools>Folder
Options>File Types sheet. Is it somewhere in the GP Editor?

 

[Sharon F]

Thank you.

It's not so much as removing the association (I'd still like to do that - I
assumed that there'd be a registry tweak - can you be explicit?) as enabling
the disabled buttons on the Limited user's Windows Explorer>Tools>Folder
Options>File Types sheet. Is it somewhere in the GP Editor?

AFAIK, altering file associations is not within the scope of the limited
user's privileges. Removing a file association requires administrator
status. Editing the related portion of the registry would also be off
limits to the limited account.