Desktop Live Mail Nukes File Associations for OE NG messages

[Chad Harris]

I often drag useful newsgroup posts to a folder for retrieval (mine and
others) to use in posts or to get the information/links quickly.

I tried the Win Live Mail Desktop public beta
http://ideas.live.com/programpage.aspx?versionId=6ac2bed2-b5a4-4a0a-a897-e36dd191a9f4

for a few weeks last week and it immediately replaced the opening of Win
Mail on Vista and OE on XP Pro SP2. I don't like Win Mail because it takes
way too long to open up, and so I uninstalled it.

I can open a newsgroup message from OE or Win Mail fine, but after I
uninstalled this piece of junk from MSN Live (IMHO), whenever I try to open
a newsgroup message that I had dragged to the folders where I save them and
classify them, I get a message that there is no File association for opening
it. The message is the familiar "Windows cannot open this file. To open
this file Windows needs to know what program created it. The message is a
NWS file. I tried to create the association by adding it to Folder Options
and then right clicking and using the open with dialogue box but I had no
luck.

I tried adding the NWS file type from the dialogue box that springs up with
the message there is no file association --and that does not work and the
reason is that it's not listed there and you're asked to browse for it. I
cannot find the place to browse that will allow me to change the file
association to NWS in that dialogue box. This includes going to the folders
where .dbxs are stored and where the personal message store is

C:\Documents and Settings\My Profile\Local Settings\Application
Data\Identities\{292F1CF4-0E56-4C5F-92CA-2A6E132A0775}\Microsoft\Outlook
Express

and C:\Program Files\Outlook Express and the file paths for OE on XP and
Vista where .dbx messages are stored.

System restore is not a good option here, because the restore points have
been replaced that would have restored in the time period before I installed
Desktop Live.

I tried running SFC and no joy. I've been going through the multitude of
fixes on Tom Koch's (MVP's) Tomsterdam www.tomsterdam.com/insideoe site, but
I don't see anything that directly applies there.

It's obvious that Windows Live Mail Desktop replaced whatever file
association I need to open these messages when they are not on the newsgroup
list but removed to be stored in a folder.

Any help greatly appreciated.

CH

 

[Chad Harris]

I found I can open up each message by associating a program like Wordpad to
it (which won't show the hyperlinks as hyperlinks or Word) but it's time
consuiming to have to find a file association every time I want to open a
newsgroup message that has been dragged out of the OE or Win Mail interface,
so I'm trying to find the way to repair this.

Thanks,

CH

 

[Steve Cochran]

This is totally confusing. How did you uninstall WinMail? It is part of
Vista and cannot be uninstalled.

If you have a machine with Outlook Express on it (e.g. XP) then you cannot
have WInMail on it, as WinMail only exists in Vista. Similarly, you cannot
install OE on a machine that is running Vista. So I have no idea what you
mean.

NWS files in XP are opened with OE and in Vista are opened with WinMail by
default.

steve

 

[Chad Harris]

Steve--

I'll try to make this clearer. I absolutely did not uninstall Win Mail. I
thought I made it clear, but I'm appreciative of help from an OE/Win Mail
expert and I'll try to lay this out in clearer terms. I know there is a way
to fix my problem, but I'm sure having trouble doing it. What's confusing
you is that this is taking place in OE on XP and Win Mail on Vista.

Win Mail was working fine. It still works fine. OE was working fine, and
it still works fine. But take your post or my posts in this thread as an
example. We can drag them out onto the desktop or into a folder, and save
them as little envelop icons in OE, or whatever the little icon is in Win
Mail.

I've had every build of Vista since July 2005, to RTM and drilled it pretty
thorougly, so I'm aware of OE in XP and Win Mail in Vista. I apologize that
I didn't make this clear to you.

For simplicity sake, let's confine this to the XP boot and OE--although
technically it could or should be posted on the OE group--but the same
principle is at work with Win Mail and Vista. I'm on the XP boot now (in a
dual boot that has worked very well for me for the last year and a half.)

Here's what happened Steve:

1) A public Beta started a while back (far enough that I don't have a
restore point to use to try to fix this--whether it would or not I don't
know) that I linked and will link again and this was for a different kind of
mail--Windows Live Desktop Mail. The link for it is here:
http://ideas.live.com/programpage.aspx?versionId=6ac2bed2-b5a4-4a0a-a897-e36dd191a9f4

2) After I downloaded Windows Live Desktop Mail a few weeks ago, it took
over the file association for OE on XP and for Win Mail on Vista.

Please keep in mind this has nothing to do with the functioning of OE/Win
Mail when you type msimn in or open up OE in XP or Win Mail in Vista.

My problem is happening only with the newsgroup posts that I have dragged
out of OE and put into folders--I'm going to stick with OE in XP on this
now.

We're talking about a good number of these that I use for reference either
to remind myself of something or use a link or to help out in the groups.

So again, there is no problem opening up a message either mailed or a
newsgroup post within OE. It's the ones that I drag out of the newsgroup to
save for easy retrieval that now won't open up. These NWS messages *were
opening up as Windows Desktop Live Messages (and if you havenpt used
it--it'll take over your file associations for those OE or Win Mail messages
that you drag out of the OE/Win Mail interface.

The problem I had with this is they took forever to open up. It had nothing
to do with cpu or spyware or any other of the many causes for slowness.
Nothing else was slow. But Windows Desktoo Live Mail opens up too slowly
for me. So I uninstalled it from Add/Remove. Again this is not OE or Win
Mail. This is a totally different mail client from MSFT --i.e. from MSN
Live.

I would have never downloaded it and installed it had I known it would take
over the file associations ***for those newsgroup messages that I dragged
outside of the OE interface to save (in folders with categories I assigned
by naming the folders).

I uninstalled Windows Desktop Live Mail from Add/Remove uneventfully. Now
when I try to open up any of the newsgroup messages that I have dragged out
of OE into folders--I get the dialogue box that the NWS message does not
have a file associated with it to open it up.

I have tried many ways to reassociate the NWS file with it, but I can't find
it because it is not listed on the open with >browse dialogue box, and I
cannot figure out where to browse to get that file association back--I've
tried a lot of places and like I said, going to any of the known places
where OE messages are stored--.dbx, etc. does not work for me. Maybe I'm
missing some place.

Again, again I have no problem opening up the messages with OE--its those
messages I've dragged outside onto the desktop. So I can take your response
to me and open it up fine inside OE. It's when I drag it onto the desktop
that the problem starts, and I need to drag messages into folders that I
want to save because at some point they are going to be off the server.
Sure I could copy them into an OE email or another client, but that's time
consuming. Dragging email messages I wanted to save worked great until
Windows Desktop Live took over the file association and they began opening
slowly as Desktop Live Mail messages, and then I uninstalled it and
afterward they wouldn't open.

I have a way to open them, but it's not the one I want. I can open them
with wordpad, and I'm sure I can open them with notepad or Word if I wanted
to associate that. I simply used wordpad with the dialogue box that asked me
what I wanted to open with since no NWS file was avilable.

I added a NWS file to the "File types" tab list (reached by typing control
folders into the run box or via the toolbar in a folder (same thing), but
it does not show up in the what do you want to open with dialogue box that I
have to work with now when I want to open one of these guys up.

So again, I need help trying to restore the file association not to any
messages within OE in XP or Win Mail in Vista--but to those messages from OE
that I have chosen to drag out of the OE list to save.

Thanks much for any help with this. Let me know if I'm not clear now, and
next time I'll do it with screenshots. I know that one of you guys who have
been OE experts for years can figure out a way.

CH

 

[Steve Cochran]

I have tried many ways to reassociate the NWS file with it, but I can't

find

it because it is not listed on the open with >browse dialogue box, and I
cannot figure out where to browse to get that file association back--I've
tried a lot of places and like I said, going to any of the known places
where OE messages are stored--.dbx, etc. does not work for me. Maybe I'm
missing some place.

If you go to Open With for a nws file in either XP or Vista, there is a
Browse button to select the program. In XP the program is OE (c:\program
files\msimn.exe) and in Vista, the program is WinMail (c:\program
files\windows mail). Can you not set those as the programs to open the nws
files? Furthermore, if you go to Control Panel | Programs | Set Program
access and defaults in XP and make OE default, that should fix it (it might
not) or in Vista going to Control Panel | Default program and making WinMail
there default.

That's what I don't understand, now that is clear you weren't uninstalling
WinMail as you first indicated.

cheers,

steve

 

[Chad Harris]

Steve--

I appreciate every suggestion. I tried the first many times before posting,
and it simply brings up the OE interface in XP--browsing to C:\Program
Files\Outlook Express or typing in the exact path you gave me in the browse
dialogue box.

The second has no impact--making OE the default mail.

I wanted to be explicit because so often when I put up suggestions in the
groups on a thread I wonder if the person is following the instructions
correctly.

I am trying in XP to reinstall XP SP2--as a sort of uber SFC--I tried SFC as
I said and no joy, but it wouldn't reinstall and didn't spec the error on
the desktop or in Event Viewer. While there is a log, the log is per
Redmond's long standing tradition not in language I can understand.

I will probably do a repair install next and am appreciative of any
suggestions you come up with.

I know there was a pathway to the undoing of this, and reason says there is
a reverse pathway back if I could just figure it out. I suppose I could F8
and give LKG a shot--hail Mary that it is. This change was further back
than the SR point I have--that is the install of Windows Live Mail Desktop
or the uninstall.

I appreciate your time.

CH

 

[Steve Cochran]

Should be c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe and c:\program
files\windows mail\winmail.exe.

Too early in the am.

steve

 

[Steve Cochran]

Attached is the correct setting for nws (Microsoft Internet News Message)
file types. You don't need to reinstall.

Remove the txt file extension and then you can merge it into the registry.
You might check the key first to see what's there already.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message

That's for XP (or Server 2003)

steve

 

[R. C. White, MVP]

Hi, Steve - and Chad.

Frustratin', ain't it?

Chad, I saw what you saw with OE/WM a couple of weeks ago, but it involved a
couple of Adobe applications.

Every time I tried to read a PDF file, Vista tried to open it with Adobe
Photoshop Elements 4.0, rather than Adobe (formerly Acrobat) Reader. "Oh, I
know how to fix that simple problem", I told myself. So I went to Folder
Options - but File Types is not there in Vista, like it was in WinXP. So,
back to Control Panel and this time to Default Programs. First I clicked
Set your default programs...Wrong! Next I clicked Associate a file type or
protocol with a program. Aha! There's the list of extensions that used to
be in Folder Options. I scrolled down to .pdf and saw that it was set to
default to PSE4. So I clicked Change program... and the Open with screen
appeared. PSE4 was the only app under Recommended Programs; under Other
Programs was...Nothing! I couldn't even Browse to find Reader. :>( All I
could do was keep the association with PSE.

Finally, I uninstalled Reader and installed it again and the proper
association was established automatically. Now, the Open with screen
includes PSE, Word and Reader as Recommended Programs. So if I hadn't been
through the adventure, I would not understand that, sometimes, Reader does
not appear here.

That fixed the problem with Reader, but I don't see how it could work with
OE or WM, since they are integral to WinXP and Vista. Maybe the Registry
hack is the only way.

I'm posting this mostly just to let you both know that Chad is not imagining
things. Sometimes, Vista does not make the right file associations - and
doesn't offer all the proper applications under Folder Options.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Mail 7.0 in Vista Ultimate x64)

Should be c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe and c:\program
files\windows mail\winmail.exe.

Too early in the am.

steve

<SNIP>

 

[Steve Cochran]

Well I have similarly complained about this in the Vista.general NG. There
seems to be no way to actually edit many of the aspects of the associations
without resulting to manually editing the registry. A huge backwards step
by MS with regard to such.

That's why it was easier just to post the registry entries relative to the
NWS file, rather than have to go through each setting (although he was
mostly referring to XP in his second message, where you can edit the
settings).

steve

 

[Chad Harris]

Thanks very much Max for the perspective and your excellent posts on
different groups, and Steve for your perspective and sticking with this.
I'll tell you what I've done that hasn't helped yet, but I need to implement
that list of regedits (merge them) that Steve provided in his notepad. I'm
not quite sure what to do. I need to know how--sorry for that.

I'm on the XP boot now, so I'll stick with it.

I went to the reg key you named
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message

and I modified the only value in the right pane from

C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories\WORDPAD.EXE "%1" (it read that
because I modified it to word pad using the browse I suppose and I say I
suppose because every time I open one of them I have to right click and open
with wordpad to read it--or at least notepad or Word would work as well) so
I don't know why that changed the reg value but it die.

If I change the reg value to

c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe

then what that does is change the washed out icons by those news messages to
tiny OE icons but clicking on them by a message only opens up the OE
newsgroup interface to the newsgroup I happen to have it opened to at the
time.

That leaves adding those reg sub keys you gave me but I need to know how to
do that.

Thanks,

CH

 

[Steve Cochran]

Sorry the export resulted in Unicode characters instead of readable ones.

Here's the open action:

"c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe" /nws:%1

See if that gets it for you.

In Vista its

"%ProgramFiles%\Windows Mail\WinMail.exe" /nws:%1

steve

 

[Chad Harris]

Steve--

Let me recap so I can get your instructions right.

I'm going to confine this to XP because I can extrapolate on the Vista boot
with what you've already given me.

Currently on XP:

1) I reinstalle SP2 with no change.
2) If I go to the ke HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message

there are two subkeys:

CSLID
SHELL

If I click on \Microsoft Internet News Message in the right pane there is a
"ab" icon and value data is blank on it.

If I try to click on one of the news messages that are dragged outside of
OE, now what pops up is the OE interface whether it is open or not.

1) I have not done this step from you (not because I don't want to but
because I don't know how):

Attached is the correct setting for nws (Microsoft Internet News Message)
file types. You don't need to reinstall.

Remove the txt file extension and then you can merge it into the registry.
You might check the key first to see what's there already.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message

That's for XP (or Server 2003)

I don't know how to take ther regedits in your notepad and "merge" them into
the reg. In order to make the regedits, I'd have to create both new subkeys
and values if I understand them correctly. Or did you mean to do it some
other way.

What exactly do I do with the notepad? For example does this mean to create
a new D_Word value called Edit Flags>right click the created value>and paste
into the modified value on the right click context>00000000?

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message]
@="Internet News Message"
"EditFlags"=dword:00000000

As you can see I would have to create both subkeys and values to get the
rest of the notepad into my registry unless you mean to do something else as
to the merge and you may well,

2) If I click on any of the news messages outside of OE they open up OE. If
I right click on them>open with>has open with msimn and so does Open
Expert--IU downloaded Baxbeb's open expert hoping it would straight things
out and it hasn't.

3) At control folders' File Types Tab if I scroll down to NWS I have the
File Type NWS located and the details section on the bottom says "Opens with
Outlook Express."

4) Your latest instruction is this and I don't know where I should apply it.

So in summary I wanted to show you

1) what I have at the locations of interest
2) ask what to do with that notepad of regedits exactly? (Do I need to
create the new subkeys and values as I showed you in the exsample
3) What to do with the latest instruction and where?

The minute I can understand what to do with these and where, I'll deploy
them.

Thanks much.

CH

 

[Steve Cochran]

You are making this too difficult. <G>

If you expand the SHELL key you have listed below, there is a subkey called
Open under that (or there should be) and under that is a subkey called
Command. That subkey has a default value. Set that default value to:

"c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe" /nws:%1

see what that does.

steve

Steve--

Let me recap so I can get your instructions right.

I'm going to confine this to XP because I can extrapolate on the Vista
boot with what you've already given me.

Currently on XP:

1) I reinstalle SP2 with no change.
2) If I go to the ke HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message

there are two subkeys:

CSLID
SHELL

If I click on \Microsoft Internet News Message in the right pane there is
a "ab" icon and value data is blank on it.

If I try to click on one of the news messages that are dragged outside of
OE, now what pops up is the OE interface whether it is open or not.

1) I have not done this step from you (not because I don't want to but
because I don't know how):

Attached is the correct setting for nws (Microsoft Internet News Message)
file types. You don't need to reinstall.

Remove the txt file extension and then you can merge it into the registry.
You might check the key first to see what's there already.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message

That's for XP (or Server 2003)

I don't know how to take ther regedits in your notepad and "merge" them
into the reg. In order to make the regedits, I'd have to create both new
subkeys and values if I understand them correctly. Or did you mean to do
it some other way.

What exactly do I do with the notepad? For example does this mean to
create a new D_Word value called Edit Flags>right click the created
value>and paste into the modified value on the right click
context>00000000?

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message]
@="Internet News Message"
"EditFlags"=dword:00000000

As you can see I would have to create both subkeys and values to get the
rest of the notepad into my registry unless you mean to do something else
as to the merge and you may well,

2) If I click on any of the news messages outside of OE they open up OE.
If I right click on them>open with>has open with msimn and so does Open
Expert--IU downloaded Baxbeb's open expert hoping it would straight things
out and it hasn't.

3) At control folders' File Types Tab if I scroll down to NWS I have the
File Type NWS located and the details section on the bottom says "Opens
with Outlook Express."

4) Your latest instruction is this and I don't know where I should apply
it.

So in summary I wanted to show you

1) what I have at the locations of interest
2) ask what to do with that notepad of regedits exactly? (Do I need to
create the new subkeys and values as I showed you in the exsample
3) What to do with the latest instruction and where?

The minute I can understand what to do with these and where, I'll deploy
them.

Thanks much.

CH

Sorry the export resulted in Unicode characters instead of readable ones.

Here's the open action:

"c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe" /nws:%1

See if that gets it for you.

In Vista its

"%ProgramFiles%\Windows Mail\WinMail.exe" /nws:%1

steve

 

[Chad Harris]

The reg setup is this (on XP):

HKLM
Microsoft Internet News Messenger ab (default) REG_SZ Value
Data (nothing)
CLSID ab (default)
REG_SZ Value Data {5645C8C0-E277-11CF-8FDA-00AA00A14F93}

shell ab (default)
REG_SZ Value Data (nothing)
open expert----->wordpad ab (default) REG_SZ
Value Data (nothing)
command ab (default)
REG_SZ "c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe" /nws:%1 (this was
changed from C:\Program Files\outlook express\msimn.exe) per your
instructions.

The result is that when I click on one of the newsgroup shortcuts dragged
from OE, up pops the current OE still.

I still also wonder what you wanted me to do with that series of regedits or
what you pasted in the notepad that you posted a couple days ago.

Sorry if I'm over complicating it, but I'm doing my best to follow what
you've posted for me to do and except for the notepad you said to merge,
I've done it.

I edit the reg all the time, but I don't have time to track changes via one
of the Sys Internals apps, like Process Explorer, and I know you know these
keys and values well.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/ProcessExplorer.mspx

I wish now I had used PE to follow what happened before and after I
installed Windows Live Mail, but I had no idea it would cannibalize the file
association and leave it damaged goods when I uninstalled it. It would be
great if they let you know the app was going to take over file
associations--then you'd have a choice.

Thanks,

CH

You are making this too difficult. <G>

If you expand the SHELL key you have listed below, there is a subkey
called Open under that (or there should be) and under that is a subkey
called Command. That subkey has a default value. Set that default value
to:

"c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe" /nws:%1

see what that does.

steve

Steve--

Let me recap so I can get your instructions right.

I'm going to confine this to XP because I can extrapolate on the Vista
boot with what you've already given me.

Currently on XP:

1) I reinstalle SP2 with no change.
2) If I go to the ke HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message

there are two subkeys:

CSLID
SHELL

If I click on \Microsoft Internet News Message in the right pane there is
a "ab" icon and value data is blank on it.

If I try to click on one of the news messages that are dragged outside of
OE, now what pops up is the OE interface whether it is open or not.

1) I have not done this step from you (not because I don't want to but
because I don't know how):

Attached is the correct setting for nws (Microsoft Internet News Message)
file types. You don't need to reinstall.

Remove the txt file extension and then you can merge it into the
registry.
You might check the key first to see what's there already.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message

That's for XP (or Server 2003)

I don't know how to take ther regedits in your notepad and "merge" them
into the reg. In order to make the regedits, I'd have to create both new
subkeys and values if I understand them correctly. Or did you mean to do
it some other way.

What exactly do I do with the notepad? For example does this mean to
create a new D_Word value called Edit Flags>right click the created
value>and paste into the modified value on the right click
context>00000000?

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message]
@="Internet News Message"
"EditFlags"=dword:00000000

As you can see I would have to create both subkeys and values to get the
rest of the notepad into my registry unless you mean to do something else
as to the merge and you may well,

2) If I click on any of the news messages outside of OE they open up OE.
If I right click on them>open with>has open with msimn and so does Open
Expert--IU downloaded Baxbeb's open expert hoping it would straight
things out and it hasn't.

3) At control folders' File Types Tab if I scroll down to NWS I have the
File Type NWS located and the details section on the bottom says "Opens
with Outlook Express."

4) Your latest instruction is this and I don't know where I should apply
it.

So in summary I wanted to show you

1) what I have at the locations of interest
2) ask what to do with that notepad of regedits exactly? (Do I need to
create the new subkeys and values as I showed you in the exsample
3) What to do with the latest instruction and where?

The minute I can understand what to do with these and where, I'll deploy
them.

Thanks much.

CH

Sorry the export resulted in Unicode characters instead of readable
ones.

Here's the open action:

"c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe" /nws:%1

See if that gets it for you.

In Vista its

"%ProgramFiles%\Windows Mail\WinMail.exe" /nws:%1

steve


"Chad Harris" <getsomevistainfoout.net> wrote in message
Thanks very much Max for the perspective and your excellent posts on
different groups, and Steve for your perspective and sticking with
this. I'll tell you what I've done that hasn't helped yet, but I need
to implement that list of regedits (merge them) that Steve provided in
his notepad. I'm not quite sure what to do. I need to know how--sorry
for that.

I'm on the XP boot now, so I'll stick with it.

I went to the reg key you named
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message

and I modified the only value in the right pane from

C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories\WORDPAD.EXE "%1" (it read that
because I modified it to word pad using the browse I suppose and I say
I suppose because every time I open one of them I have to right click
and open with wordpad to read it--or at least notepad or Word would
work as well) so I don't know why that changed the reg value but it
die.

If I change the reg value to

c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe

then what that does is change the washed out icons by those news
messages to tiny OE icons but clicking on them by a message only opens
up the OE newsgroup interface to the newsgroup I happen to have it
opened to at the time.

That leaves adding those reg sub keys you gave me but I need to know
how to do that.

Thanks,

CH








Well I have similarly complained about this in the Vista.general NG.
There seems to be no way to actually edit many of the aspects of the
associations without resulting to manually editing the registry. A
huge backwards step by MS with regard to such.

That's why it was easier just to post the registry entries relative to
the NWS file, rather than have to go through each setting (although he
was mostly referring to XP in his second message, where you can edit
the settings).

steve

Hi, Steve - and Chad.

Frustratin', ain't it?

Chad, I saw what you saw with OE/WM a couple of weeks ago, but it
involved a couple of Adobe applications.

Every time I tried to read a PDF file, Vista tried to open it with
Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0, rather than Adobe (formerly Acrobat)
Reader. "Oh, I know how to fix that simple problem", I told myself.
So I went to Folder Options - but File Types is not there in Vista,
like it was in WinXP. So, back to Control Panel and this time to
Default Programs. First I clicked Set your default programs...Wrong!
Next I clicked Associate a file type or protocol with a program.
Aha! There's the list of extensions that used to be in Folder
Options. I scrolled down to .pdf and saw that it was set to default
to PSE4. So I clicked Change program... and the Open with screen
appeared. PSE4 was the only app under Recommended Programs; under
Other Programs was...Nothing! I couldn't even Browse to find Reader.
:>( All I could do was keep the association with PSE.

Finally, I uninstalled Reader and installed it again and the proper
association was established automatically. Now, the Open with screen
includes PSE, Word and Reader as Recommended Programs. So if I
hadn't been through the adventure, I would not understand that,
sometimes, Reader does not appear here.

That fixed the problem with Reader, but I don't see how it could work
with OE or WM, since they are integral to WinXP and Vista. Maybe the
Registry hack is the only way.

I'm posting this mostly just to let you both know that Chad is not
imagining things. Sometimes, Vista does not make the right file
associations - and doesn't offer all the proper applications under
Folder Options.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Mail 7.0 in Vista Ultimate x64)

Should be c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe and c:\program
files\windows mail\winmail.exe.

Too early in the am.

steve

I have tried many ways to reassociate the NWS file with it, but I
can't find
it because it is not listed on the open with >browse dialogue box,
and I
cannot figure out where to browse to get that file association
back--I've
tried a lot of places and like I said, going to any of the known
places
where OE messages are stored--.dbx, etc. does not work for me.
Maybe I'm
missing some place.

If you go to Open With for a nws file in either XP or Vista, there
is a Browse button to select the program. In XP the program is OE
(c:\program files\msimn.exe) and in Vista, the program is WinMail
(c:\program files\windows mail). Can you not set those as the
programs to open the nws files? Furthermore, if you go to Control
Panel | Programs | Set Program access and defaults in XP and make
OE default, that should fix it (it might not) or in Vista going to
Control Panel | Default program and making WinMail there default.

That's what I don't understand, now that is clear you weren't
uninstalling WinMail as you first indicated.

cheers,

steve
<SNIP>

 

[Chad Harris]

Hey fantastic. I spoke too soon. Originally I had changed the value for
the key for Microsoft Internet Mail Message--as you know the same set of
keys and subkeys exists for Microsoft Internet Mail Message and Microsoft
Internet News Message. As soon as I realized the difference, I made the
change to the value that corresponded to the command sub key in the tree
under Internet News Message and although the small icon for all of them
(outside of OE in folders--I say that all the time to make that clear) doing
that worked like a charm. I'm not sure if the command value for the
Microsoft Internet Mail Message should be any different but I had changed it
from

C:\Program Files\outlook express\msimn.exe.

I guess I could experiment by changing it back under Mail Message, but since
everything is working well, it doesn't seem to beg for a change.

Thanks for your time and patience. Great job. You saved me a lot of time.
My next move would have been to try a reapir install, but I don't know that
it would have gotten the reg value. In theory I would have to think it
would.

I really appreciate it.

CH

You are making this too difficult. <G>

If you expand the SHELL key you have listed below, there is a subkey
called Open under that (or there should be) and under that is a subkey
called Command. That subkey has a default value. Set that default value
to:

"c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe" /nws:%1

see what that does.

steve

Steve--

Let me recap so I can get your instructions right.

I'm going to confine this to XP because I can extrapolate on the Vista
boot with what you've already given me.

Currently on XP:

1) I reinstalle SP2 with no change.
2) If I go to the ke HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message

there are two subkeys:

CSLID
SHELL

If I click on \Microsoft Internet News Message in the right pane there is
a "ab" icon and value data is blank on it.

If I try to click on one of the news messages that are dragged outside of
OE, now what pops up is the OE interface whether it is open or not.

1) I have not done this step from you (not because I don't want to but
because I don't know how):

Attached is the correct setting for nws (Microsoft Internet News Message)
file types. You don't need to reinstall.

Remove the txt file extension and then you can merge it into the
registry.
You might check the key first to see what's there already.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message

That's for XP (or Server 2003)

I don't know how to take ther regedits in your notepad and "merge" them
into the reg. In order to make the regedits, I'd have to create both new
subkeys and values if I understand them correctly. Or did you mean to do
it some other way.

What exactly do I do with the notepad? For example does this mean to
create a new D_Word value called Edit Flags>right click the created
value>and paste into the modified value on the right click
context>00000000?

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message]
@="Internet News Message"
"EditFlags"=dword:00000000

As you can see I would have to create both subkeys and values to get the
rest of the notepad into my registry unless you mean to do something else
as to the merge and you may well,

2) If I click on any of the news messages outside of OE they open up OE.
If I right click on them>open with>has open with msimn and so does Open
Expert--IU downloaded Baxbeb's open expert hoping it would straight
things out and it hasn't.

3) At control folders' File Types Tab if I scroll down to NWS I have the
File Type NWS located and the details section on the bottom says "Opens
with Outlook Express."

4) Your latest instruction is this and I don't know where I should apply
it.

So in summary I wanted to show you

1) what I have at the locations of interest
2) ask what to do with that notepad of regedits exactly? (Do I need to
create the new subkeys and values as I showed you in the exsample
3) What to do with the latest instruction and where?

The minute I can understand what to do with these and where, I'll deploy
them.

Thanks much.

CH

Sorry the export resulted in Unicode characters instead of readable
ones.

Here's the open action:

"c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe" /nws:%1

See if that gets it for you.

In Vista its

"%ProgramFiles%\Windows Mail\WinMail.exe" /nws:%1

steve


"Chad Harris" <getsomevistainfoout.net> wrote in message
Thanks very much Max for the perspective and your excellent posts on
different groups, and Steve for your perspective and sticking with
this. I'll tell you what I've done that hasn't helped yet, but I need
to implement that list of regedits (merge them) that Steve provided in
his notepad. I'm not quite sure what to do. I need to know how--sorry
for that.

I'm on the XP boot now, so I'll stick with it.

I went to the reg key you named
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message

and I modified the only value in the right pane from

C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories\WORDPAD.EXE "%1" (it read that
because I modified it to word pad using the browse I suppose and I say
I suppose because every time I open one of them I have to right click
and open with wordpad to read it--or at least notepad or Word would
work as well) so I don't know why that changed the reg value but it
die.

If I change the reg value to

c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe

then what that does is change the washed out icons by those news
messages to tiny OE icons but clicking on them by a message only opens
up the OE newsgroup interface to the newsgroup I happen to have it
opened to at the time.

That leaves adding those reg sub keys you gave me but I need to know
how to do that.

Thanks,

CH








Well I have similarly complained about this in the Vista.general NG.
There seems to be no way to actually edit many of the aspects of the
associations without resulting to manually editing the registry. A
huge backwards step by MS with regard to such.

That's why it was easier just to post the registry entries relative to
the NWS file, rather than have to go through each setting (although he
was mostly referring to XP in his second message, where you can edit
the settings).

steve

Hi, Steve - and Chad.

Frustratin', ain't it?

Chad, I saw what you saw with OE/WM a couple of weeks ago, but it
involved a couple of Adobe applications.

Every time I tried to read a PDF file, Vista tried to open it with
Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0, rather than Adobe (formerly Acrobat)
Reader. "Oh, I know how to fix that simple problem", I told myself.
So I went to Folder Options - but File Types is not there in Vista,
like it was in WinXP. So, back to Control Panel and this time to
Default Programs. First I clicked Set your default programs...Wrong!
Next I clicked Associate a file type or protocol with a program.
Aha! There's the list of extensions that used to be in Folder
Options. I scrolled down to .pdf and saw that it was set to default
to PSE4. So I clicked Change program... and the Open with screen
appeared. PSE4 was the only app under Recommended Programs; under
Other Programs was...Nothing! I couldn't even Browse to find Reader.
:>( All I could do was keep the association with PSE.

Finally, I uninstalled Reader and installed it again and the proper
association was established automatically. Now, the Open with screen
includes PSE, Word and Reader as Recommended Programs. So if I
hadn't been through the adventure, I would not understand that,
sometimes, Reader does not appear here.

That fixed the problem with Reader, but I don't see how it could work
with OE or WM, since they are integral to WinXP and Vista. Maybe the
Registry hack is the only way.

I'm posting this mostly just to let you both know that Chad is not
imagining things. Sometimes, Vista does not make the right file
associations - and doesn't offer all the proper applications under
Folder Options.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Mail 7.0 in Vista Ultimate x64)

Should be c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe and c:\program
files\windows mail\winmail.exe.

Too early in the am.

steve

I have tried many ways to reassociate the NWS file with it, but I
can't find
it because it is not listed on the open with >browse dialogue box,
and I
cannot figure out where to browse to get that file association
back--I've
tried a lot of places and like I said, going to any of the known
places
where OE messages are stored--.dbx, etc. does not work for me.
Maybe I'm
missing some place.

If you go to Open With for a nws file in either XP or Vista, there
is a Browse button to select the program. In XP the program is OE
(c:\program files\msimn.exe) and in Vista, the program is WinMail
(c:\program files\windows mail). Can you not set those as the
programs to open the nws files? Furthermore, if you go to Control
Panel | Programs | Set Program access and defaults in XP and make
OE default, that should fix it (it might not) or in Vista going to
Control Panel | Default program and making WinMail there default.

That's what I don't understand, now that is clear you weren't
uninstalling WinMail as you first indicated.

cheers,

steve
<SNIP>

 

[Chad Harris]

I know you've had OE expertise for a long time, but how in the world do you
figure these reg values/keys out?

CH

You are making this too difficult. <G>

If you expand the SHELL key you have listed below, there is a subkey
called Open under that (or there should be) and under that is a subkey
called Command. That subkey has a default value. Set that default value
to:

"c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe" /nws:%1

see what that does.

steve

Steve--

Let me recap so I can get your instructions right.

I'm going to confine this to XP because I can extrapolate on the Vista
boot with what you've already given me.

Currently on XP:

1) I reinstalle SP2 with no change.
2) If I go to the ke HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message

there are two subkeys:

CSLID
SHELL

If I click on \Microsoft Internet News Message in the right pane there is
a "ab" icon and value data is blank on it.

If I try to click on one of the news messages that are dragged outside of
OE, now what pops up is the OE interface whether it is open or not.

1) I have not done this step from you (not because I don't want to but
because I don't know how):

Attached is the correct setting for nws (Microsoft Internet News Message)
file types. You don't need to reinstall.

Remove the txt file extension and then you can merge it into the
registry.
You might check the key first to see what's there already.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message

That's for XP (or Server 2003)

I don't know how to take ther regedits in your notepad and "merge" them
into the reg. In order to make the regedits, I'd have to create both new
subkeys and values if I understand them correctly. Or did you mean to do
it some other way.

What exactly do I do with the notepad? For example does this mean to
create a new D_Word value called Edit Flags>right click the created
value>and paste into the modified value on the right click
context>00000000?

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message]
@="Internet News Message"
"EditFlags"=dword:00000000

As you can see I would have to create both subkeys and values to get the
rest of the notepad into my registry unless you mean to do something else
as to the merge and you may well,

2) If I click on any of the news messages outside of OE they open up OE.
If I right click on them>open with>has open with msimn and so does Open
Expert--IU downloaded Baxbeb's open expert hoping it would straight
things out and it hasn't.

3) At control folders' File Types Tab if I scroll down to NWS I have the
File Type NWS located and the details section on the bottom says "Opens
with Outlook Express."

4) Your latest instruction is this and I don't know where I should apply
it.

So in summary I wanted to show you

1) what I have at the locations of interest
2) ask what to do with that notepad of regedits exactly? (Do I need to
create the new subkeys and values as I showed you in the exsample
3) What to do with the latest instruction and where?

The minute I can understand what to do with these and where, I'll deploy
them.

Thanks much.

CH

Sorry the export resulted in Unicode characters instead of readable
ones.

Here's the open action:

"c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe" /nws:%1

See if that gets it for you.

In Vista its

"%ProgramFiles%\Windows Mail\WinMail.exe" /nws:%1

steve


"Chad Harris" <getsomevistainfoout.net> wrote in message
Thanks very much Max for the perspective and your excellent posts on
different groups, and Steve for your perspective and sticking with
this. I'll tell you what I've done that hasn't helped yet, but I need
to implement that list of regedits (merge them) that Steve provided in
his notepad. I'm not quite sure what to do. I need to know how--sorry
for that.

I'm on the XP boot now, so I'll stick with it.

I went to the reg key you named
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message

and I modified the only value in the right pane from

C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories\WORDPAD.EXE "%1" (it read that
because I modified it to word pad using the browse I suppose and I say
I suppose because every time I open one of them I have to right click
and open with wordpad to read it--or at least notepad or Word would
work as well) so I don't know why that changed the reg value but it
die.

If I change the reg value to

c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe

then what that does is change the washed out icons by those news
messages to tiny OE icons but clicking on them by a message only opens
up the OE newsgroup interface to the newsgroup I happen to have it
opened to at the time.

That leaves adding those reg sub keys you gave me but I need to know
how to do that.

Thanks,

CH








Well I have similarly complained about this in the Vista.general NG.
There seems to be no way to actually edit many of the aspects of the
associations without resulting to manually editing the registry. A
huge backwards step by MS with regard to such.

That's why it was easier just to post the registry entries relative to
the NWS file, rather than have to go through each setting (although he
was mostly referring to XP in his second message, where you can edit
the settings).

steve

Hi, Steve - and Chad.

Frustratin', ain't it?

Chad, I saw what you saw with OE/WM a couple of weeks ago, but it
involved a couple of Adobe applications.

Every time I tried to read a PDF file, Vista tried to open it with
Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0, rather than Adobe (formerly Acrobat)
Reader. "Oh, I know how to fix that simple problem", I told myself.
So I went to Folder Options - but File Types is not there in Vista,
like it was in WinXP. So, back to Control Panel and this time to
Default Programs. First I clicked Set your default programs...Wrong!
Next I clicked Associate a file type or protocol with a program.
Aha! There's the list of extensions that used to be in Folder
Options. I scrolled down to .pdf and saw that it was set to default
to PSE4. So I clicked Change program... and the Open with screen
appeared. PSE4 was the only app under Recommended Programs; under
Other Programs was...Nothing! I couldn't even Browse to find Reader.
:>( All I could do was keep the association with PSE.

Finally, I uninstalled Reader and installed it again and the proper
association was established automatically. Now, the Open with screen
includes PSE, Word and Reader as Recommended Programs. So if I
hadn't been through the adventure, I would not understand that,
sometimes, Reader does not appear here.

That fixed the problem with Reader, but I don't see how it could work
with OE or WM, since they are integral to WinXP and Vista. Maybe the
Registry hack is the only way.

I'm posting this mostly just to let you both know that Chad is not
imagining things. Sometimes, Vista does not make the right file
associations - and doesn't offer all the proper applications under
Folder Options.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Mail 7.0 in Vista Ultimate x64)

Should be c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe and c:\program
files\windows mail\winmail.exe.

Too early in the am.

steve

I have tried many ways to reassociate the NWS file with it, but I
can't find
it because it is not listed on the open with >browse dialogue box,
and I
cannot figure out where to browse to get that file association
back--I've
tried a lot of places and like I said, going to any of the known
places
where OE messages are stored--.dbx, etc. does not work for me.
Maybe I'm
missing some place.

If you go to Open With for a nws file in either XP or Vista, there
is a Browse button to select the program. In XP the program is OE
(c:\program files\msimn.exe) and in Vista, the program is WinMail
(c:\program files\windows mail). Can you not set those as the
programs to open the nws files? Furthermore, if you go to Control
Panel | Programs | Set Program access and defaults in XP and make
OE default, that should fix it (it might not) or in Vista going to
Control Panel | Default program and making WinMail there default.

That's what I don't understand, now that is clear you weren't
uninstalling WinMail as you first indicated.

cheers,

steve
<SNIP>

 

[Steve Cochran]

You go to the registry and look. <G>

steve

I know you've had OE expertise for a long time, but how in the world do you
figure these reg values/keys out?

CH

You are making this too difficult. <G>

If you expand the SHELL key you have listed below, there is a subkey
called Open under that (or there should be) and under that is a subkey
called Command. That subkey has a default value. Set that default value
to:

"c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe" /nws:%1

see what that does.

steve

Steve--

Let me recap so I can get your instructions right.

I'm going to confine this to XP because I can extrapolate on the Vista
boot with what you've already given me.

Currently on XP:

1) I reinstalle SP2 with no change.
2) If I go to the ke HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message

there are two subkeys:

CSLID
SHELL

If I click on \Microsoft Internet News Message in the right pane there
is a "ab" icon and value data is blank on it.

If I try to click on one of the news messages that are dragged outside
of OE, now what pops up is the OE interface whether it is open or not.

1) I have not done this step from you (not because I don't want to but
because I don't know how):

Attached is the correct setting for nws (Microsoft Internet News
Message)
file types. You don't need to reinstall.

Remove the txt file extension and then you can merge it into the
registry.
You might check the key first to see what's there already.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message

That's for XP (or Server 2003)

I don't know how to take ther regedits in your notepad and "merge" them
into the reg. In order to make the regedits, I'd have to create both
new subkeys and values if I understand them correctly. Or did you mean
to do it some other way.

What exactly do I do with the notepad? For example does this mean to
create a new D_Word value called Edit Flags>right click the created
value>and paste into the modified value on the right click
context>00000000?

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message]
@="Internet News Message"
"EditFlags"=dword:00000000

As you can see I would have to create both subkeys and values to get the
rest of the notepad into my registry unless you mean to do something
else as to the merge and you may well,

2) If I click on any of the news messages outside of OE they open up OE.
If I right click on them>open with>has open with msimn and so does Open
Expert--IU downloaded Baxbeb's open expert hoping it would straight
things out and it hasn't.

3) At control folders' File Types Tab if I scroll down to NWS I have the
File Type NWS located and the details section on the bottom says "Opens
with Outlook Express."

4) Your latest instruction is this and I don't know where I should apply
it.

So in summary I wanted to show you

1) what I have at the locations of interest
2) ask what to do with that notepad of regedits exactly? (Do I need to
create the new subkeys and values as I showed you in the exsample
3) What to do with the latest instruction and where?

The minute I can understand what to do with these and where, I'll deploy
them.

Thanks much.

CH










Sorry the export resulted in Unicode characters instead of readable
ones.

Here's the open action:

"c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe" /nws:%1

See if that gets it for you.

In Vista its

"%ProgramFiles%\Windows Mail\WinMail.exe" /nws:%1

steve


"Chad Harris" <getsomevistainfoout.net> wrote in message
Thanks very much Max for the perspective and your excellent posts on
different groups, and Steve for your perspective and sticking with
this. I'll tell you what I've done that hasn't helped yet, but I need
to implement that list of regedits (merge them) that Steve provided in
his notepad. I'm not quite sure what to do. I need to know
how--sorry for that.

I'm on the XP boot now, so I'll stick with it.

I went to the reg key you named
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message

and I modified the only value in the right pane from

C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories\WORDPAD.EXE "%1" (it read
that because I modified it to word pad using the browse I suppose and
I say I suppose because every time I open one of them I have to right
click and open with wordpad to read it--or at least notepad or Word
would work as well) so I don't know why that changed the reg value but
it die.

If I change the reg value to

c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe

then what that does is change the washed out icons by those news
messages to tiny OE icons but clicking on them by a message only opens
up the OE newsgroup interface to the newsgroup I happen to have it
opened to at the time.

That leaves adding those reg sub keys you gave me but I need to know
how to do that.

Thanks,

CH








Well I have similarly complained about this in the Vista.general NG.
There seems to be no way to actually edit many of the aspects of the
associations without resulting to manually editing the registry. A
huge backwards step by MS with regard to such.

That's why it was easier just to post the registry entries relative
to the NWS file, rather than have to go through each setting
(although he was mostly referring to XP in his second message, where
you can edit the settings).

steve

Hi, Steve - and Chad.

Frustratin', ain't it?

Chad, I saw what you saw with OE/WM a couple of weeks ago, but it
involved a couple of Adobe applications.

Every time I tried to read a PDF file, Vista tried to open it with
Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0, rather than Adobe (formerly Acrobat)
Reader. "Oh, I know how to fix that simple problem", I told myself.
So I went to Folder Options - but File Types is not there in Vista,
like it was in WinXP. So, back to Control Panel and this time to
Default Programs. First I clicked Set your default programs...Wrong!
Next I clicked Associate a file type or protocol with a program.
Aha! There's the list of extensions that used to be in Folder
Options. I scrolled down to .pdf and saw that it was set to default
to PSE4. So I clicked Change program... and the Open with screen
appeared. PSE4 was the only app under Recommended Programs; under
Other Programs was...Nothing! I couldn't even Browse to find
Reader. :>( All I could do was keep the association with PSE.

Finally, I uninstalled Reader and installed it again and the proper
association was established automatically. Now, the Open with
screen includes PSE, Word and Reader as Recommended Programs. So if
I hadn't been through the adventure, I would not understand that,
sometimes, Reader does not appear here.

That fixed the problem with Reader, but I don't see how it could
work with OE or WM, since they are integral to WinXP and Vista.
Maybe the Registry hack is the only way.

I'm posting this mostly just to let you both know that Chad is not
imagining things. Sometimes, Vista does not make the right file
associations - and doesn't offer all the proper applications under
Folder Options.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Mail 7.0 in Vista Ultimate x64)

Should be c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe and c:\program
files\windows mail\winmail.exe.

Too early in the am.

steve

I have tried many ways to reassociate the NWS file with it, but I
can't find
it because it is not listed on the open with >browse dialogue box,
and I
cannot figure out where to browse to get that file association
back--I've
tried a lot of places and like I said, going to any of the known
places
where OE messages are stored--.dbx, etc. does not work for me.
Maybe I'm
missing some place.

If you go to Open With for a nws file in either XP or Vista, there
is a Browse button to select the program. In XP the program is OE
(c:\program files\msimn.exe) and in Vista, the program is WinMail
(c:\program files\windows mail). Can you not set those as the
programs to open the nws files? Furthermore, if you go to Control
Panel | Programs | Set Program access and defaults in XP and make
OE default, that should fix it (it might not) or in Vista going to
Control Panel | Default program and making WinMail there default.

That's what I don't understand, now that is clear you weren't
uninstalling WinMail as you first indicated.

cheers,

steve
<SNIP>

 

[Steve Cochran]

For the Mail Message the open command is

"C:\Program Files\outlook express\msimn.exe" /eml:%1

steve

Hey fantastic. I spoke too soon. Originally I had changed the value for
the key for Microsoft Internet Mail Message--as you know the same set of
keys and subkeys exists for Microsoft Internet Mail Message and Microsoft
Internet News Message. As soon as I realized the difference, I made the
change to the value that corresponded to the command sub key in the tree
under Internet News Message and although the small icon for all of them
(outside of OE in folders--I say that all the time to make that clear)
doing that worked like a charm. I'm not sure if the command value for the
Microsoft Internet Mail Message should be any different but I had changed
it from

C:\Program Files\outlook express\msimn.exe.

I guess I could experiment by changing it back under Mail Message, but
since everything is working well, it doesn't seem to beg for a change.

Thanks for your time and patience. Great job. You saved me a lot of time.
My next move would have been to try a reapir install, but I don't know
that it would have gotten the reg value. In theory I would have to think
it would.

I really appreciate it.

CH

You are making this too difficult. <G>

If you expand the SHELL key you have listed below, there is a subkey
called Open under that (or there should be) and under that is a subkey
called Command. That subkey has a default value. Set that default value
to:

"c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe" /nws:%1

see what that does.

steve

Steve--

Let me recap so I can get your instructions right.

I'm going to confine this to XP because I can extrapolate on the Vista
boot with what you've already given me.

Currently on XP:

1) I reinstalle SP2 with no change.
2) If I go to the ke HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message

there are two subkeys:

CSLID
SHELL

If I click on \Microsoft Internet News Message in the right pane there
is a "ab" icon and value data is blank on it.

If I try to click on one of the news messages that are dragged outside
of OE, now what pops up is the OE interface whether it is open or not.

1) I have not done this step from you (not because I don't want to but
because I don't know how):

Attached is the correct setting for nws (Microsoft Internet News
Message)
file types. You don't need to reinstall.

Remove the txt file extension and then you can merge it into the
registry.
You might check the key first to see what's there already.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message

That's for XP (or Server 2003)

I don't know how to take ther regedits in your notepad and "merge" them
into the reg. In order to make the regedits, I'd have to create both
new subkeys and values if I understand them correctly. Or did you mean
to do it some other way.

What exactly do I do with the notepad? For example does this mean to
create a new D_Word value called Edit Flags>right click the created
value>and paste into the modified value on the right click
context>00000000?

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message]
@="Internet News Message"
"EditFlags"=dword:00000000

As you can see I would have to create both subkeys and values to get the
rest of the notepad into my registry unless you mean to do something
else as to the merge and you may well,

2) If I click on any of the news messages outside of OE they open up OE.
If I right click on them>open with>has open with msimn and so does Open
Expert--IU downloaded Baxbeb's open expert hoping it would straight
things out and it hasn't.

3) At control folders' File Types Tab if I scroll down to NWS I have the
File Type NWS located and the details section on the bottom says "Opens
with Outlook Express."

4) Your latest instruction is this and I don't know where I should apply
it.

So in summary I wanted to show you

1) what I have at the locations of interest
2) ask what to do with that notepad of regedits exactly? (Do I need to
create the new subkeys and values as I showed you in the exsample
3) What to do with the latest instruction and where?

The minute I can understand what to do with these and where, I'll deploy
them.

Thanks much.

CH










Sorry the export resulted in Unicode characters instead of readable
ones.

Here's the open action:

"c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe" /nws:%1

See if that gets it for you.

In Vista its

"%ProgramFiles%\Windows Mail\WinMail.exe" /nws:%1

steve


"Chad Harris" <getsomevistainfoout.net> wrote in message
Thanks very much Max for the perspective and your excellent posts on
different groups, and Steve for your perspective and sticking with
this. I'll tell you what I've done that hasn't helped yet, but I need
to implement that list of regedits (merge them) that Steve provided in
his notepad. I'm not quite sure what to do. I need to know
how--sorry for that.

I'm on the XP boot now, so I'll stick with it.

I went to the reg key you named
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message

and I modified the only value in the right pane from

C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories\WORDPAD.EXE "%1" (it read
that because I modified it to word pad using the browse I suppose and
I say I suppose because every time I open one of them I have to right
click and open with wordpad to read it--or at least notepad or Word
would work as well) so I don't know why that changed the reg value but
it die.

If I change the reg value to

c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe

then what that does is change the washed out icons by those news
messages to tiny OE icons but clicking on them by a message only opens
up the OE newsgroup interface to the newsgroup I happen to have it
opened to at the time.

That leaves adding those reg sub keys you gave me but I need to know
how to do that.

Thanks,

CH








Well I have similarly complained about this in the Vista.general NG.
There seems to be no way to actually edit many of the aspects of the
associations without resulting to manually editing the registry. A
huge backwards step by MS with regard to such.

That's why it was easier just to post the registry entries relative
to the NWS file, rather than have to go through each setting
(although he was mostly referring to XP in his second message, where
you can edit the settings).

steve

Hi, Steve - and Chad.

Frustratin', ain't it?

Chad, I saw what you saw with OE/WM a couple of weeks ago, but it
involved a couple of Adobe applications.

Every time I tried to read a PDF file, Vista tried to open it with
Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0, rather than Adobe (formerly Acrobat)
Reader. "Oh, I know how to fix that simple problem", I told myself.
So I went to Folder Options - but File Types is not there in Vista,
like it was in WinXP. So, back to Control Panel and this time to
Default Programs. First I clicked Set your default programs...Wrong!
Next I clicked Associate a file type or protocol with a program.
Aha! There's the list of extensions that used to be in Folder
Options. I scrolled down to .pdf and saw that it was set to default
to PSE4. So I clicked Change program... and the Open with screen
appeared. PSE4 was the only app under Recommended Programs; under
Other Programs was...Nothing! I couldn't even Browse to find
Reader. :>( All I could do was keep the association with PSE.

Finally, I uninstalled Reader and installed it again and the proper
association was established automatically. Now, the Open with
screen includes PSE, Word and Reader as Recommended Programs. So if
I hadn't been through the adventure, I would not understand that,
sometimes, Reader does not appear here.

That fixed the problem with Reader, but I don't see how it could
work with OE or WM, since they are integral to WinXP and Vista.
Maybe the Registry hack is the only way.

I'm posting this mostly just to let you both know that Chad is not
imagining things. Sometimes, Vista does not make the right file
associations - and doesn't offer all the proper applications under
Folder Options.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Mail 7.0 in Vista Ultimate x64)

Should be c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe and c:\program
files\windows mail\winmail.exe.

Too early in the am.

steve

I have tried many ways to reassociate the NWS file with it, but I
can't find
it because it is not listed on the open with >browse dialogue box,
and I
cannot figure out where to browse to get that file association
back--I've
tried a lot of places and like I said, going to any of the known
places
where OE messages are stored--.dbx, etc. does not work for me.
Maybe I'm
missing some place.

If you go to Open With for a nws file in either XP or Vista, there
is a Browse button to select the program. In XP the program is OE
(c:\program files\msimn.exe) and in Vista, the program is WinMail
(c:\program files\windows mail). Can you not set those as the
programs to open the nws files? Furthermore, if you go to Control
Panel | Programs | Set Program access and defaults in XP and make
OE default, that should fix it (it might not) or in Vista going to
Control Panel | Default program and making WinMail there default.

That's what I don't understand, now that is clear you weren't
uninstalling WinMail as you first indicated.

cheers,

steve
<SNIP>

 

[Chad Harris]

I have been doing that, but probably not as consistently and frequently as I
should. Nothing like a problem where you can't open something you use every
day (in this case newsgroup messages taken out of the OE gui--I thought I
had done it on the Vista boot, but I had not installed the Windows Live
Desktop mail, and I'm studying the corresponding keys and the additional
ones in that location of HKCR now. There are some additional ones, as you
know.

This may sound off the wall, but you wonder if Vista security is supposed to
be so competent, why Win Mail Live is allowed to take over that association
if it did, (I could set a restore point and install it on Vista, but I'm not
going to--on an experimental machine or a Virtual PC I would).

The reason I thought about this is that I went to click modify on the reg
values there in Vista and it gave me a message that said (on some but not
all of the values for Microsoft Internet News Message after I clicked
Modify:

"Cannot edit. Error writing the new contents"

I imagine that is security for someone else editing the reg, and I could
easily edit by simply tweaking permissions, but I bet Steve it would not
stop Windows Mail Desktop Live from scrweing up those values and doing the
same thing to Vista's Win Mail messages (*outside of Win mail) that you
enabled me to fix in XP.

Many many thanks for your *sticking with me and fixing this. I still (call
it dense, that's fine) am not sure what you would have had me do with that
notepad of several reg keys/values though.

That's these guys (I ask because I didn't need to use them--I simply needed
to change the value at the subkey command.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message]
@="Internet News Message"
"EditFlags"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message\CLSID]
@="{5645C8C0-E277-11CF-8FDA-00AA00A14F93}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message\DefaultIcon]
@=hex(2):25,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,\
00,73,00,25,00,5c,00,4f,00,75,00,74,00,6c,00,6f,00,6f,00,6b,00,20,00,45,00,\
78,00,70,00,72,00,65,00,73,00,73,00,5c,00,6d,00,73,00,69,00,6d,00,6e,00,2e,\
00,65,00,78,00,65,00,2c,00,2d,00,35,00,00,00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message\shell]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message\shell\open]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message\shell\open\command]
@=hex(2):22,00,25,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,46,00,69,00,6c,\
00,65,00,73,00,25,00,5c,00,4f,00,75,00,74,00,6c,00,6f,00,6f,00,6b,00,20,00,\
45,00,78,00,70,00,72,00,65,00,73,00,73,00,5c,00,6d,00,73,00,69,00,6d,00,6e,\
00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,22,00,20,00,2f,00,6e,00,77,00,73,00,3a,00,25,00,\
31,00,00,00

Had I picked off just to change that one value at the subkey command
originally, I'd have had it fixed immediately.

Nice job. I suppose now knowing what I learned from you, I could install
Desktop Live Mail's beta either on XP or Vista and get my file associations
back. I'm not sure what it would do to the Live Mail, but I'm going to try
to ask that team why they take over file associations and how both could
coexist. Of course Win Mail will coexist with it or OE--in the
application--it's when you drag those email messages out to another folder
for reference that the trouble starts. I don't think I'm the only one who
saves and drags selected email posts.

CH

You go to the registry and look. <G>

steve

I know you've had OE expertise for a long time, but how in the world do
you figure these reg values/keys out?

CH

You are making this too difficult. <G>

If you expand the SHELL key you have listed below, there is a subkey
called Open under that (or there should be) and under that is a subkey
called Command. That subkey has a default value. Set that default
value to:

"c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe" /nws:%1

see what that does.

steve



"Chad Harris" <getsomevistainfoout.net> wrote in message
Steve--

Let me recap so I can get your instructions right.

I'm going to confine this to XP because I can extrapolate on the Vista
boot with what you've already given me.

Currently on XP:

1) I reinstalle SP2 with no change.
2) If I go to the ke HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message

there are two subkeys:

CSLID
SHELL

If I click on \Microsoft Internet News Message in the right pane there
is a "ab" icon and value data is blank on it.

If I try to click on one of the news messages that are dragged outside
of OE, now what pops up is the OE interface whether it is open or not.

1) I have not done this step from you (not because I don't want to but
because I don't know how):

Attached is the correct setting for nws (Microsoft Internet News
Message)
file types. You don't need to reinstall.

Remove the txt file extension and then you can merge it into the
registry.
You might check the key first to see what's there already.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message

That's for XP (or Server 2003)

I don't know how to take ther regedits in your notepad and "merge" them
into the reg. In order to make the regedits, I'd have to create both
new subkeys and values if I understand them correctly. Or did you mean
to do it some other way.

What exactly do I do with the notepad? For example does this mean to
create a new D_Word value called Edit Flags>right click the created
value>and paste into the modified value on the right click
context>00000000?

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message]
@="Internet News Message"
"EditFlags"=dword:00000000

As you can see I would have to create both subkeys and values to get
the rest of the notepad into my registry unless you mean to do
something else as to the merge and you may well,

2) If I click on any of the news messages outside of OE they open up
OE. If I right click on them>open with>has open with msimn and so does
Open Expert--IU downloaded Baxbeb's open expert hoping it would
straight things out and it hasn't.

3) At control folders' File Types Tab if I scroll down to NWS I have
the File Type NWS located and the details section on the bottom says
"Opens with Outlook Express."

4) Your latest instruction is this and I don't know where I should
apply it.

So in summary I wanted to show you

1) what I have at the locations of interest
2) ask what to do with that notepad of regedits exactly? (Do I need to
create the new subkeys and values as I showed you in the exsample
3) What to do with the latest instruction and where?

The minute I can understand what to do with these and where, I'll
deploy them.

Thanks much.

CH










Sorry the export resulted in Unicode characters instead of readable
ones.

Here's the open action:

"c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe" /nws:%1

See if that gets it for you.

In Vista its

"%ProgramFiles%\Windows Mail\WinMail.exe" /nws:%1

steve


"Chad Harris" <getsomevistainfoout.net> wrote in message
Thanks very much Max for the perspective and your excellent posts on
different groups, and Steve for your perspective and sticking with
this. I'll tell you what I've done that hasn't helped yet, but I need
to implement that list of regedits (merge them) that Steve provided
in his notepad. I'm not quite sure what to do. I need to know
how--sorry for that.

I'm on the XP boot now, so I'll stick with it.

I went to the reg key you named
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft Internet News Message

and I modified the only value in the right pane from

C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories\WORDPAD.EXE "%1" (it read
that because I modified it to word pad using the browse I suppose and
I say I suppose because every time I open one of them I have to right
click and open with wordpad to read it--or at least notepad or Word
would work as well) so I don't know why that changed the reg value
but it die.

If I change the reg value to

c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe

then what that does is change the washed out icons by those news
messages to tiny OE icons but clicking on them by a message only
opens up the OE newsgroup interface to the newsgroup I happen to have
it opened to at the time.

That leaves adding those reg sub keys you gave me but I need to know
how to do that.

Thanks,

CH








Well I have similarly complained about this in the Vista.general NG.
There seems to be no way to actually edit many of the aspects of the
associations without resulting to manually editing the registry. A
huge backwards step by MS with regard to such.

That's why it was easier just to post the registry entries relative
to the NWS file, rather than have to go through each setting
(although he was mostly referring to XP in his second message, where
you can edit the settings).

steve

Hi, Steve - and Chad.

Frustratin', ain't it?

Chad, I saw what you saw with OE/WM a couple of weeks ago, but it
involved a couple of Adobe applications.

Every time I tried to read a PDF file, Vista tried to open it with
Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0, rather than Adobe (formerly Acrobat)
Reader. "Oh, I know how to fix that simple problem", I told myself.
So I went to Folder Options - but File Types is not there in Vista,
like it was in WinXP. So, back to Control Panel and this time to
Default Programs. First I clicked Set your default
programs...Wrong! Next I clicked Associate a file type or protocol
with a program. Aha! There's the list of extensions that used to be
in Folder Options. I scrolled down to .pdf and saw that it was set
to default to PSE4. So I clicked Change program... and the Open
with screen appeared. PSE4 was the only app under Recommended
Programs; under Other Programs was...Nothing! I couldn't even
Browse to find Reader. :>( All I could do was keep the association
with PSE.

Finally, I uninstalled Reader and installed it again and the proper
association was established automatically. Now, the Open with
screen includes PSE, Word and Reader as Recommended Programs. So
if I hadn't been through the adventure, I would not understand
that, sometimes, Reader does not appear here.

That fixed the problem with Reader, but I don't see how it could
work with OE or WM, since they are integral to WinXP and Vista.
Maybe the Registry hack is the only way.

I'm posting this mostly just to let you both know that Chad is not
imagining things. Sometimes, Vista does not make the right file
associations - and doesn't offer all the proper applications under
Folder Options.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Mail 7.0 in Vista Ultimate x64)

Should be c:\program files\outlook express\msimn.exe and
c:\program files\windows mail\winmail.exe.

Too early in the am.

steve

I have tried many ways to reassociate the NWS file with it, but
I can't find
it because it is not listed on the open with >browse dialogue
box, and I
cannot figure out where to browse to get that file association
back--I've
tried a lot of places and like I said, going to any of the known
places
where OE messages are stored--.dbx, etc. does not work for me.
Maybe I'm
missing some place.

If you go to Open With for a nws file in either XP or Vista,
there is a Browse button to select the program. In XP the
program is OE (c:\program files\msimn.exe) and in Vista, the
program is WinMail (c:\program files\windows mail). Can you not
set those as the programs to open the nws files? Furthermore, if
you go to Control Panel | Programs | Set Program access and
defaults in XP and make OE default, that should fix it (it might
not) or in Vista going to Control Panel | Default program and
making WinMail there default.

That's what I don't understand, now that is clear you weren't
uninstalling WinMail as you first indicated.

cheers,

steve
<SNIP>