How do i prevent the checkbox in "Always use the selected pro..." being checked?

[Eivind Johannessen]

Hi!

I often find myself opening files with diverse extensions for which I
do not want a permanent association, i.e. I uncheck the "Always use
the selected program to open this kind of file". I very seldom WANT
this to be checked, and if I do, I want to think twice about it.

I've located the key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Unknown\shell\openas\command
and updated this from:

"%SystemRoot%\system32\rundll32.exe
%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,OpenAs_RunDLL %1"

to:

"%SystemRoot%\system32\rundll32.exe
%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,OpenAs_RunDLL %1 %2"

(I added the '%2')

This enables me to get the 'Open With...'-dialog without the
"Always.."-box checked when double-clicking (as a matter of fact it's
disabled). But still this is not what I want. I want to be able to
choose from the different programs at which I recently opened this
particular file-extension.

So my question is:

Is it possible to kind of set the default value of the
"Always.."-checkbox to 'unchecked'? Or is it some other way of getting
the desired result, i.e. double-clicking a file with an unknown
extension, lets me choose from the list of the last used programs for
this filetype (As well as the regular list of all possible programs),
and NOT having to uncheck the checkbox each time?

Is it possible for instance to set the value of this checkbox in the
registry somehow?


Kind regards,
E. Johannessen

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Johannessen,

See if creating the file extension (and not associating the extension with
any Program) in the registry helps.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.nnn

 

[Guest]

Ramesh,

Thanks. It did not seem to work as expected though. As a matter of fact I
did not see any change at all.

I created the .nnn-key (a "folder") in the registry. I tried to put it in
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, and I also tried to put it in HKEY_CURRENT_USER as it's
here the OpenWithList for unassigned file-extensions is created at first (so
I thought I would give it a try), but neither of them seemed to worked. I
also pressed F5 on the desktop in order to refresh the newly added setting.

Did you achieve the desired effect this way? Do you have any other tip which
may solve this?

Regards,
E. Johannessen

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Eivind,

It works fine here. I created a file named "1.bmr" (Unknown type) and then
created an entry here:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.BMR]
(there should be a DOT before the extension)

Double-clicked the file and the "Always use..." box remains unchecked (for
file types defined in the registry). BTW, this is from a XP SP2 system.

 

[Guest]

Hi again!

Sorry Ramesh - my fault. I assumed to put the .nnn-key in the registry
literaly, i.e. Edit -> New -> Key ".nnn". I should of course understood that
I had to make an empty key for each of the unknown filetypes. That was kind
of stupid of me. I'm so sorry.

I assume there's no way of setting this checkbox's _default_ value. At least
this solves my problem for my most common filetypes. Thank you very much for
your help!

Regards,
Eivind

Eivind,

It works fine here. I created a file named "1.bmr" (Unknown type) and then
created an entry here:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.BMR]
(there should be a DOT before the extension)

Double-clicked the file and the "Always use..." box remains unchecked (for
file types defined in the registry). BTW, this is from a XP SP2 system.

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User
http://windowsxp.mvps.org

Ramesh,

Thanks. It did not seem to work as expected though. As a matter of fact I
did not see any change at all.

I created the .nnn-key (a "folder") in the registry. I tried to put it in
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, and I also tried to put it in HKEY_CURRENT_USER as it's
here the OpenWithList for unassigned file-extensions is created at first
(so
I thought I would give it a try), but neither of them seemed to worked. I
also pressed F5 on the desktop in order to refresh the newly added
setting.

Did you achieve the desired effect this way? Do you have any other tip
which
may solve this?

(...)

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

You're very welcome Eivind. Yes, this is the only workaround/solution that I
can think of. Hope this solves the problem.

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User
http://windowsxp.mvps.org

Hi again!

Sorry Ramesh - my fault. I assumed to put the .nnn-key in the registry
literaly, i.e. Edit -> New -> Key ".nnn". I should of course understood
that
I had to make an empty key for each of the unknown filetypes. That was
kind
of stupid of me. I'm so sorry.

I assume there's no way of setting this checkbox's _default_ value. At
least
this solves my problem for my most common filetypes. Thank you very much
for
your help!

Regards,
Eivind

Eivind,

It works fine here. I created a file named "1.bmr" (Unknown type) and
then
created an entry here:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.BMR]
(there should be a DOT before the extension)

Double-clicked the file and the "Always use..." box remains unchecked
(for
file types defined in the registry). BTW, this is from a XP SP2 system.

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User
http://windowsxp.mvps.org


in
message news:[email protected]...

Ramesh,

Thanks. It did not seem to work as expected though. As a matter of fact
I
did not see any change at all.

I created the .nnn-key (a "folder") in the registry. I tried to put it
in
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, and I also tried to put it in HKEY_CURRENT_USER as
it's
here the OpenWithList for unassigned file-extensions is created at
first
(so
I thought I would give it a try), but neither of them seemed to worked.
I
also pressed F5 on the desktop in order to refresh the newly added
setting.

Did you achieve the desired effect this way? Do you have any other tip
which
may solve this?

(...)

 

[Black Baptist]

Preventing Changes to File Associations
Submitted 9/18/02

You can prevent users from changing associations via Windows Explorer's
Tools / Folder Options / File Types tab.

Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion
\ Policies \ Explore
Create REG_DWORD data type NoFileAssociate
Give it a value of 1



Locking File Associations
Submitted 9/18.02

If you have your file associations the way you want for a particular file
type, you can remove it from the list that gets displayed in the Folder
Options / File Types screen

Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
Scroll to the file association you want to lock.
In the right panel, create a new Binary value
Call it EditFlags
Give it a value of 01 00 00 00
Now when you go to the Folder Options / File Types screen, you won't see
that file type listed.