"Open With" shows duplicates of same program

[Michael Ray Brown]

How can I prune down the number of items shown in the context menu for
certain file types? I have a situation where several erroneous programs are
listed as "Open With" possibilities, the result of a trial-and-error attempt
on my part to find the proper file viewer.

I also notice that, in the "Open With" options that list "Recommended
Programs" and "Other Programs," there are two listings of the same program.
How can I eliminate the duplicate?

 

[Kelly]

Troubleshooting Open With in XP
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_o.htm#openwith

Clear Dynamic "Open With" Lists
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/OpenWithClear.zip

--

All the Best,
Kelly (MS-MVP)

Troubleshooting Windows XP
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com

In memory of those lost during Katrina &
Prayers and Hope for the remaining displaced.

 

[Michael Ray Brown]

Kelly,

Thanks for the links. I was able to pare down the list of "Other Programs"
to eliminate the duplicates in the "Open With" dialogue.

However, I'm still having trouble deleting the programs that show up in the
Context menu. I tried "OpenWithClear," and it showed only one program
associated with a particular extension, when the Context menu shows two.

 

[Kelly]

Most welcome, Michael.

Go to Start/Run/Regedit and navigate to:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\OpenWithList
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers


--

All the Best,
Kelly (MS-MVP)

Troubleshooting Windows XP
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com

In memory of those lost during Katrina &
Prayers and Hope for the remaining displaced.

 

[Michael Ray Brown]

Kelly,

The programs in question (various PaperPort viewers) could be found at none
of those locations. So I went to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.max, found the name of
the program it called, went to that key and deleted it, then returned to the
..max key and deleted it. This gave me no selections in the "Open With..."
context menu for the extension .max. So I selected a program from the
"Other Programs" list, and now I have duplicates of that program again in
the "Open With..." context menu. Aargh! How can I eliminate the extra
instance of the program?