Default Programs Editor

 
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An advanced Windows file association tweak utility
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Default Programs Editor screenshot

Replaces the "File Types" dialog that went missing in Vista:


Missing in Vista!

Here is some sweet stuff you can do with it:

  • Manually add extension and file type information
  • Change a file type's description
  • Change a file type's icon
  • Change an extension's associated file type
  • Add/Edit/Delete an extension's default association
  • Add/Edit/Delete other entries on the file's context menu
  • Preserve verb precedence hierarchy
  • View shell extension entries on the context menu
  • Remove 'Default Programs' association that Windows likes to make annoying to change
  • Add/Edit/Delete your own autoplay handlers
  • Change which autoplay options are available for users
  • Disable that "Search web for unknown extension" dialog
  • Single .exe utility, no installation

On top of all that, here are some bonus features:
  • Make changes direct to the registry, or export them as .reg files for easy distribution
  • Designed for Vista, with UAC support, so you can painlessly run as a standard user
  • Also should work on XP (minus some parts best configured with TweakXP)
  • Make changes to your user account, or the machine default, or both

Default Programs Editor screenshot, Autoplay tab

How do I use it

Here are a couple how-to's to get a feel for it. Contact me if you're having trouble and need something explained, or leave a comment on the blog.
  • Set Media Player Classic to Autoplay DVDs
  • Change the "Edit" command on a batch file context menu

Download (Windows XP/Vista 32/64bit)

  • Latest Version (1.3)
  • Requires .Net 3.5 This is necessary! You will crash immediately without it! Don't forget!

Changes -- RSS
1.3- August 09, 2008
  • Fixed a minor UI bug where not all references were updated when the "Rename ProgID to File Type" preference was changed.
  • About/Help link now points to this program's own landing page instead of it's blog category.
  • The information url comment in exported .reg files has been updated to this program's own page instead of it's blog category.
  • The program now checks for updates automatically when it is launched. This can be disabled in Advanced Configuration.
  • A couple of additional minor UI adjustments (including a misspelled word in the error dialog- whoops!).
  • Added a dialog to enable the deletion of both an extensions and ProgID's.
  • Fixed an rare bug that caused an immediate crash (both XP and Vista) based on information from online crash reports.
  • Fixed a bug where extensions without ProgID's would have a blank Friendly Type Name instead of EXT File, which is what Windows Explorer shows.
  • Program identification comment at the top of generated .reg files now includes the version number.
  • Moved the "Include extensions without a ProgID" checkbox to the extensions filter options list.
1.2- July 27, 2008
  • Fixed a critical bug that caused an immediate crash on Vista x64.
  • Added automatic online error reporting (can be disabled in Advanced Configuration).
  • Added a friendly error dialog when the program crashes, replacing the generic .Net one.
  • A couple of minor UI adjustments.
1.1- July 14, 2008
  • Now distributing as the exe and this changes file in a zip instead of just the exe.
  • Put Context Menu and File Type properties group boxes into separate tabs.
  • Replaced File Type column in the main extension list with Friendly Type Name.
  • Autogenerated key names are now converted to lower case to fit with convention.
  • A couple of additional minor UI adjustments.
  • Url in the exported .reg comment was wrong.
  • "Show shell extensions" checkbox moved to the Advanced Config tab (which means its state is persistent across sessions now).
  • Searching for an extension in both the main extension list, and the File Type dialog now also transparently searches file type key names.
  • Fixed a bug where showing verbs from shell extensions would cause a crash on XP.
  • New File Types are now created in the Select File Type dialog.
  • The Add Extension dialog has been reworked to be more intuitive.
1.0- July 12, 2008
  • Launch!
 
Contact - factormystic@gmail.com