How do I Manually add a Program to the “Default Programs” list in Windows 7?
Filed Under (Tips & Tricks) by admin on 03-12-2009
Windows 7 – “Default Programs”
A default program is the standard program which is launched on opening a file from Windows Explorer, using either a double click or right click -> Open option. Most often, the default program is taken for granted, especially if one has not experimented much with out-of-the-box non-microsoft software.
In case you’ve played around with the standard set of Microsoft Programs, you would have realized by now that, you do have an option of handling one file type using multiple programs, other than the default program. For example, an .rtf file can be accessed from both MS Word and the Wordpad utility. The same principle is applicable to audio, video, pictures and a host of other file types. As newer programs with advanced features hit the market, you could install them and map them as the default program for the existing file types.
So much for the basics, lets move on to a few problems that are commonly encountered with setting default programs for file types.
In order to set the default program for a file type, do remember that you’ll need administrator priveleges; else you may encounter an error. Usually you will be able to set a program as the default for selected file types during or after the installation process. File types can be mapped to the program in bulk.
Another way to set the default program is by mapping individual file types to the program using the “open with” context menu option by right-clicking on one specific file.
The “open with” option displays a list of programs that support the specific file type. Depending on version of Windows you are using, an additional option – “Choose Default Program” in Windows 7 / Vista or “Choose Program” in the earlier Windows versions is available using which, you can associate the file type with a program of your choice.
If you can’t find a specific program in the list, use the browse option to get to the required program folder and select the appropriate executable file to be mapped. A check box “Always use the selected program to open this kind of file” is available to map all files of a given type to the selected program at one shot.
The only hitch in this method is that you’ll have to repeat the process for each file type, if multiple file types are supported.
A few Windows 7 / Vista users however have been faced with the problem of recently installed software not being displayed in the list of installed / default programs. Microsoft attributes this problem to the fact the program has not registered itself on installation. A program typically registers itself on installation by means of a new entry in the system registry. If you are familiar with troubleshooting registry problems, you could explore further on these lines and try to register the program or resort to technical support.
It is possible to manually correct / include registry entries, only if you are absolutely sure about the problem and the corrections.
While looking for a solution to this issue, we happened to chance on another work around for the problem. The free Default Program Editor software, allows you to associate different programs for different file operations of a given file type. For more details on the tool usage, check out this recent post from Ghacks Technology Blog.
A default program is the standard program which is launched on opening a file from Windows Explorer, using either a double click or right click -> Open option. Most often, the default program is taken for granted, especially if one has not experimented much with out-of-the-box non-microsoft software.
In case you’ve played around with the standard set of Microsoft Programs, you would have realized by now that, you do have an option of handling one file type using multiple programs, other than the default program. For example, an .rtf file can be accessed from both MS Word and the Wordpad utility. The same principle is applicable to audio, video, pictures and a host of other file types. As newer programs with advanced features hit the market, you could install them and map them as the default program for the existing file types.
So much for the basics, lets move on to a few problems that are commonly encountered with setting default programs for file types.
In order to set the default program for a file type, do remember that you’ll need administrator priveleges; else you may encounter an error. Usually you will be able to set a program as the default for selected file types during or after the installation process. File types can be mapped to the program in bulk.
Another way to set the default program is by mapping individual file types to the program using the “open with” context menu option by right-clicking on one specific file.
The “open with” option displays a list of programs that support the specific file type. Depending on version of Windows you are using, an additional option – “Choose Default Program” in Windows 7 / Vista or “Choose Program” in the earlier Windows versions is available using which, you can associate the file type with a program of your choice.
If you can’t find a specific program in the list, use the browse option to get to the required program folder and select the appropriate executable file to be mapped. A check box “Always use the selected program to open this kind of file” is available to map all files of a given type to the selected program at one shot.
The only hitch in this method is that you’ll have to repeat the process for each file type, if multiple file types are supported.
A few Windows 7 / Vista users however have been faced with the problem of recently installed software not being displayed in the list of installed / default programs. Microsoft attributes this problem to the fact the program has not registered itself on installation. A program typically registers itself on installation by means of a new entry in the system registry. If you are familiar with troubleshooting registry problems, you could explore further on these lines and try to register the program or resort to technical support.
It is possible to manually correct / include registry entries, only if you are absolutely sure about the problem and the corrections.
While looking for a solution to this issue, we happened to chance on another work around for the problem. The free Default Program Editor software, allows you to associate different programs for different file operations of a given file type. For more details on the tool usage, check out this recent post from Ghacks Technology Blog.
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