[b]Restore the .exe file association in Windows Vista, after incorrectly associating it with another application[/b] [b]Question[/b] [i]I was opening up an .exe from a download manager and it asked the standard Open With question. I chose Internet Explorer by accident, and from that time onwards, i cannot open up any .exe files as it opens Internet Explorer.[/i] [b]Answer[/b] When you use the Open With dialog to associate .exe files with another application, the settings are stored in the following registry key: [b][quote][HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ FileExts \ .exe \ UserChoice[/quote] [/b] There will be a value named [i][b]Progid[/b][/i] in the right pane. The [i][b]Progid[/b][/i] data will contain the application's exe file name (Applications\Notepad.exe, Applications\IExplore.exe, or a Programatic Identifier such as [b]txtfile, jpegfile[/b] etc). Note that despite this problem, you should be able to launch applications by double-clicking on the data files. For example, with the above setting, you should be able to launch Microsoft Word application by double-clicking on a .doc file, but not by running Winword.exe directly.) [b]Registry fix[/b] To fix the problem, you need to delete the [b]UserChoice[/b] key above using a REG file or a script. Download [b]exefix_cu.reg[/b] attached at the end of this article, and save it to Desktop. Right-click on the REG file and choose [b]Merge[/b]. [b]For other file types[/b] To undo the Open With setting for other file types, the registry location is the same. (Replace the text [b].exe[/b] in the above registry key with the actual file extension). [b]Example:[/b] [b][quote]HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ FileExts \ .xyz \ UserChoice[/quote] [/b] Where [b].xyz[/b] is the file extension for which you want to undo the Open With action. [b]DOWNLOAD THIS ATTACHMENTS[/b] [url]http://www.transferbigfiles.com/Get.aspx?id=330ca6a8-0976-4621-905c-a7e4ed764dfe[/url] [b]NEED SOME REPU[/b]

Last edited by Zander (2008-10-23 03:26:08)