Remove unnecessary applications from the Open With list in Windows Explorer.
In Windows, if you want to open some hitherto unknown file, a window appears asking you to select an application (program) to open by default.
Or, if you have already assigned a program to open, for example, to open an archive, and then installed another one, then this window may also appear for selection.
In Windows 10, at first it is generally suggested to immediately search in the Windows Store
Of course, you can click on the “More apps” link and select from the list, but now I’ll show you how to remove this suggestion to search for an app in the Windows 10 Store.
Download and launch the one you need. Or you create it yourself (I think you know how) using its code above.
Now let's go a little further and create an association for opening other types of files (after all, it’s not possible for every file to take and specify what it should be opened through).
There are several articles about this on the website: , ?, ? .
Although they are old, the principle is still the same. The only difference is that in Windows 10 some will not be able to find these same settings (since the article describes older versions of Windows).
But it’s still worth securing the material.
So, Choosing default programs in Windows 10
Open Start, then Options. In the "System" section and select "Default Applications".
Notice the Reset button. You will need it to set default applications if you are really confused:
If you need to select file extensions (associations), then click the link Choice standard applications for file types:
And select programs:
If this is not enough, then you can go to the Control Panel to Default programs. There is Mapping file types or protocols to specific programs.
Select the extension and specify the program:
By doing this, we indicated which application (program or utility) to open a specific file type. But what if, on the contrary, you need to tell which program to open which types of files? Then click the link Set Defaults by Application and select (1):
Or more specific meanings for it (2):
That's all for now. It seems to me that the answer to questions like “How to match an application to file types” or “Set a program for a specific file” or something like that is fully disclosed. In Windows 10 for sure.
Since to play popular types of video, audio, text and some other files in Windows system standard functionality is provided; it is the standard programs of the system that are initially installed by default to open the types of files they support when you double-click on these files. But as you install it into the system third party programs This situation will change. During the installation process, third-party software often takes over the role of default programs for supported file types. And such software, accordingly, arbitrarily makes settings in file associations - linking specific programs to specific file types for opening them by double clicking. True, there are also programs that, during the installation process, offer the user to manually configure file associations - for example, select not all file types, but only some. Or even completely refuse to link files to the installed program.
Opening a movie in a new media player window or a link in a new browser window, which was installed without permission and unnoticed in addition to another, usually free program, is not the biggest problem. More precisely, not a problem at all, because this is a natural consequence of intercepting the latter installed program their file types. Things will be much more complicated when, after unsuccessful experiments with Windows settings or as a result of the penetration of malware, associations fail system files. Failure in the associations of executable .exe files of programs and .lnk files of shortcuts will make them impossible to launch. So, instead of launching the desired program, we may end up launching some other program. Or it may be like this: Windows will think that to run one program another program is needed. Naturally, the system will not find such a thing, and it will have no choice but to offer a search for a match on the Internet or in Windows store. No less problematic will be the failure of the system file associations .msi, .bat, .cpl, which will make it impossible to uninstall programs installed on the system, open folders or sections of the control panel, and the operation of others Windows functions.
Such problems can be solved by changing default programs and restoring default file associations. We will consider all this in detail below.
1. Setting default programs in Explorer
Get back your favorite browser, text or graphics editor, media player, other program so that they are associated with supported files, you can use Windows Explorer. Right-click on the file of the desired type and select “Open with”.
In Windows 7, in the window that appears, click the browse button.
And we indicate the executive file by finding it on the C drive among the installed programs or in the storage location in the case of portable programs.
We check that the use of this program is checked for all files of this type. Click "Ok".
In Windows 8.1 and 10, when you select the “Open with” command, you will see the same essence, but in a different design. If the proposed list of programs does not contain the one you need, expand the list by clicking “More applications” (or “Advanced”).
Click the option to search for another application.
And in the Explorer window we indicate the path to the executive file. To ensure that the selected program always opens this type of file, check the “Always use this application...” checkbox.
You can also assign a default program for a particular file type in the properties of a separately selected file. Call the context menu on the file and click “Properties”.
In the “Application” column, click “Change”.
And we indicate the desired program - a modern application, a program installed on the system, or a portable program.
Context menu on files - the only way setting portable software as default programs. But for programs installed on the system there is also a toolkit included in the panel Windows management.
2. Setting default programs in the control panel
Let's go to system panel management. There is quick access to it in the Windows 7 Start menu
and after pressing +X in Windows 8.1 and 10.
In all Windows versions the further path and functions will be the same. In the Control Panel window, select the “Programs” section.
And then in the “Default Programs” subsection, click “Set default programs.”
We will see a list of programs installed on the system and modern/universal applications in the case of Windows 8.1 and 10. By selecting a program on the left on the right side of the window, you can set it as the default program. And this program will henceforth open all supported files when you double click on them.
Not all types of files can be assigned to programs and applications in the list, but only some.
In the list of file types that opens, uncheck those that we do not want the program to play by default and click “Save.”
Using the same principle, you can configure default opening programs for each individual file type. Returning to the window of the “Default Programs” subsection of the control panel, click on another item – “Assign a program to open files of this type.”
Now in the list we will see not programs, but, on the contrary, file types in alphabetical order. By selecting the desired format and clicking the “Change program” button, in this way, in fact, we will assign a program for this type of files that will open them by default.
In Windows 8.1 and 10, after the list of file types, logs for launching applications, Chrome applications, individual mail functions or Skype functions, etc. will be placed. Mapping these protocols to their applications is something that should not be experimented with for the sake of idle interest. After all, as a rule, these protocols are tailored to specific functions of the system and programs.
3. Modern default program settings for Windows 8.1 and 10
You can set default desktop programs and modern applications for each individual file type in Windows 8.1 both in the Control Panel and in the standard Settings application. The essence of these methods is the same, but the interface is different. Press the +Q keys and enter the query “by default” in the search field. In the search results, select “Default application settings”.
In the modern program settings interface, file types and protocols will be presented separately by default.
To set the default program for a specific file type, click the plus button or the icon existing program and indicate required - application or the executable file of the desired program.
The same format for default program settings is present in Windows 10. But it is called, like the Control Panel section, “Default Programs”.
In addition to the ability to customize programs according to Windows default 10 also provides the ability to reset file associations to the default ones, as they were immediately upon installation of the system.
4. Restoring default file associations
The methods discussed above will help in case of failure of associations of documents, media and other user files. However, if we are dealing with a failure of system files, in particular, the types .exe and .lnk mentioned above, then more serious intervention with editing is needed system registry. But we will not edit it manually, but will take a simpler path and resort to importing ready-made .reg files - service files intended for making changes to Windows registry. We will download .reg files specially designed for restoring file associations to default settings on the Internet.
4.1. For Windows 7
For Windows 7, such .reg files are posted on the website Sevenforums.Com. By clicking the “Download” button, you can download all available .reg files in one folder at a time.
But we can only upload individual ones.
Double-click the downloaded .reg file.
We confirm the launch.
We confirm the continuation of the process.
4.2. For Windows 8.1
Using the same principle, we restore default file associations in Windows 8.1. We download from the Eightforums.Com website either individual .reg files, for example, to restore .exe or .lnk formats, or all .reg files in one folder.
We launch the required .reg file and confirm the action.
4.3. For Windows 10
.reg files that restore default file associations in Windows 10 can be downloaded from Tenforums.Com.
As in previous cases, run the required .reg file and confirm the action.
5. File Association Fixer program to restore default file associations
To restore default file associations, as an alternative to the previous method, you can use free program File Association Fixer. This program works with Windows 7, 8.1 and 10 and will help restore system file associations, in particular .exe and .lnk, to their default values. We launch the program, go to the “Fix Files” tab, check the boxes for the required file types and click “Fix Selected” at the bottom.
File Association Fixer provides a way to run itself even if the “.exe” file association fails. To run the program in this case, you must manually change the extension of the program's executable file from .exe to .com.
Have a great day!
When working on a computer in Windows, a situation may arise when a file needs to be opened by one program, but it is always automatically opened by the wrong one. But if you can immediately select a program for opening files, then in the case of opening links, everything is more complicated. For example, you click on a link that came to you in Skype, and the link opens not in the browser where you would like to open it, but in some other one. This happens because a different browser is initially configured to open links in Windows; it is set as the default program for this action. The same applies to any programs, because for each program you can assign the type of files that it will always open. In this article, using Winodows 7 and 10 as an example, I will show how to set default programs to open files of a certain type, as well as links.
Examples for Windows 8 will not be considered in this article, because everything is done there exactly the same as in Windows 7 or Windows 10.
Quickly select a program to open the desired file in any Windows
The easiest way to choose a program to open a file is Windows Explorer. Works the same in all versions of Windows.
With this method, you will have to choose a program to open each type of file. For example, you will have to separately select a program for opening pictures in the .JPG format, then separately the same program for pictures in the .PNG format and all other formats that you use.
You need to right-click (hereinafter referred to as “RMB”) on the file for which you want to select standard program, which will always open it. In the pop-up menu, select “Open with” and a list of main programs (1) through which you can open will appear on the right this file. If the program you need to open your file is in the list, then clicking on it will open the file in it.
This action will open the file in the program of your choice only once. Next time you will have to select the program again.
To save the desired program to open the selected file type on permanent basis or, if the desired program is not in list No. 1, and you know that it is definitely installed on the computer, then click “Select another application” (2).
In the window that opens, the list (1) will indicate all programs that can open this file. Select the one you need from the list. If you want to save the selected program for all files of the same type (so that all similar files are always opened immediately in this program), then check the box “Always use this application ...” (2).
This way you can assign a default program for any file type.
This method is not convenient only because for each file type you have to manually assign a program like this, even if different types files can be opened by the same program.
Assigning default programs for all file types and protocols at once through Windows settings
Windows Settings allows you to set default programs for all types of files that the program can open. Also only through Windows settings you can configure programs that will be used to work with certain protocols, for example, so that all links are opened only in a specific browser.
Below will be shown detailed instructions using Windows 10 as an example. The settings for Windows 7 are very similar and will be discussed briefly; there are only minor differences, mainly in the interface). The settings for Windows 8 are completely identical to the settings for Windows 7.
Open Windows search and type the query “Default Programs” then select the found “Default Programs” option from the search results and open it.
Information on how to use Windows Search is here
The list will display which program opens what, for example, which program is used as a video player, which is a web browser, etc.
Here you can reassign programs to perform certain actions and to open certain files. To do this, you need to click on a program that has already been assigned to an action and select another one from the list (if no program is assigned, then click the “+” button). For example, you want to select a different default browser so that all links from other programs can only be opened through it. To do this, under the “Web browser” heading, click on the already assigned browser (if not assigned, click “+”) and from the list (2) select the browser that we need, through which you want to open all links.
Configuring programs to open certain types of files
You can also set default programs to open certain types of files.
A similar procedure was described above, with the only difference being that in the parameters you can immediately assign programs for all types of files in one place, and not one by one through Explorer.
To go to options for selecting programs that open specific file types, click on the “Select common applications for file types” link.
On the page that opens, in the column on the left (1) all possible file types in Windows will be displayed, and on the right (2) opposite each file type the program that opens these files will be displayed. If a program is not assigned to a certain file type, you can assign it by clicking on the “+” button (3).
Configuring programs to open all types of files and protocols that it can open at once
Can be customized necessary programs so that they open everything that can be opened with their help. However, you need to be careful with this setting option, because it may happen that some types of files will not open in the program you would like.
For example, if for the browser Google Chrome set all the files and protocols that it can open at once, then it may turn out that, for example, PDF files will not be opened in the usual program Acrobat Reader, and in Google Chrome. This is possible because Google Chrome can also open PDF files, and you have configured this browser so that it opens everything it can.
To configure the necessary programs to open all files and protocols that they are only capable of opening at once, go to the “Set default values by application” subsection.
Then, in the list on the left (1), select the program for which you want to set the default to open everything that it can open at once. In the column on the right, click "Set this program as default" (2).
Using Windows 7 as an example
In Windows 7, “Default Programs” for program settings for each type of file opened can also be found through Windows search by typing the query “Default Programs”.
In Windows 7, the Default Programs window looks like this:
To select programs to perform certain actions in the system, you need to open “Setting program access and defaults.”
In the window that opens, you need to open the “Other” category; below in the list, you can assign the necessary programs for each action.
To set programs to open certain file types, in the “Default Programs” section, open the “Match file types or protocols to specific programs” item.
In the window it remains to assign the necessary programs to open required types files. To do this, select the file type from the list (1) and click “Change program” (2).
In order to set the desired default programs for opening all files that it is capable of opening and for all protocols, open the “Set default programs” subsection.
In the list on the left, select the desired program (1), and then on the right click “Set this program as default” (2).
Conclusion
The ability to set default programs for opening certain files will allow you to easily decide possible problems in Windows, when, for example, links from Skype or some other programs open in the wrong browser. Or some video files are opened through the wrong player. The instructions above will help you match the programs you need with the necessary files so that everything is as convenient for you.
That's all! Have a nice day and good mood! ;)
On Windows, when you try to open or run an executable file such as exe, msi, bat, cmd (and other file types) with local disk or network folder, the warning “ Open file – security warning”(Open file - Security Warning). To continue running the program, the user must manually confirm the launch of such a file by pressing the “ button Launch” (Run). Such a warning Windows security as a rule, appears when you run an application installation file or executable file downloaded from the Internet, which is located in the general network folder on server.
Such Windows setup is designed to protect your computer from running potentially dangerous executable files that you have downloaded from the Internet or other untrusted sources and are trying to run. This feature when launching files is present in both Windows 7 and Windows 10.
In some cases, when the launch/installation of such software is carried out in the background through scheduler scripts, group policies, SCCM jobs, etc. this can cause problems because the warning window is not displayed in the user session. Accordingly, installing or launching such an application from a script becomes impossible.
Let us remind you what the warning window looks like. For example, when opening a file from a network directory, the Windows security warning window looks like this:
The publisher cannot be verified. Are you sure you want to run this file?
Open File - Security Warning
The Publisher could not be verified. Are you sure you want to run this software?
When running a file downloaded from the Internet from a local disk (or a network directory mounted via net use), the warning text is slightly different:
Open File - Security Warning
Do you want tio run this file?
Open file - security warning
Run this file?
Files from the Internet can be useful, but this type of file can damage your computer. Only run programs that come from a trusted publisher.
Let's try to figure it out how to remove security warning when running executable or installation files in Windows 7 and Windows 10 (the instructions are also suitable for all other Microsoft operating systems, starting with Windows XP).
Important. Disabling this Windows security warning window is not recommended in most cases, as it reduces the level of computer protection and increases the risk of the user infecting the system.
We offer several options for disabling the security warning window. Choose the appropriate method depending on the required solution (in some cases, the proposed solutions must be combined).
Disable the warning window when running a file downloaded from the Internet
Executable files downloaded from the Internet are automatically flagged as potentially dangerous (downloaded from an unsafe source). This functionality is implemented through alternative NTFS file streams. To simplify, we will assume that this is a special file label that is automatically assigned to a file downloaded from the network (). To remove this tag, you need to unlock this application. For this:
Save the change by clicking the Ok button. Once the file has been unlocked, it will run without a warning window (the NTFS label will be removed).
Trick. To prevent a label from being automatically assigned to files that you download from the Internet through a browser, you can save the downloaded files to a disk formatted in the FAT32 or . On these file systems alternate NTFS streams do not work.
The Zone.Identifier alternate NTFS stream label can be reset using these two commands (a new file will be created):
move oldName.exe > newName
type newName > oldName.exe
Or utilities
streams.exe
If you need to disable this warning only for files downloaded using a browser, then you can disable saving the Zone.Identifier attribute when downloading files directly in the browser:
For Google Chrome and IE you need to create such a registry key
“SaveZoneInformation”=dword:00000001
And for Mozilla Firefox on the settings page about:config change browser.download.saveZoneInformation value to false.
Security warning when running applications from a network directory
This option typically occurs for corporate users who work on an organization's network. A warning window may appear when running a program from a shared network directory (network shares) via a UNC path. In this case, the easiest way is in the browser settings Internet Explorer add the name and/or ip address of the server on which the executable file is stored to the zone Local intranet. This will indicate that this resource is trusted. For this:
You can add addresses of network directories and servers to the Local intranet zone using Group Policies (GPO). Open the local (gpedit.msc) or domain (gpmc.msc) policy editor. Go to Compute Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Internet Explorer -> Internet Control Panel -> Security Page (Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows components-> Internet Explorer -> Browser Control Panel -> Security Tab). Enable Policy Site to Zone Assignment List(List of security zone assignments for websites). In the policy settings, you need to specify a list of trusted servers in the format:
- Server name (as file://server_name, \\server_name, server_name or IP)
- Zone number (1 – For local intranet)
Save the changes to the policy and update it on the client (gpupdate /focre). The warning message should no longer appear when opening executable files from specified network directories.
In addition, in group policies you can enable following settings in the section User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Internet Explorer -> Internet Control Panel -> Security Page (User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Internet Explorer -> Browser Control Panel -> Security Tab) . This best option for domain users:
- Intranet Sites: Include all local (intranet) sites not listed in other zones
- Intranet Sites: Include all network paths (UNCs)
- Turn on automatic detection intranet
Disable warning for certain file types via GPO
In some cases, it is advisable to disable the warning for certain types (extensions) of files through group policies. Although, of course, this is not very safe, because... the user can launch something malicious without looking.
To do this, in the GPO editor, go to the section User Configuration-> Administrative Templates-> Windows Components-> Attachment Manager(User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> ComponentsWindows-> Attachment Manager).
- Enable Policy Do not store information about the zone of origin of attachments(Do not preserve zone information in file attachments). All downloaded from the Internet executable files will run without confirmation on all computers.
- Enable Policy Inclusion list for low risk file types(Inclusion list for low file types), specify in its settings a list of file extensions for which you want to disable the appearance of a Windows security warning window, for example: .exe; .vbs; .msi. The system will ignore tags on files with this extension and run them without confirmation.
Note. In this case, these file extensions are added to the LowRiskFileTypes registry parameter: "LowRiskFileTypes"=".exe;.vbs;.msi;.bat;"
Save the policy and apply it to clients by running gpupdate /force on them.
After this, a warning should no longer appear when opening files with the specified extensions with any information in the Zone.Identifier attribute.
You can also allow the launch of any files from the Internet in the browser settings for the Internet zone (Security - .Internet -> Other -> Miscellaneous -> Launching programs and unsafe files), but this is extremely risky.
Figure A. There is no point in opening PDF files in Notepad - you can remove this option.
Remove related apps from the list
To get started, launch Registry Editor. To do this, type "regedit" (without the quotes) in the Start menu search bar, click the "regedit.exe" link in the list of results, and confirm the operation in the User Account Control dialog box.
In the Registry Editor, open the " HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\" and find the file extension you are interested in in the list. In our case it is “.pdf” (Figure B).
Figure B: Edit the ".pdf" section.
Select the OpenWithList folder to see a list of applications associated with this extension (Figure C).
Figure C. List of applications associated with the ".pdf" extension.
Right-click on the option with the name of the application you want to remove from the list and select the “Delete” option. In our case it is “NOTEPAD.EXE” (Figure D).
Figure D: Right-click on the value "NOTEPAD.EXE" and select the "Delete" option.
A scary warning will appear telling you how dangerous it is to delete anything from the registry (Figure E). But you probably created backup copy registry, which means you don’t have to be afraid. So feel free to click “Yes”.
Figure E: Click Yes to confirm the deletion.
After that, close Registry Editor. Now next time you look at the "Open with" menu for PDF file, Notepad will no longer be in the list (Fig. F).
Figure F: Notepad no longer appears in the Open With list for PDF files.
