File associations: concept, classification, characterization, configuration, restoration, tips and instructions for proper installation

Files in the system are stored in a specific format. Each program opens only its inherent formats. So .jpg files cannot be opened in Notepad. So that the user does not specify the program for application each time, the system assigns it by default. It can be changed by the user or priority will be fixed during installation, which does not always suit the client, so you often have to adjust the file association yourself.

Associated Program Opening

In general, most files are “program data”. When a user opens a program, Windows downloads and executes the instructions found in it. However, when a data file is opened, the OS checks its type and finds a related program to open. Thus, the system downloads and directs its launch using the data included in the selected file. For example, when you click on a file with the extension .txt, the system will automatically download Notepad. If you click on Word Document (.doc), then Microsoft Word will automatically load.

Most file types in the OS are completely safe. However, it is known that some virus programs inject their file association configuration into the system or modify existing types. Then, while opening a normal file, it does not open, and Windows finishes working with the wrong program.

Display formats

The type of file helps determine the purpose of its use. On DOS and Windows file systems, file names traditionally end with an extension of one to three characters. The most commonly used extensions are:

• executable .exe;
• text .txt;
• .gif images;
• sound. mp3;
• zip archives.

Unfortunately, Microsoft hides extensions by default. When a failure occurs, to fix it, you must enable the extension display:

1. Launch Explorer (Win Key + E).
2. Select the menu item “Tools” - “Folder Options”.
3. Then open the “View” tab, scroll down to “Hide extensions”.
4. Uncheck the box to show extensions in the Windows Explorer window, as well as in the "Save File" section.

OS selection selection

This procedure is relatively simple and takes only a few minutes. The following are the steps to restore the association of Windows files, files of versions of operating systems 10, 8, 7 or Vista:

1. Open the control panel in Windows by pressing the WIN key and the X key on the keyboard.
2. In Win 7 or Vista, just go to the Start menu.
3. After that, press the program.
4. Then click the option “Make file type always open”.
5. In the Association Set tool, click Modify over the scroll bar.
6. Choose from a variety of desired Windows file association application after double-clicking.
7. Press the button "Always use this application" to open and then - OK.

If the user has correctly completed all these steps, then each time, clicking on any file extension, it will open independently.

File Explorer 8 Management Tricks

Windows File Explorer often performs much more actions and settings than the user allows. To fix tasks it is necessary:

1. Open Explorer.
2. In Windows 8, click on a file and then hover over Open with.
3. To make a permanent change, click "Choose another application." If the user does not find the desired one, then scroll down and click "Other applications".
4. If it does not exist, then select "Find."
5. Browse program files and select an executable file and mark “Always use”. This process, in fact, is similar for the 7th version, while Open with does not expand and the alternative application is viewed directly from the window that opens, which will help change the file association.

Fixing .exe documents

Perhaps the user is faced with a situation where he can not open .exe files or links. Instead, the Open With dialog box appears, or prompts you to open this file in another program. This occurs when the file association is corrupted. The main reason exe files do not work is because of a damaged registry. This is due to poor software or malware.

FixExec is designed to solve these problems by re-creating the Windows registry keys that may be damaged. If the tool detects that any of these associations is missing, damaged, altered, or cracked, the settings will be set to their default values.

FixExec restores the association of .exe, .bat, .com files and also stops any malicious processes that it detects. The application offers 18 fixes for 26 Windows files.

EXE file repair:

1. To correct the situation, you need to download and apply registry fixes.
2. To fix the .exe extension, download FixExec.
3. To fix the .lnk extension, download the LNK patch. Right in the file, click "Merge" exe files and click "Yes."

Software Editing in Regedit

Regedit is a registry editor utility built into the Windows operating system. Using Regedit, the connection between the file and the software using it is edited by Windows. It is difficult to use, and invalid entries can lead to inoperability of the operating system. The procedure for changing the registry file association is:

1. Press the Windows “Start” button and enter regedit in the “Search for programs and files” field, then press Enter.
2. If the user account control asks if you want to allow the program to make changes, click Yes.
3. Click on the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT branch in the left pane to expand it. This registry key contains all the association information.
4. Scroll down to the file extension.
5. Click on the file extension to expand the key.
6. Edit the values ​​by clicking on the key and select “Change” in the menu. The changes made will be saved when the registry is closed.
7. Restart Windows so that registry changes are visible to the operating system.

Group Policy Setting

This option allows you to change Open With for any type of file, using simple but powerful folder options, for example .txt from Notepad in WordPad. The sequence of actions:

1. Edit the GPO that you want to apply to this setting.
2. Go to “User Configuration” - “Configuring File Association” - “Control Panel Settings”, then click on “Folder Options” and then on “Create” - “Open With”.
3. Enter the extension, and then the path to the file you want to open.
4. Mark "Set as default" and click OK. When specifying the file path, remember that it is different for x86 and x64 platforms, so it is best to use the% ProgramFilesDir% variable.

Restore default application

By default, you can restore the association, so you will need to log in to the user account. This can be useful, for example, when the type of file extension is opened with the wrong application. The action can be implemented in the form of a reset in accordance with the recommended Microsoft standards by default. To restore the file association by default program:

1. Click the file or protocol link in which you want to restore the default association to load the .reg file and save it to a visible place on the desktop. Double click on it to combine.
2. After the request appears, click "Run" - "Yes" - "Yes" and OK. The part of the downloaded .reg file that is responsible for all users can only be successfully combined with an administrator account. The downloaded reg file will restore associations for the user account. When .reg cannot recover twice, you need to check the default programs to make sure that the .reg file extension has the current default program as the registry editor C: \ Windows \ regedit.exe.
3. Then you need to try restoring the .reg file again.
4. Log out and log in and restart the computer.

If this still does not help, then the administrator will merge the necessary .reg file while logging into his administrator account.

Reset association to default

You can merge backup files using the default program editor. It has not been updated over the past few years and works without any problems on any version of Windows. To back up and restore file associations using the default program editor, the user needs to follow the instructions below:

1. Download the default program editor.
2. Extract downloaded zip file to get portable version.
3. Launch the default program editor, click on the link “Create or restore a backup copy of registry settings”.
4. Click “Yes” when the “User Account Control” prompt appears.
5. Click the “Back Up” button again to create a copy of the file associations and OK when the confirmation dialog appears.

First you need to make sure that all programs are present in the current installation of Windows. This is due to the fact that when restoring a backup of a file association, Windows does not check if all the programs specified in the backup are installed in the system, and you can make an error opening the file.

Exact associations

Exact associations are performed mainly using additional tools in the form of programs and utilities. Using them, the user will have full control over the files. One of the main errors that occur between versions of Windows is how different associations are handled. In some later versions, deleting a file association is extremely difficult. There is a lot of software that acts like huge associative crashes when programs collide with each other.

Illustrative examples are VLC and Winamp. It can be argued that VLC is best suited for video, and Winamp for music. In this case, both files will fight for primacy, and they will collect associations on both sides of the extensions. Having unused file types associated with software that is not in use doesn't matter much, but some of them are blocked by Windows. To fix this situation, the use of reliable file utilities is recommended: Unassociate File Types. WinPatrol. Windows XP Unleashed.

Unassociate File Types

Windows 10/8/7 and Vista do not provide a graphical interface for unauthorized access or extension of file types. But if you need to remove the association, you can do this using a portable utility called Unassociate File Types. Using the program:

1. Download unassoc.zip from the Internet and save it to your desktop.
2. Extract the contents to a folder and run unassoc.exe.
3. Select a type from the list.
4. Click “Delete” in User mode. The user association for the selected file is removed from the registry. The “Delete” button deletes the user-specific association through the “Open With” dialog for the selected file type. This button will remain dim if the application does not exist for the desired file. The “Delete file type” button completely removes the type from the registry, both user and global.
5. Click the "Refresh List" button.

This utility requires administrator rights to work properly.

WinPatrol for typical correction

An important feature of WinPatrol is that it allows you to view and restore “File Types”, which can be changed without permission. It will monitor and timely warn the user about the change that has occurred, for example, when the virus changes the installed file types, launching a dangerous program during operations. Especially in cases where the user clicks on the .exe file. WinPatrol will warn him and return to the original program association. Functionality of the program buttons:

1. "Monitor" allows you to configure any test frequency, and even 0 minutes, to completely disable the list check.
2. “Add” includes in the list the extensions that need to be controlled.
3. “Information” provides additional information about the selected file type, including the company responsible for the associated program.
4. "Delete" does not delete specific programs from the hard drive. It will also not change any types in Windows. Instead, it simply removes the selected file type from the list of controlled WinPatrol.
5. “Free Information” to view a list of common viruses on the WinPatrol website.

Windows XP Unleashed Editor

One of the most annoying aspects of working with files is that there is no certainty for them. The Windows XP Unleashed editor is used when they were not recognized, were originally created in another program, sent to the user, or exported from other programs. At the time of opening the file, Explorer contacts the location HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT to find out the key intended for it.

From a cross-reference at this point in the registry, Explorer knows which application is open for reading and working. When the user navigates to the folder options in the Tools applet, for example, Explorer automatically creates both types of registry keys to launch the application. Although this approach is useful for initial startup, it is not so useful in cases of overriding associations between file types and applications. This is where the registry comes in handy. To solve this problem and create an association, perform the following steps:

1. Open the Windows XP registry editor by typing regedit from the Run command prompt.
2. Expand the subdirectory HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and find the subdirectory of the PDF extension, open it.
3. Create a key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and select "Create" in the "Type" and "Change" menus in the "Create" dialog box.
4. Enter .Chicago and click OK. In the value area, double-click the default .PDF value. Registry Editor will suggest a new value.
5. Enter .Chicago and create a new registry key and value that associates this file extension with Adobe Acrobat.
6. Go back to the Explorer window, and select “Folder Options” from the “Tools” applet. Now .Chicago is one of the listed extensions, and when a file with the .Chicago extension is opened, Adobe Acrobat is loaded.

In the process of working on a PC, you have to deal with a large number of documents, videos and audio files of various types and formats. At the same time, the PC also has many different programs that are installed in the operating system. Knowing how to perform the association, the user can easily cope with this variety.