Change double click ACTION - not merely the file association


  1. Posts : 85
    Win 7 Pro x64
       #1

    Change double click ACTION - not merely the file association


    I'll attempt to be as clear as possible when explaining my goal - a goal I was able to achieve with Windows XP, but have yet to learn the Windows 7 way.

    I have a file named whatever.rar. If I double click on the file, WinRAR opens the file and shows me what it contains. This is not the action I want my computer to do when I double click.

    What I WANT the double click action to do is to invoke WinRAR's "Extract Here" command - a command that I currently have to do by right clicking on the file and choosing from that menu.

    As I said earlier, this change was a piece of cake in XP since the properties of the right click menu can be modified through the Control Panel (once you know where to look). All I had to do was deselect "Open" as the default action and specify "Extract Here" as the default action. Once this modification is made, the "Extract Here" option appears in bold when the file is right clicked, and "Open" is no longer bold.

    This is what I want Windows 7 to do. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 53,363
    Windows 10 Home x64
       #2

    Have a look at the discussion here:

    Windows 7 Help: Change the Default Double-Click Action? - Icrontic

    Make sure you have a backup system image, or at least a registry backup before playing in the registry.

    Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup

    Registry - Backup and Restore

    Good luck.

    A Guy
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 85
    Win 7 Pro x64
    Thread Starter
       #3

    No joy. In fact, making any entry at the designated registry location actually removes all WinRAR related options from the right click menu. Thanks anyway.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 53,363
    Windows 10 Home x64
       #4
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 85
    Win 7 Pro x64
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Now THAT might work. There are two significant differences.

    First, the second suggestion (Making WinRAR...) uses a slightly different registry location (...shell\open versus ...shell)

    Next, the second suggestion gives the exact entry to make - whereas the first (Change the Default...) simply says, "set the data value of this string to the name of the default action" - which, to my mind, is telling me to set it to "Extract Here".

    I'll definitely give this a try - thanks!
    Last edited by search53; 13 Jul 2013 at 10:58. Reason: Edited for clarity
      My Computer


 

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