cannot set file association - option greyed out

chrysalis · 04 Feb 2010

Ok so I set the association for .ini files to regedit. I assumed it be easy to change back again.

Now when I try to set via open with or the control panel this happens.

I see notepad and wordpad as reccomended programs. I can select one but the "always use the selected program to open this file" is greyed out and unticked so the change doesnt stick.

If I navigate to notepad.exe manually it still is the same problem.

A reboot doesnt fix the problem.

If I try to fix in the registry it is set to notepad.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\inifile\shell\open\command

value notepad.exe

double clicking opens regedit.

chrysalis · 04 Feb 2010

ok I found the fix, weird I have to say.

microsoft it seems have in their wisdom that if regedit is set as a association for a file it then is disabled to set it to a new program, this setting is what controls it.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\regedit.exe

REG_SZ value called NoOpenWith

I renamed to NoOpenWith2 and when I went back to the control panel the box was still ghosted but this time ticked and double clicking notepad saved the new setting.

Brink · 04 Feb 2010

Hello Chrysalis,

You can also download and use the INI download option in the tutorial below. It will restore all of the default associations for it.

Default File Type Associations - Restore

Hope this helps,
Shawn

chrysalis · 04 Feb 2010

Hi, yes those restore files look handy and would have done the job so will remember if a next time, thanks.

Brink · 04 Feb 2010

You're welcome. Hopefully will not have to.

MJRNightmare · 04 Feb 2012

Old Post but I know people will go nuts trying to figure this one out. Nothing here or from other sites worked for me. Some of the fixes seemed too general and I did not want to reset all, only fix the one. I'm an IT guy and tried the usual Windows Control Panel etc...

So... delete the UseChoice from hkcu. In my case I associated .shader with Visual Studio. After doing it, realized VS does not highlight code like Mono Developement, but couldn't switch it back.

Removing the key below re-enabled the check box. now I could re-associate with Mono.

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.shader\UserChoice]
"Progid"="Applications\\VCSExpress.exe"

For you, find the extension giving you grief in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\
If it has a "UserChoice" key delete it. (Back it up if you are paranoid, right click export!)

I don't think I even rebooted and the check box was back.

Cheers

Brink · 04 Feb 2012

Hello MJR, and welcome to Seven Forums.

That's what the specific downloads in the tutorial below does automatically for only the selected file extension that you wanted to restore back to it's default associations.

Default File Type Associations - Restore