Solved cant change the properties of a file to 'open with' nothing

[mysticeye]

Hi
I was trying to figure out how to open and edit a dosbox.conf file, ive worked it out now, use notepad.

But in the process of figuring it out, i changed the properties of all my .conf files to open with dosbox.

I want to set it so nothing is selected as the default opening device.
But i dont get that option in properties, it will only allows me to swap opening the device, not delete it.

thanks

 

[unifex]

I am not sure if there is a simple UI for that, but you can easily do this directly in the registry.

Open regedit, open the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT key (click on it in the left pane) and scroll down to find the conf entry in the left pane, right-click on it, and delete. After you restart the machine, the file association will be gone.

 

[Brink]

Hello Mysticeye,

In addition, you could use the option in the tutorial below to unassociate .conf files.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/178296-file-extension-type-unassociate.html

If you like, the REG file I created below will also unassociate .conf files for you as well.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[mysticeye]

Thanks guys
Rather than have to delete every .conf entry in the registry, i thought I'd download that tool
but I couldn't find the download link on the page
Those silly adverts take over the page so badly, that the original point of the page is lost.
Common these days.

However, I just downloaded and installed the registry entry, and it worked like a charm.

Many thanks

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Mysticeye. I'm glad that we could help.

 

[SilversleevesX]

Be careful with exotic file associations.

I was running Cygwin in Windows XP Pro SP3 on my old machine, and I came across a feature in the Linux/Unix command-line text editor nano where it would automatically generate backups to any text file I opened and edited in it. It did, all right ... it marked each backup file name with a tilde (~) at the very end of the name. I had already associated -- for all the work I put into it, let's say I "cudgeled" Windows into making the association -- the .bak extension as "Backup file."

I asked on several Linux-related forums whether or not, short of customizing the source code and recompiling nano, there was a way to get it to change how it named the backups of files I edited in it. I got no answers that were worth anything: most were along the lines of "Here's how you get nano to make backups automatically, and here's what you do so you don't anymore." Why did I find replies like that worthless? Because I could get asmuch from the text under a Google "hit" link.

So my advice to all and sundry is: don't put too much stock in an exotic or "custom" file association, as you may run into an application or two that doesn't use it or, worse, is hostile towards it in the form you know. A prime example from my own past in Mac OS is the '.bin' extension -- which everywhere else relates to CDs or DVDs, but in Mac OS stands for a file encoded in MacBinary, unless you're using NTI's DragonBurn.

BZT