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Unofficial VirtualDub Support Forums > Off-Topic > Windows XP Annoyance

Posted by: fccHandler Oct 8 2004, 03:41 AM

In Windows XP, you can right-click a file, choose "open with", and up pops a child menu of so-called "recommended programs" (up to three, apparently). At first glance this is a great feature, because you can easily select from multiple programs depending on your whim. (For instance, WMP10 vs. mplayer2.)

Once upon a time, I wanted to open a .vob file with Windows Media Player. I had just installed ATI MMC, so the default was ATI File Player, and I guess at that time the "recommended programs" list for .vobs was unpopulated. But my mouse slipped and I inadvertently selected "Windows Media Profile Editor." Whoops!

The action failed of course, but now "Windows Media Profile Editor" has embedded itself permanently in the "recommended programs" list for .vobs and I can't figure out how to get rid of it.

Yes, I realize I can probably just delete the .vob association and rebuild it from scratch, but that's just a workaround. What I really want to know is, where the heck is this "recommended programs" list stored? It's not in the registry, as far as I can tell...

Posted by: fccHandler Oct 10 2004, 03:58 AM

Update: I was wrong that the maximum was three; my .mpg association displays seven "recommended programs." I still haven't discovered how this list is created or where it's stored in the system. It sure would be nice to be able to customize the list.

Posted by: phaeron Oct 10 2004, 08:39 PM

This hit one of my machines, too -- both Windows Media Player 6.4 and 8.0 got stuck in the list and from then on I had to choose manually every time I launched a video. Checking "always use this program" never works. I hope it's a bug in the shell because otherwise it's a dumb design.

Posted by: fccHandler Oct 10 2004, 10:09 PM

Wow, I think I found it. I suddenly thought to do a search for "WMProEdt.exe" in the registry, and this key came up:

CODE

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.VOB\OpenWithList]
"a"="Patcher.exe"
"b"="ATIMMC.EXE"
"c"="UnMPG.exe"
"d"="wmplayer.exe"
"e"="mplayer2.exe"
"f"="VirtualDub.exe"
"g"="WMProEdt.exe"
"h"="TMPGEnc.exe"
"MRUList"="bdhfcega"

I edited it to:

CODE

Windows Media Profile Editor is gone! yippee

Funny thing is, not all of those programs appear in the "recommended programs" list for .vobs. Only two of them do; ATIMMC and UnMPG, in that order. So now I'm wondering why (and how) it chooses to display only those two...