'Open With' menu - Windows

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Ozei

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Anyone know how to get rid of Paint on the right-click 'Open With' menu (Windows 7)?

Ditto for Windows Photo Viewer.
 
I assume you mean the "context menu" . AFAIK, you can only edit it using registry tweaks which, if you are not confident I would not recommend. There are however several editors (some free) which you can download and which will do the job. Just Google "context menu editor". Be careful with freeware as some are definitely not good for your computer!
 
Yellowbelly said:
I assume you mean the "context menu" . AFAIK, you can only edit it using registry tweaks which, if you are not confident I would not recommend. There are however several editors (some free) which you can download and which will do the job. Just Google "context menu editor". Be careful with freeware as some are definitely not good for your computer!
Click to expand...

Yes, if I right click on the icon for an image file (JPEG, TIFF, PSD, etc) the context menu appears and the 'Open with' sub-menu always contains Paint and Windows Photo Viewer.

I'm confident tweaking the registry. The problem is there are numerous registry keys that control 'Open with' and I don't know where they all are for JPEGs, TIFFs and PSDs. I've tried several editors but none of them got rid of Paint and Windows Photo Viewer.
 
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landwomble said:
OK, in that case, you want to do this:
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/18119/remove-programs-from-open-with-menu-in-explorer/
Click to expand...

I've already tried that and it doesn't work.

For instance, if I go to the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software \Microsoft \Windows \CurrentVersion \ Explorer \FileExts\ and scroll down to the .jpeg file extension, there are two subkeys called OpenWithList and OpenWithProgids. Neither of these contain entries for Paint or Windows Photo Viewer - so I can't delete them. A third subkey called UserChoice contains just a single entry for IrfanView, which is the programme I've set as the default jpeg viewer.
 
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Try looking at (for example) the jpg one, not the jpeg extension. On my 8.1 machine the jpg entry is populated with all the program names under the OpenWithList key. Jpeg isn't for some reason...
 
landwomble said:
Try looking at (for example) the jpg one, not the jpeg extension. On my 8.1 machine the jpg entry is populated with all the program names under the OpenWithList key. Jpeg isn't for some reason...
Click to expand...

The jpg extension contains more program names in both the OpenWithList and OpenWithProgids subkeys but none of them are Paint or Windows Photo Viewer.

Is Paint present in either subkey on your 8.1 machine?
 
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PS.

I've just found Paint here - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\*\OpenWithList\MSPaint.exe

I could try deleting that one.
 
On my MSIT 8.1 machine the list is present and populated with mspaint.exe for jpg, not jpeg. If I have time I'll see if I can find s friendly platforms engineer to talk to. Are you win7 or 8?
 
You could try OpenWithView from Nirsoft here

I've used some of their other utilities in the past without problems.
 
Try deleting the associations in this path - it's worked on my machine. Usual recommendations to backup registry etc....

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Paint\Capabilities\FileAssociations
 
Spuff said:
Try deleting the associations in this path - it's worked on my machine. Usual recommendations to backup registry etc....

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Paint\Capabilities\FileAssociations
Click to expand...

I don't have any levels below the Paint subkey - i.e. there's no Capabilities\FileAssociations.

In other words it stops at Paint, so I just have this: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Paint ........... (no more levels).
 
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Is it not there because you've manually changed the file associations elsewhere?
 
I think that's part of the problem Phil - in Win 7 there doesn't seem to be a uninstall option for Paint - it seems fairly tightly bound with the op-sys which is why none of these context editors work either. The registry edit I posted above has worked on my machine but then I had lots of associations already in place with Paint - Ozei doesn't seem to have any :shrug:
 
Spuff said:
Is it not there because you've manually changed the file associations elsewhere?
Click to expand...

No I haven't touched any file assocs for Paint because I couldn't find any Paint keys in the registry relating to image files (jpegs, tiffs, etc). Any other changes I've made to the registry are irrelevant because I've been rolling back to the start point using a Macrium image.

Rapscallion said:
would uninstalling paint be overkill?
Click to expand...

I don't think Paint can be uninstalled (as Paul says).
 
So how about if you create a file association with Paint (e.g. .bmp) and then see if that creates an entry in the registry string I posted i.e. the \capabilities\fileassociations bit. If it appears there, then delete it and see if that takes the "open with" with it?
 
Spuff said:
So how about if you create a file association with Paint (e.g. .bmp) and then see if that creates an entry in the registry string I posted i.e. the \capabilities\fileassociations bit. If it appears there, then delete it and see if that takes the "open with" with it?
Click to expand...

I've just tried your suggestion Paul. I created a .bmp file from a jpeg and saved it to the desktop. Then I set its default 'Opens with' to mspaint.exe (located in the Windows\System 32 folder) and restarted the machine just to make sure. This had no effect at all on the registry - i.e. there is still no \capabilities\fileassociations on the end of this path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Paint
 
Have you tried Start, Run and typing File associations in there - there are options there to change the default progammes.

It may be that simple but probably not.
 
david357 said:
Have you tried Start, Run and typing File associations in there - there are options there to change the default progammes.

It may be that simple but probably not.
Click to expand...

That just changes (or sets) the default for a particular file type. Altering the 'Open with' list is a lot more complicated because MS Paint is built into Windows.
 
would uninstalling paint be overkill?
Click to expand...
I think reg editing, trying lots of different programs, faffing with file associations is over the top just so the open with dialog is a couple on entries shorter.
 
redsnappa said:
I think reg editing, trying lots of different programs, faffing with file associations is over the top just so the open with dialog is a couple on entries shorter.
Click to expand...

You're right, it is OTT, but getting rid of them has become a matter of principle. I don't know anyone that uses either programme (ever) so why Microsoft welded them to 'Open with' in the first place is beyond me.
 
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