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How can I stop Win 10 from resetting file associations to their choice?

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1K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  jenae 
#1 ·
Hi. I have a new computer with Windows 10. I am installing my programs, but every time I choose file associations during install, I get an alert telling me that a program has tried to change file associations, and it has been reset to <Windows default MS program>.

I frequently want to change file associations to the newly installed program, but Windows gives me the above alert and changes the association back to what MS wants me to use. This has also happened when I've tried to change file associations from within a program.

I know I can set associations to what I want in the Control Panel, but it is very tedious to change the association for every file extension. Is there a way to stop this Windows behavior?
 
#2 ·
Once you visit the Default Programs in Control Panel and make your changes - do they then stay permanent?

Seems like you shouldn't have to jump through that hoop usually: as a test, the next time you install a program, see if right-clicking it's installer file and choosing "run as administrator" helps. Other than that, I'll have to look around a bit to see if the defaults are causing trouble for other Windows 10 users...
 
#3 ·
Once you visit the Default Programs in Control Panel and make your changes - do they then stay permanent?
...
Sorry for taking awhile to get back. They seem to stay when I select them in Control Panel. I always use "Run as Administrator." when intstalling a new program, including my graphics (and video) software. I select "All File Extensions" (or whatever the verbiage is), but when I open a file, I get that message, that "a program has tried to change your default application. Windows has changed it back to <their choice>."

There are only 15 or so file types that I use, so I've reset them in Control Panel and I'm up and running smoothly. So I think I'll mark this question as answered. Thanks for your help though, Gary. Much appreciated!
 
#6 · (Edited)
Hi, probably worth explaining what happened here, as others will read this, when you change the default file extension it effects the current user only and is contained in the registry under the key:-

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts

Changing it creates a new sub key called "userchoice" this gives a progid data and a value data that points to the program, when you have trouble effecting these changes it usually manifests as greyed out options to do so, OR UAC rejections that you received ,(even if UAC is disabled) the solution is a permissions problem, you must grant your user full permissions to modify this key.. this is by design and if you think about it, it makes sense as a security measure... if you want to know how to grant permissions post and we will show you.
 
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