Default File Type Associations - Restore

Restore Default Vista File Extension Type Associations​

   Information

This will allow you to restore the default registry entries and program associations for the Vista file extension type of your choice.

   Note

This can be helpful for example when a file extension type opens with the wrong program by default, has the wrong icon, or is missing or corrupted in the registry. Downloading the .reg file for the selected file extension in the tutorial below, will restore that file extension back to default for all of these items above.

If the file extension type you need to restore is not listed below yet, then please post a request for it. I'll be happy to add it to the list.

   Warning

Default program associations for file extensions are a per user setting by default, so you will need to be logged on to the effected user account to be able to restore the default associations of the file extension for that specific user account.

If you are logged in as a standard user and this still does not help, then have the administrator also merge the needed .reg for the file extension below while logged into their administrator account.

These default file extensions should only be used in Vista.

Here's How:

1. Click on the file extension type link listed below for the one that you wish to restore to default to download it's .zip file.

2. Save the .zip file to your desktop.

3. Open the downloaded .zip file, then extract the .reg file to the desktop.

4. Right click on the extracted .reg file and click on Merge.

   Tip

If you do not see a Merge option when you right click on the REG file, then you will need to check in Default Programs to set the reg file extension to have it's Current Default program set as Registry Editor (C:\Windows\regedit.exe). Afterwards, try merging the REG file again.

5. If prompted, click on Run, Continue (UAC), Yes, and OK.
NOTE: If you are logged in a standard user account, then you will get a Cannot import type error. Just click on OK for it. This is normal since what cannot be imported can only be done so by an administrator account instead. It will still restore the default association of the file extension though.

6. When done, you can delete the downloaded .zip and .reg files on the desktop if you like.

7. Log off and log on, or restart the computer to fully apply.


Default Vista File Extension Types:
ani - Windows animated cursor file.

aspx - A file with the ASPX file extension is an ASP.NET Source file.

AudioCD - Audio CD protocol associations.

avi - Audio Video Interleave files. The default program is Windows Media Player.

bat - Batch files.

bmp - Bitmap image files. The default program is Windows Photo Gallery.

cab - Cabinet files.

chm - Microsoft compiled HTML help files.

cmd - Windows command script files.

com - MS-DOS application files.

contact - Contact file used in Windows Mail. The default program is Windows Contacts.

css - Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) file used to format the contents of a Web page; contains customized, global properties for how to display HTML elements; can define the size, color, font, line spacing, indentation, borders, and location of HTML elements.

cur - Windows File Cursor animation files used for the Microsoft Windows mouse pointer image.

dat - Generic data file created by a specific application; typically accessed only by the application that created the file; may contain data in text or binary format; text-based DAT files can be viewed in a text editor.

Directory - Directory protocol associations

dll - A Dynamic Link Library (dll) file is a support file used by one or more programs.

drive - Drive protocol associations.

exe - Executable application files.

folder - Folder protocol associations.

gif - GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) image files. The default program is Internet Explorer.

hlp - Help File

htm - HTML (Hypertext Mark-up Language) document files. The default program is Internet Explorer.

html - HTML (Hypertext Mark-up Language) document files. The default program is Internet Explorer.

ico - Icon files. The default program is Windows Photo Gallery.

inf - Setup information files. The default program is Notepad.

jpe - JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) image files. The default program is Windows Photo Gallery.

jpeg - JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) image files. The default program is Windows Photo Gallery.

jpg - JPG (Joint Photographic Group) image files. The default program is Windows Photo Gallery.

js - Java Script files. The default program is Microsoft Windows Based Script Host (C:\Windows\System32\wscript.exe).

lnk - Shortcut link (LNK) files.

manifest - A XML file that contains information about accompanying files in the same archive.

mp3 - MP3 sound format file. The default program is Windows Media Player.

mp4 - MPEG-4 movie file. The default program is Windows Media Player.

mpa - MPEG audio file. The default program is Windows Media Player.

mpe - MPEG movie file. The default program is Windows Media Player.

mpeg - MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) video file. The default program is Windows Media Player.

mpg - MPEG video file. The default program is Windows Media Player.

msc - Mirosoft Common Console document files.

msi - Microsoft Windows Installer installation package file.

pdf - Portable Document Format (PDF) is a file format created by Adobe Systems. By default, Vista does not support reading this file type. Using this to restore the default PDF association in Vista will remove all associations for the pdf file extension. You will need to install a 3rd party program like Adobe Reader to be able to open and read pdf files in Vista.

pif - Short for Program InFormation file, a type of file that holds information about how Windows should run a non-Windows application.

png - Portable Network Graphics (PNG) is a bitmap compression method for image files. PNG supports 16.7 million colors, it is lossless and also supports index color, grayscale, true color, transparency, and is streamable. It is thus the best compression method (better than GIF or JPEG) for use on the web

reg - Registry files.
NOTE: You may need to the default program as Registry Editor (C:\Windows\regedit.exe), or enable regedit before you will be able to use this REG file.

rtf - Rich Text document files. The default program is WordPad.

scr - Screen Saver files.

tif - Tagged Image files Format. The default program is Windows Photo Gallery.

tiff - Tagged Image files Format. The default program is Windows Photo Gallery.

tmp - Temp file. By default, this file extension does not have a program associated with it.

txt - Text document files. The default program is Notepad.

url - Internet website shortcut link. The default program is Internet Explorer.

vbs - Visual Basic Script files. The default program is Microsoft Windows Based Script Host (C:\Windows\System32\wscript.exe).

wav - Wave audio file.

wma - Windows Media Audio files. The default program is Windows Media Player.

wmv - Windows Media Audio/Video file. The default program is Windows Media Player.

wsf - Windows Script Files. The default program is Microsoft Windows Based Script Host (C:\Windows\System32\wscript.exe).

xml - Excel Macro files. The default program is Internet Explorer.

xps - XML Paper Specification document files. The default program is XPS Viewer (C:\Windows\System32\XPSViewer\XPSViewer.exe).

xsl - A eXtensible Stylesheet Language file that defines the style of text, tables, and other objects within a XML document; similar to a .CSS file used by .HTML documents. The default program is Internet Explorer.

zip - ZIP file extensions is a archival and data compression format used to compress one or more files to reduce the size of the file. The default program is Compressed Folders.
NOTE: This is a .reg file for the ZIP download only, so go to step 4 after downloading it.

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Associate a Individual File Extension Type With a Program in Vista
• How to Set Default Associations For a Program in Vista
• How to Unassociate a File Extension Type in Vista
• How to Show and Change a File Name Extension in Vista
• How to Add a Program to Open With in Vista
• How to Change a File Extension Type Icon in Vista
• How to Restore the Built-in ZIP File Support in Vista
• How to Turn Compressed Folders On or Off in Vista

 

[GordonHS]

Thank you Brink. I'll go there. Gordon

 

[angryjesus]

I joined this site just to thank you for hosting these files. I recently had to manually remove some malware and it left a couple of ugly holes in my registry (specifically in the keys to open .exe files). I had to use some sneaky work-arounds just to get Firefox to open. No amount of backup registry merges seemed to help. I found this page, DL'd the fix, and presto! Back to normal. Thank you much, Vista Guru! My only complaint is about how I couldn't find this on MS's site...reprehensible.

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Jesus, and welcome to Vista Forums.

 

[zenorac]

A virus knocked me out a day ago and I struggled for hours trying to fix this problem (associating .exe files). I found this forum and fixed it first try with the default_EXE.reg file. I think I will name my next child after you. (Well, probably not).
Thanks so much!

Darryl

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Darryl, and welcome to Vista Forums.

 

[mario israel]

Hello!

I got up to step 4 in the tutorial ("Right click on the .reg file and click on Merge."), but there was no "Merge" option available when I right-clicked the file. Nevertheless, I double-clicked it, which took me to the Security Warning pop-up. I clicked "Run" as advised in Step 5, but then got this error message in a different pop-up:


regedit.exe - Bad Image

C:\\Windows\system32\clb.dll is either not designed to run on Windows or it contains an error. Try installing the program again using the original installation media or contact your system administrator or the software vendor for support.


I am at a loss. What should I do now?

As an addition to what I just posted, I clicked "OK" on the error message, then it disappeared and another pop-up informed me that "Registry Editor has stopped working." Please help!

 

[Brink]

Hello Mario,

It sounds like the regedit.exe file may be corruted. Run a sfc /scannow command to see if it may be able to fix it. Next, double check in Default Programs (Method Three) to make sure that the "Current Default" program listed for the REG file extension is Registry editor (C:\Windows\regedit.exe).

Afterwards, restart the computer and try the REG file again to see if it will merge for you.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[melaniehall14]

hey,
Please don't kill me if this is a stupid question but what about programs like itunes or internet explorer? What do I do for them? All my programs have this problem, iv'e had a malware attack

Melanie

 

[Brink]

Hello Melanie, and welcome to Vista Forums.

If you mean that all application files will not open, then try using the EXE download option on the first page to restore it's default associations to see if it will allow them to afterwards.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[mario israel]

Hello Mario,

It sounds like the regedit.exe file may be corruted. Run a sfc /scannow command to see if it may be able to fix it. Next, double check in Default Programs (Method Three) to make sure that the "Current Default" program listed for the REG file extension is Registry editor (C:\Windows\regedit.exe).

Afterwards, restart the computer and try the REG file again to see if it will merge for you.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Hello Brink,

Thanks for all your help! I followed your instructions to the letter. After the reboot, however, the results were exactly the same as before: no "Merge" option when I right-clicked; the same error message when I tried to "Run" the REG file; followed by the message that the Registry Editor has stopped working. Is there anything else I can do?

By the way, there were some files that the System File Checker could not repair. I checked the CBS.LOG and I lost count of how often I saw the phrase "Cannot repair member file" - it appeared literally dozens of times.

 

[Brink]

Hello Mario,

If you have a retail copy of Vista, then you can do a Repair install. If not, then you may need to reinstall Vista again.

 

[thehorgans]

Hi,

Had Malware Vista 10 security. Got rid of that but accidental reset all file extensions to .lnk. Also had a browser hijacker which have removed using Malware. Restored .exe, .dll, .cmd, chm, wsf, js, vbs.

Windows updates don't work, no files downloaded from IE do.

Firefox is OK

Any help greatly appreciated

 

[Brink]

Hello Horgans, and welcome to Vista Forums.

I would recommend to format and do a clean install of Vista with those type of issues.

 

[thehorgans]

cheers,

was trying to desperately not reformat. I will plug away at fix problems.. but I think that a clean reinstall might be my onlt hope in the end
Sue

 

[cleholl]

Hello Brink,

Thank you for this very helpful tutorial. Is there by chance a default file association for mp4 and flv? Was fine with the blank white paper icon (Unknown file icon from imageres.dll) so didn't designate a default media program (just did right click and chose from the list). But then an update of one of the media programs hijacked the mp4 and flv files, and started to do thumbnail generation, which slowed down windows explorer. The thumbnail generation was annoying so I uninstalled the program, but then the icons for mp4 and flv took on the ugly "Unknown file" icon from XP days (white background with the colorful image of an open window), and not the simple blank page.
Is this making sense?
Thank you in advance.

 

[Brink]

Hello Cleholl, and welcome to Vista Forums.

By default, the .mp4 and .flv file extensions are not listed in the Vista registry under the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\(file extension) location. If you do not have a program installed to play or open them with, then you can run the REG files below to delete the .mp4 and .flv key entries to restore them to the default unassociated state. Afterwards, log off and log on, or restart the computer to apply.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[cleholl]

Hello Brink,

Thanks for the info and for responding!
Will give this a go....
Would there be a way to disable thumbnail generation for video files only, or certain video files only?
Thanks again!

 

[Brink]

Cleholl,

Sorry, but no. It's either all or no thumbnail previews in Windows Explorer.

 

[cleholl]

Oh well...

Thanks anyway, Brink!

 

[Brink]

You're welcome.