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

 

[Brink]

No problem Leetla.

Here's the REG file below to restore the default associations of .pub file extensions with Publisher 2007 installed. Hope this helps.

 

[leetla]

The file is now recognized as Type: Microsoft Office Publisher Document.

However, the icon is still generic document and when i double click or try to open the document I get error message: This action is only valid for products that are currently installed.

Publisher is installed.

I try to Open With and although MS Publisher is the recommended programs when I click OK nothing happens.

 

[Brink]

Hmm, ok. Running the Publisher installer again should allow you to do a repair install to fix it then hopefully.

 

[Jonsson89]

Hi im new at forums.
I came home from a vacation and i started my computer and started mozilla firefox and nothing happend, i tried to open as admin nothing happend....
Then i tried to open some other programs, and only internet explorer works!
PLEASE HELP!!!!!

 

[Metrotek]

The restore file associations and types that the link leads too is great; it works well. You guy are all verey bright and i'm no dummie but if it weren't for people like all of you, I'd be in a world of trouble. I really appreciate that there exists purists who enjoy helping others. Thank you guys, I'm good to go for now.

 

[DarkRemorse]

Do you have one for .ani files? Because for some reason, after I tried to click on a program through "Open With" I could no longer get a preview of any ani files, except through the program that I selected, but I want to be able to preview the file in the folder without having to actually open the file.

 

[Brink]

Hello DarkRemorse, and welcome to Vista Forums.

ANI added.

 

[xraiderv1]

my .html files, specifically as they relate to my web browser, are blank.

I'm running firefox as my primary browser, I download alot of fanfiction as .html, so, bearing in mind in the past, these files have had a firefox emblem on them, then one day they suddenly dont.

this has happened in the past, and while clean installs fix matters, inevitably it happens again.

for the record I can still access and use the files properly, its just the appearance of the icons that refuses to work.

dunno what the deal is..

 

[Brink]

Hello xraiderv1,

This tutorial would only restore .html files to be opened with the default Internet Explorer.

If you wanted .html files to remain to be opened with Firefox, then open Default Programs and check make sure that Firefox is set to be the default program of all it's file types.

If that doesn't restore the icon, then rebuilding the icon cache may.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[xraiderv1]

ran the manual tutorial, it didnt work. I appreciate such a well laid out and easy to understand guide, thank you for that.

I can still open my html files, and there doesnt appear to be anything else wrong, maybe this is a harmless cosmetic issue?

checked the associations, its still set to open with firefox.... *scratches head*

 

[Brink]

You might see if toggling it to open with Internet Explorer, apply, then set it to open back with Firefox to see if that may reset the icon.

If not, then you could also manually set a icon to display on .html files if you like.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/178915-file-extension-type-icon-change.html

 

[xraiderv1]

you can do that? I didnt know that.

anyways, they load(my html fic downloads I mean), so, perhaps its a cosmetic issue?

anyways, heres a screenshot.

thats a bookmarks html file in the red box, was the fastest to get to, and its a blank white tile.

 

[Brink]

Have you already tried METHOD TWO in the tutorial below to use "Open with" to set Internet Explorer as the default program, then set it back to Firefox to see if the icon resets to normal?

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/69758-default-programs.html

 

[xraiderv1]

first thing I tried, though just now, I tried it again after running that icon cache tutorial to see if it made a difference.

files open just fine, every time, without fail, its just the icons that refuse to play nice, if you will.

 

[Brink]

Ok. See if downloading and merging the REG file below may restore it back to the icon below. You may need to restart the computer afterwards to apply though.

 

[xraiderv1]

and it went through but didnt fix the icon.

 

[Brink]

Well, that stinks.

As a test, uninstall and reinstall Firefox, then make Firefox the default program again to see if that restores the icon.

 

[xraiderv1]

going to do that in the morning when I've got the time to back up all my saved browser sessions, some of those I really dont want to loose..

 

[xraiderv1]

well, it didnt work, except to give me exercise in reloading a browser installation. always good to have, so I stay in practice.

 

[Brink]

Ok, let's go the manual route to see if that may work for you instead.

• Download and save the ZIP file below to your desktop.
• Extract (drag and drop) the icon file from the ZIP file to your desktop.
• Unblock the icon file.
• Move the icon file to inside your C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox folder.
• Download and save the REG file below to your desktop.
• Merge the REG file to make this icon the default one for .html files.
• Restart the computer to apply.