Open With - Add Program

How to Add a Program to "Open With" in Vista and Windows 7​

information   Information
When you right click on a file and click Open With, a list of registered programs are displayed in the Open With window to choose from. This will show you how to register a program so that it will be added to the Open With list.

EXAMPLE: Open With Context Menu
Context_Menu.jpg​
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EXAMPLE: Open With window
Open%20with.jpg​
​




METHOD ONE
Add to "Open With" Manually

NOTE: This will not always register the program and add it to the Open With window for next time.
1. For Vista​
​

2. For Windows 7​
​
​
​




METHOD TWO
Add to "Open With" Using a Program

NOTE: The program OpenWithAdd can be helpful in circumstances when you manually add a program and it does not get added to the Open With window. OpenWithAdd will register the program and add it to Open With a lot easier.
WRITTEN BY: Ramesh Srinivasan
​
2. Click on the OpenWithAdd.zip download link at the link above to download the file.​
​
3. Save it to your Desktop and extract the two files OpenWithAdd.exe and readme.txt.​
NOTE: OpenWithAdd.exe is stand-alone exe file and does not need to be installed. You can move this file to where you want and create a shortcut for it.​
​
4. Click on OpenWithAdd.exe to open the program.​
​
5. Type in the full path of the exe file of the program you want to add to Open With, or click the browse (...) button. (See screenshot below)​
ow1.jpg​
​

6. If you clicked browse (...), then navigate to the exe file of the program you want to add to Open With. (See screenshot below)​
A) Click on Select.​
​
​
Select.jpg​
​


7. Click on Register. (See screenshot below)​
ow3.jpg​
​

8. It is now added. (See screenshot below)​
Open_With_After.jpg​
​

That's it,
Shawn




Related Tutorials

 

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Click to expand...
You're welcome Wildflower, and welcome to Vista Forums.

All credit belongs to Ramesh though for writing the program. :)
 

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I use a similar facility from Free programs to open any file extension! - that works very well too. But it never hurts to have options. The nice feature I found with that one is that it will propose downloads for a suitable program in case you have none fitting on your system.
Update: This is an example of the window shown after I right click on a word file and go to "open with":

openwith.png
 
Last edited:

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This "OpenWith" program looks pretty simple to use......right up my alley! Thanks! And I really appreciate the people who attach pictures to explain how to use programs. Really helps me. :)
 

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You're most welcome Geekophelia, and welcome to Vista Forums. :)
 

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    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
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    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
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    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
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    HP Envy Y0F94AV
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    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
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    16 GB DDR4-2133
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    Conexant ISST Audio
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how do you remove entries added by this program?
 

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    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
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    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
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    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
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    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
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    2560x1440
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    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2, 4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2, 8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
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  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
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    3480 x 2160
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    512 GB M.2 SSD
The description for this procedure says it's for Vista & Windows 7. I'm running Win 7 Pro, 64 bit. I downloaded OpenWithAdd & tried to add a couple of .exe's. They registered OK but neither of them shows up in Context Menus under Open With. Would sure appreciate some help Thank you.
 

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lvsunz37 said:
The description for this procedure says it's for Vista & Windows 7. I'm running Win 7 Pro, 64 bit. I downloaded OpenWithAdd & tried to add a couple of .exe's. They registered OK but neither of them shows up in Context Menus under Open With. Would sure appreciate some help Thank you.
Click to expand...

Hello Lvsunz, and welcome to Vista Forums.

When you right click on the file and click on Open with and Choose default program instead, does it show here instead when you click on the expansion arrow to the right of "Other Programs" in the Open with window?

Open_With.jpg
 

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    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2, 4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2, 8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
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    Windows 10 Pro
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    HP Envy Y0F94AV
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    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
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    16 GB DDR4-2133
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    Conexant ISST Audio
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    17.3" UHD IPS touch
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    3480 x 2160
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Brink,
When I right click the only entry I see is Open With- there is no Browse or Choose Default Program/Other Programs. Just Open With.
I'm really confused as to why nothing else.
 

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lvsunz,

Do you not see this?
Open-with.jpg
​
If not, then you might consider doing a system restore using a restore point (if available) dated when you believe it did work properly.
 

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    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
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    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2, 4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2, 8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
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    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
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    Thermaltake Core P3
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    Corsair Hydro H115i
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    Logitech Z625 speaker system, Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam, HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn, APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI, Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Something similar- remember I'm running Win 7 Pro, 64 bit- may be different implementation. Left or right click, I get "Windows can't open this file", then 2 options: Select a program from a list of installed programs & Use Web to find correct program.Choose 1st option then I can select, browse,check "always use", etc.

I thought I would see Open With > sub menu choices, but I don't.
 

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  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
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    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2, 4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2, 8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system, Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam, HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn, APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI, Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Hi Brink,

thanks for finding that Add "Open with" program! I've been having that problem for a while not knowing how to fix it. Kudos to Ramesh for creating it.

I just want to go into what happened in my situation.

After uninstalling a version of MPC-HC and installing a newer version I was unable to get it to use the "Open with" function. I right clicked on the media file(any kind) clicked "Choose Default Program...". I clicked Browse and selected the correct exe and clicked open. It went back to the "Open with" menu and did not appear in the "Recommended Programs" or "Other Programs" list. If I associated the file type, naturally I could just click on it and it would open but it would never appear in the "Open with" window.

It didn't matter if I used the installer or just unzipped.

I also tried running the 32 bit version and I was able to get it to appear in the "Open with" window. However I decided to delete it and try an older version...sure enough the same thing happened as above... I deleted the older version and put back the 32 bit version I first used the "Open with" feature with and it was back in the "Open with" window. Seems like Vista is hanging on to the first version I used the "Open with" function with.

The program ramesh created fixed the problem for me :)

What I would like to know is, why is this happening and who's responsible for this problem? Vista or MPC-HC?
 

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Hello KXracer, and welcome to Vista Forums.

I'm happy to hear that it worked well for you. I'm not certain as to why this happens sometimes with programs though.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2, 4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2, 8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system, Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam, HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn, APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI, Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
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