2011-12-14

solution to windows 7 "open with" browse button not working

problem:

i was trying to open an iif file in excel by right clicking the file, clicking "open with..." and clicking "choose default program."  excel wasn't in the list, so i clicked, "browse..." and navigated to excel in my program files folder.  when i clicked "ok," excel was not added to the list and i could not choose to open the file with excel.  of course i could've opened the file in excel by opening excel and clicking file/open, but there is an actual solution.  this is what worked for me:

solution

warning! these directions instruct you to modify your computer's registry.  if you mess up these directions, you can seriously mess up your computer.  if you don't know what you're doing, just use the workaround i mentioned above.

  1. click start and then click run.
  2. type "regedit" and then click ok.
  3. navigate to the key "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Applications\"
  4. right click the key and click delete.
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25 comments:

  1. GabrielJuly 8, 2012 at 1:08 PM

    Thanks fir this tip. In my case it wasn't working for VirtualDub, for avi files, every time I browsed for virtualdub while trying to add the open with program, the list didn't add it. Problem was that I had added it once, but later I removed/renamed the original path. Because of that virtualdub wasn't appearing, I just deleted the virtualdub key under HKCU\Software\Classes\Applications.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousOctober 14, 2012 at 10:48 AM

    Damn, it does work. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousNovember 4, 2012 at 9:50 AM

    Awesome! Thanks man.. this was driving me crazy.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJanuary 29, 2013 at 8:07 AM

    Thanks, thanks, thanks!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousFebruary 26, 2013 at 1:01 PM

    Great Solution!! Simple and it works. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousAugust 1, 2013 at 2:30 PM

    Thank you so much for the post...It did it :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousAugust 23, 2013 at 5:43 PM

    Thanks a lot!

    ReplyDelete
  8. hfrmobileSeptember 15, 2013 at 7:15 AM

    Worked perfectly!

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousOctober 8, 2013 at 8:02 AM

    Brilliant! Works!

    I seen this issue off and on for over a year now and finally have the fix. Thanks so much!
    Barry

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnonymousOctober 10, 2013 at 10:34 AM

    My trouble was Photoshop. After I uninstalled CS4, it wouldn't find CS6. I deleted the Photoshop key and it works now. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  11. AnonymousNovember 3, 2013 at 2:11 AM

    Wow,It works,pal!
    Thank you very much!

    ReplyDelete
  12. AnonymousJanuary 21, 2014 at 7:54 PM

    It doesn't work on Windows 8, or at least in my case, any suggestions..?

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousMay 7, 2014 at 12:14 AM

    Thanks a lot..It worked for me also

    ReplyDelete
  14. AnonymousJune 17, 2014 at 2:42 PM

    Thanks you saved my day!

    ReplyDelete
  15. UnknownJune 29, 2014 at 12:06 PM

    WOW....It worked...Thanks a lot...

    ReplyDelete
  16. AnonymousJuly 1, 2014 at 10:09 PM

    Works great ! I have a problem wth winamp, always can't open, because it like set to open with default win media player program. After delete winamp from application section, it works great. Now open only with winamp.

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  17. AnonymousSeptember 10, 2014 at 7:47 AM

    Just be careful you only delete the key relating to the program you want.
    I was tempted to delete the entire "Applications" folder of keys.

    The instructions mentioned to
    "navigate to the key "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Applications\"
    right click the key and click delete." I initially thought this meant to right click "Applications" and delete. But of course it isnt.

    In my case, i needed to delete the "EXCEL" key within the Applications folder in the registry...

    Thanks though, it worked a treat. Just a caution...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alexander TaylorSeptember 10, 2014 at 4:54 PM

      assuming most of your software is installed for all users, it may be safe sometimes to delete this key in HKEY_CURRENT_USER, which will only affect your account. if you can find the specific subkey relevant to your specific problem, indeed it would be safer to delete just that. if you *really* want to be careful, just back up any key before deleting it and/or have system restore enabled.

      Delete
  18. AnonymousSeptember 10, 2014 at 2:05 PM

    Too bad it requires administrative rights.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alexander TaylorSeptember 10, 2014 at 4:49 PM

      modifying / editing keys in HKEY_CURRENT_USER should not require admin rights. make sure youre not in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

      Delete
  19. AnonymousJuly 7, 2015 at 12:12 PM

    worked like charm!! Thanks!!

    ReplyDelete
  20. AnonymousSeptember 3, 2015 at 1:39 PM

    Thanks. It's Working

    ReplyDelete
  21. UnknownJanuary 28, 2017 at 10:25 AM

    Thanks Man!!!

    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete
  23. AnonymousMay 11, 2017 at 5:09 AM

    nice man. worked perfectly! Dankeschoen!!!

    ReplyDelete

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