Explorer offers to open a file with an incorrectly-named program

[skylark53]

I have Microsoft Digital Image 2006 Standard Edition on my system. When I run this program it opens correctly with the right name.

When I right-click on an image file (e.g. .jpg, .png), Windows Explorer offers to open it with "Microsoft Digital Image 2006 Starter Edition" - see attached.

Earlier this year I downloaded a trial version of this software, called Digital Image 2006 Starter Edition. However, that was a trial that expired after 60 days, after which I uninstalled it with Add or Remove Programs.

I then bought and installed a factory-sealed version of Digital Image 2006 Standard Edition.

How do I get Windows Explorer to give the right name for this software? Thank you.

Edited August 24, 2016 by skylark53
spelling

[jaclaz]

Very likely it is just the "name" in the "file association".

On XP you can use this nice little tool Wassociate:
http://wstudios.home.xs4all.nl/Associate/index.html

You can do the same manually editing the Registry, and if needed using the built-in command line tools ASSOC and FTYPE:

http://ss64.com/nt/assoc.html
 

http://ss64.com/nt/ftype.html
 

but the previously mentioned tool is easier and comprehensive and has a very well written documentation on how the file associations work.

jaclaz

 

[skylark53]

Hi Jaclaz. Thanks for your helpful reply. I have downloaded & installed Wassociate but am having trouble using it. It looks like a powerful tool and I'm afraid of damaging my system. I have never been able to get it to Restore to an earlier date - the system always says on reboot that it was unable to restore, and is therefore unchanged. (No error message that might help.) The restore points are there but they appear to be unserviceable. So I am worried that if I change something and b**ger it up, I won't be able to repair it.

Another difficulty is that (though I've read the help file & examples, and opened Wassociate) I cannot figure out how to change only the name Digital Image has in the right-click context menu. I don't want to change any file associations. Image files open with Windows Picture & Fax Viewer, which is fine - I only want to open with Digital Image when I'm editing.  If you know how to do this with Wassociate, and can post a couple of screenshots, that would be a huge help - thank you.

[jaclaz]

Sorry , I didn't notice that it was in the "Open With" context menu and that you wanted to change the name only.

I sent you on a wild goose chase with the previous suggestion .

Loosely there is a "translation table" in the Registry that - when a program is started - is created, linking a "description" (in your case "Microsoft Digital Image starter Edition 2006 Editor") to a given executable (including path), this translation table is kept in the Registry as MUIcache, in XP  it is HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\MUICache.

The "description" is extracted by Explorer from some data in the Version metadata of the executable.

Most probably the old description remained sticky (or if you prefer the new executable has the same path and name as the old one and the info wasn't refreshed).

Again you can edit the Registry, but there is again a nice, easy tool for that, Nirsoft MuiCacheView:
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/muicache_view.html

Just run it, find on the right the description you want to edit or on the left the executable filename, double click on the line and change the description.

The operation is safe, it won't affect anything else.

jaclaz
 

[skylark53]

Thanks again! This is really, really strange but Digital Image 2006 is not in that list.  I have searched for it both by that name and by the name of the executable, pi.exe (from the desktop shortcut). It's definitely there in Program Files (see attached; executables only) but it's NOT there in MUICache - also see attached. Yikes.

Edited August 25, 2016 by skylark53

[jaclaz]

Hmmm, tricky.

Of course the app being Microsoft they may well be using the secret seven :

https://web.archive.org/web/20151204024041/http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jonathan.deboynepollard/Humour/microsoft-monopoly.html

Get this Registry viewer/editor:

https://web.archive.org/web/20051101101104/http://www.resplendence.com/downloads

https://web.archive.org/web/20051101101104/http://www.resplendence.com/download/reglite.exe

 

and use it to search for pi.exe in the Registry. (unlike "normal" Regedit it will make a list of all occurrences found).

Check also what is in the "Version" properties tab of the actual pi.exe file.

jaclaz

EDIT: maybe it uses some of the (devilish) other ways to start. like a .dll or *something like that*, search the registry also for "Starter".

 

Edited August 25, 2016 by jaclaz