Windows XP file association issue. Who can help? *SOLVED!*

[Strat-Mangler]

Quick story ; had a video file not playing as well as I wanted so I tried different media players including one called DAPlayer.

Whatever you do, do NOT download/install this application!

It screwed up my file associations for almost every media type!

Here are the highlights ;

1) Instead of saying, say, "MP3" next to "Type of file," it now says "MP3File." Obviously, this might sound trivial, but it's something I noticed right away.



2) In Windows Explorer, instead of having the "Advanced" button, I now only have the "Restore" button which doesn't do anything when it's clicked on (most likely due to point #3). Clicking on "Change" and associating it with WinAmp, for instance, doesn't do anything.



3) This is what my registry entry for the MP3 extension looks like. We can see the last 2 entries mention "DAPlayer." Unfortunately, deleting these 2 entries doesn't do anything as I tested this on another extension without success.



Here's what happens when an MP3 file is double-clicked on.

This window pops up asking me which app I'd like to use to open the file with. Obviously, I choose WinAmp and tick the checkbox entitled "Always use the selected program to open this kind of file" and then click OK.



Of course, it doesn't work. The moment I double-click on another MP3 file, I encounter the same window again.

I've been trapped in this loop for the past 3 days without any progress and no amount of research has yielded an answer... and all because of this blasted DAPlayer program.

Yes, it's been uninstalled already. I also uninstalled & reinstalled WinAmp, but that didn't work either.

Any ideas?

[Strat-Mangler]

Looks like I'm not the only one who was negatively affected by this program.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/wind...er-system.html

The proposed solution failed. Looking for any ideas/suggestions.

[Wademeister63]

I'd try a system restore to a date before you installed the new program. We had a couple computers at work start acting funny last week and restore took care of them both in just a few minutes. May not help but it's a safe and quick thing to try.

[Strat-Mangler]

I knew that'd be the first thing somebody would mention, but that's precisely what I'm trying to avoid.

Restoring to a previous point would probably fix it, but it's too far back for that to be an acceptable solution for me.

Thanks for your suggestion. I however need to FIX the problem ; not circumvent it.

[MJ5150]

I didn't read the article you linked to, the internet here is really slow, so my apologies if these are mentioned there.

After uninstalling the troublesome app, perhaps run a malware scan and see if that clears out all remnants of the app? Then install the app you want to use?

Try doing the file associations in safe mode?

-Mike

[rhino333]

There may be more issues or items in the registry than just the ones you deleted. I recommend finding a registry cleaner tool and use that (after a point restore, just in case).

While doing that, it doesn't hurt to do normal maintenance (eg: defrag, etc).

If that doesn't work, your only choice may be to do a restore.

[Strat-Mangler]

Originally Posted by MJ5150

I didn't read the article you linked to, the internet here is really slow, so my apologies if these are mentioned there.

After uninstalling the troublesome app, perhaps run a malware scan and see if that clears out all remnants of the app? Then install the app you want to use?

Try doing the file associations in safe mode?

-Mike

Did all that already, but thanks for trying to help. I appreciate it.

[Strat-Mangler]

Originally Posted by rhino333

There may be more issues or items in the registry than just the ones you deleted. I recommend finding a registry cleaner tool and use that (after a point restore, just in case).

While doing that, it doesn't hurt to do normal maintenance (eg: defrag, etc).

If that doesn't work, your only choice may be to do a restore.

No, registry cleaners don't fix issues within registry entries. They solely remove ones that point to nothing.

Having said that, I already used one.

Defragging is one of those computer myths that just won't die. It never fixes anything, ever.

And like I mentioned earlier, I don't want to use Restore Points.

Thanks for throwing some suggestions my way, though.

[Turock]

Try here:
Windows XP File Assocation Fixes

[Spencerthegreat]

Try Installing VLC or Winamp and make them take over all your file associations. Also.. lol XP. It's 2011 stop using an OS made 10 years ago.

[Strat-Mangler]

1) I have VLC installed already.
2) NO program can take over any of these files, whether they be MP3File, OGGFile, etc."
3) XP runs perfectly well, thanks. There's absolutely nothing that Vista or 7 do that XP can't do for me.

[Selta]

Originally Posted by Strat-Mangler

1) I have VLC installed already.
2) NO program can take over any of these files, whether they be MP3File, OGGFile, etc."
3) XP runs perfectly well, thanks. There's absolutely nothing that Vista or 7 do that XP can't do for me.

DX10/11? Address more than 4GB of RAM? Use 64 bit applications (and actually work)?

It really sounds fubar... let me do some quick digging.

Edit:
I would check to make sure your .exe association didn't change from explorer.exe. It should be "exefile" under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.

[Turock]

Originally Posted by Turock

Try here:
Windows XP File Assocation Fixes

Did you try this? It works.

[Strat-Mangler]

It doesn't apply to me because unfortunately, there are no such files for MP3, OGG, AVI, MKV, FLAC, etc.

If it did, I'd definitely try it.

EXE file association didn't change.

If there's be a quick way to remove "file" from MP3file, FLACfile, etc., that'd most likely fix my problem.

[Strat-Mangler]

Found where DAPlayer changed all associations to "xFILE."



I'll try to delete one of these and see if it somehow reverts file identification from "MP3file" to "MP3."

[Turock]

Originally Posted by Strat-Mangler

It doesn't apply to me because unfortunately, there are no such files for MP3, OGG, AVI, MKV, FLAC, etc.

If it did, I'd definitely try it.

EXE file association didn't change.

If there's be a quick way to remove "file" from MP3file, FLACfile, etc., that'd most likely fix my problem.

I see, i was thinking mpeg.

[bassybill]

I was going to suggest deleting the affected file types in the folder options window and then recreating them. But I noticed the delete button is greyed out.

Ad what's with that Restore button instead of Advanced? That's crazy.

This is way, way deep in the OS to affect basic options like that, imo. I don't think a system restore would do it (restore is flaky at the best of times). If it were me, I'd back up data and wipe the whole lot and do a rebuild. Big job though. Good luck.

[bassybill]

Just for info - in the file properties box for an MP3, it should read "MPEG Layer 3 Audio File" for the type of file field, if your registry tinkering works (not just "MP3").

[Strat-Mangler]

As expected, deleting these registry keys worked like a charm and I'm back to how things were prior to installing that dreaded piece of crap DAPlayer.

I knew it was simply a matter of finding out precisely the cause for switching the file type names.

Glad it was as simple as deleting these entries, though.

[bassybill]

What does your folder options dialog box look like now? Does it have the delete and advanced buttons back? Just curious.