Whatever the reason may be, there is no shortcut to do this in the Windows operating system. You could check out our how to change default programs guide to see how this is done manually but if you want to change the file associations of many programs then you might want to try Coffee.

Coffee is a unique program that allows the computer user to temporarily change default programs in Windows. Even better is the fact that it is dead easy to to so. Coffee runs in the Windows system tray for most of the time. The program will become active if the user double-clicks a file or program that is currently not registered with it. The user can then select a default program with the file browser.

But that is not the only option to associate new default programs to files temporarily. The second option is the extension configuration menu which can be used to quickly add program alternatives to multiple file types. In here it is possible to define a second alternative which can be used to open files while holding down the Alt key on the computer keyboard.

Coffee will store the configuration in an ini file that uses relative paths. The program itself is portable which makes it an ideal companion for portable media.

The only restriction in this (very early) version of Coffee is that it will only work from within Windows Explorer. That’s fine unless you happen to use an Explorer replacement or third party tool.

Coffee offers users who temporarily (or even permanently) want to change default programs associations an easy way to do so. The portable program is available at the Lupo PenSuite website. (via Freeware Genius)

Computers can go to sleep as well as we all know. They can fire up a screensaver or go to sleep by turning off the monitor completely and Caffeine is a software that can prevent this from happening by simulating a keystroke every 59 seconds.

The default value can be changed to a keystroke every x seconds instead. To prevent problems with running applications the software simulates a shift-down, shift-up keystroke in Windows 98 and a shift-down keystroke in Windows XP and 2000.

The software has a size of only 11 Kilobytes and could be useful if your computer falls asleep every now and then. On the other hand the sleep and screensaver intervals can be changed as well or turned off. Still nice to have a coffee cup sitting in the system tray.

And then there is the possibility of the drinking bird that presses a key for you just like Homer did in the King-Size Homer episode of the Simpsons.