gHacks technology news » open with http://www.ghacks.net A technology blog covering software, mobile phones, gadgets, security, the Internet and other relevant areas. Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:22:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 File Extensions Identification http://www.ghacks.net/2009/03/28/file-extensions-identification/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/03/28/file-extensions-identification/#comments Sat, 28 Mar 2009 10:18:58 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/2009/03/28/file-extensions-identification/ Every computer user will eventually encounter files that cannot be opened with the programs installed on the computer system. Experienced users might try to open those files in a basic text editor or perform a search on the Internet to find a program that can open files with those extensions.

Another possibility is the Open With desktop client which adds itself to the context menu of Windows Explorer after installation. A right-click on an unknown file type – or any file type actually – will display the “How Do I Open This” entry which will open a new window that contains a short description of the file type and software program suggestions to open those file extensions on the computer system.

Only free software programs have been listed during tests. Open With will link to the download page of those suggested programs or inform the user that the program is already installed on the computer system.

file extensions

The display of the suggested software programs to open the file extensions was broken on the test system. Another aspect that many users will not like is that the program adds itself to the first position in the Windows Explorer context menu. To move the entry in Windows Explorer read Windows Explorer Context Menu Editor or Windows Explorer Menu Editor.

Lastly the program tries to install another application (PC Mighty Max 2009) during setup which is not needed for Open With to function properly. A quick check on the developer’s homepage revealed that it is a commercial software. It is not recommended to install that software.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/03/28/file-extensions-identification/feed/ 2 Manage Open With Applications In Windows http://www.ghacks.net/2009/02/08/manage-open-with-applications-in-windows/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/02/08/manage-open-with-applications-in-windows/#comments Sun, 08 Feb 2009 10:10:44 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/2009/02/08/manage-open-with-applications-in-windows/ Another option that pops up when right-clicking a file type in Windows Explorer is the Open With menu which displays alternative applications that can be used to open the selected file type. It does happen that the Open With dialog contains several applications which the user would never use to open that file type. Who would for example think about opening a text document in Firefox instead of a text editor.

Open Expert is a free software program that can be used to manage the Open With applications in the Windows operating system. It adds the option to Configure Applications to the Open With menu which can be used to add, remove or sort the Open With applications.

A right-click on any file type and the selection of Open With > Configure Applications will display all applications that are currently configured for that file type. The add button provides the option to add a new applications while remove will delete an existing one. The up and down arrows can be used to sort the Open With menu to place the most commonly used applications at the top of it.

open with

Open Expert is a lightweight 650 Kilobyte application that can be run on any Microsoft operating system prior to Windows Vista (Windows 9x to Windows XP).

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