Path: ...!2.eu.feeder.erje.net!feeder.erje.net!eternal-september.org!reader01.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail
From: Paul <nospam@needed.invalid>
Newsgroups: alt.comp.os.windows-11
Subject: Re: Can't set default app for jpg
Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2022 20:15:31 -0500
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
Lines: 94
Message-ID: <tkcajk$3ng9t$1@dont-email.me>
References: <tkc0ja$3mdm3$1@dont-email.me>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Injection-Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2022 01:15:33 -0000 (UTC)
Injection-Info: reader01.eternal-september.org; posting-host="e5af26a8b43961d62af833e6b93fc85d";
	logging-data="3916093"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org";	posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1+Ejn31WGMqVhIP/lxjrh0llLVLFIZYlzs="
User-Agent: Ratcatcher/2.0.0.25 (Windows/20130802)
Cancel-Lock: sha1:OyaWRv7k6hr22LnEDjJ+Jpt1AhM=
Content-Language: en-US
In-Reply-To: <tkc0ja$3mdm3$1@dont-email.me>
Bytes: 6429

On 11/7/2022 5:24 PM, Wilf wrote:
> Just reinstalled Windows 11 Home, for various reasons.    Now I cannot make irfanview the default program/app for jpg and some other pic types.  Changing the settings in irfanview itself finds them unset immediately.  Going into Default Apps, I find that common picture formats such as jpg are just not listed.  I'm assuming this is a (maybe illegal) move by Microsoft to force the use of Microsoft Photos as the default app?

It's protected with a hash.

********************************************** jpg.reg ************************************************
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

; Created by: Shawn Brink
; Created on: October 20, 2021
; Tutorial: https://www.elevenforum.com/t/reset-and-restore-default-apps-for-file-types-in-windows-11.2139/


[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.jpg\UserChoice]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.jpg\UserChoice]
"ProgId"="AppX43hnxtbyyps62jhe9sqpdzxn1790zetc"
"Hash"="YsPBII8SfZQ="

********************************************** jpg.reg ************************************************

That's from the download section here. Note that these are *modified* .reg and
may not be exactly as Microsoft made them. Thus, we have to exercise judgment
when examining some of them. Always read these in Notepad, before "Merging" them.

( https://www.elevenforum.com/t/reset-and-restore-default-apps-for-file-types-in-windows-11.2139/ )

Obviously, "Merging" that .reg isn't going to help.
And it isn't going to help for two reasons.

1) Association is with Photos! by default.
2) A hash which is delivered statically like that ("cold")
    will not work. The hash includes as an element in the hash
    function, the current time. Simply copying a hash, is not
    a valid way of making a hash.

The system will override the hash, refresh the Default association,
then write a brand new, functional, hash in place of the "YsPBII8SfZQ=" one.

This might well be a job for "setuserFTA.exe".
It is a tool where its author reverse engineered the hash generator,
and figured out how it worked. This allows writing a new
hash, that the OS will accept as a "Microsoft" hash :-)

https://kolbi.cz/blog/2017/10/25/setuserfta-userchoice-hash-defeated-set-file-type-associations-per-user/

     SetUserFTA.exe .pdf AcroExch.Document.DC

For the sake of completeness, this is the other tool he wrote.

https://kolbi.cz/blog/2017/11/10/setdefaultbrowser-set-the-default-browser-per-user-on-windows-10-and-server-2016-build-1607/

As for the Progid value, here's a list from MyDigitalLife website.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<DefaultAssociations>
   <Association Identifier=".aimppl" ProgId="AIMP.AssocFile.AIMPPL" ApplicationName="AIMP" />
   <Association Identifier=".ape" ProgId="AIMP.AssocFile.APE" ApplicationName="AIMP" />
   <Association Identifier=".avi" ProgId="ZPAVIFile" ApplicationName="Zoom Player" />
   <Association Identifier=".fdf" ProgId="FoxitReader.FDFDoc" ApplicationName="Foxit Reader 7.2, Best Reader for Everyday Use!" />
   <Association Identifier=".flac" ProgId="AIMP.AssocFile.FLAC" ApplicationName="AIMP" />
   <Association Identifier=".html" ProgId="CyberfoxHTML" ApplicationName="Cyberfox" />
   <Association Identifier=".jpeg" ProgId="IrfanView.jpg" ApplicationName="IrfanView 64-bit" />
   <Association Identifier=".jpg" ProgId="IrfanView.jpg" ApplicationName="IrfanView 64-bit" />
   <Association Identifier=".m3u" ProgId="AIMP.AssocFile.M3U" ApplicationName="AIMP" />
   <Association Identifier=".mkv" ProgId="ZPMKVFile" ApplicationName="Zoom Player" />
   <Association Identifier=".mp3" ProgId="AIMP.AssocFile.MP3" ApplicationName="AIMP" />
   <Association Identifier=".pdf" ProgId="NitroPDF.Document.10" ApplicationName="Nitro Pro 10" />
   <Association Identifier=".png" ProgId="IrfanView.png" ApplicationName="IrfanView 64-bit" />
   <Association Identifier=".ppdf" ProgId="FoxitReader.PPDF" ApplicationName="Foxit Reader 7.2, Best Reader for Everyday Use!" />
   <Association Identifier=".psd" ProgId="Photoshop.Image.16" ApplicationName="Adobe Photoshop CC 2015" />
   <Association Identifier=".txt" ProgId="txtfile" ApplicationName="NOTEPAD.EXE" />
   <Association Identifier=".wmv" ProgId="ZPWMVFile" ApplicationName="Zoom Player" />
   <Association Identifier=".xdp" ProgId="FoxitReader.XDPDoc" ApplicationName="Foxit Reader 7.2, Best Reader for Everyday Use!" />
   <Association Identifier=".xfdf" ProgId="FoxitReader.XFDFDoc" ApplicationName="Foxit Reader 7.2, Best Reader for Everyday Use!" />
   <Association Identifier="http" ProgId="CyberfoxURL" ApplicationName="Cyberfox" />
   <Association Identifier="https" ProgId="CyberfoxURL" ApplicationName="Cyberfox" />
   <Association Identifier="mailto" ProgId="FossaMail.Url.mailto" ApplicationName="FossaMail" />
</DefaultAssociations>

That means for JPG, we'd want to try this:

     SetUserFTA.exe .jpg  IrfanView.jpg
     SetUserFTA.exe .jpeg IrfanView.jpg

This is a picture of my Registry at the moment, on Win11 Home. I have a copy of
SetUserFTA but have not used it. Notice my HashID is different than the jpg.reg
file at the top.

    [Picture]

    https://i.postimg.cc/xCNzT1rb/File-Exts-Registry-Picture.gif

   Paul