Remove particularly tricky items from context menu

Question

I've found various sources of info about removing these annoying things which I never use... but I haven't succeeded in getting rid of the following.

(Avira-related:)
- Scan selected files with Avira

(I believe all this is M$ crapware... I presume it's all been lovingly crafted so they're all impossible to remove. You never know, though: some super-uber-uber-geek might just have found a way)
- Restore previous versions
- Cut
- Copy
- Delete
- Rename

Answer 1

As policy, if something can be done via the registry, I would steer clear of third party apps offering to do the same thing. Freeware apps could be a nice way for a company to promote itself and there are trustworthy ones out there but sometimes, Freeware could also be a way of injecting your PC with a nice piece of spyware for purposes of identity theft and fraud. I've even found fake Open Source projects on SourceForge that were packing spyware.

I've uploaded my registry patches for you. It's easier then try to get super user's formatting to play nice.

Remove Previous Versions (.reg files) http://www.mediafire.com/download/zy2bnld84k6yc97/Previous_Versions_Remove_and_Restore_Context_Menu.zip

I don't know about Cut, Copy, Delete, Rename as I use them and have never had reason to remove them but if I find a way, I'll update my answer. I'm running Win7 x64 sp1 pro. I would make sure the info in the restore .reg file is consistent with the entries in your own Windows registry before merging the delete .reg file (you never know if these things change across version of Windows). Just use the ctrl - F and F3 to search for the code within curly brackets {}.

EDIT:

Have searched around through the forums, it seems that the consensus is that Cut, Copy, Delete, Rename are not things that have registry values that can be modded (or they are unknown). I did come across a tutorial on how to mod shell32.dll.mui files to remove built in shell entries using Resource Hacker: http://www.sevenforums.com/customization/170036-remove-create-shortcut-file-folder-context-menu.html . That unfortunately requires the installation of 3rd party software for Resource Editing. There is Resource Hacker by Angus J. It's not open source but he's been maintaining the project for 16 years and the latest build has 0 hits on Virustotal.

Answer 2

Autoruns is a pretty powerful tool for controlling this sort of thing. Click on the explorer tab. Look for all the sections headed something ending in "ContextMenuHandlers". Untick anything you don't want, bearing in mind it often will appear many times in different sections. I got rid of Avira this way.

If you want to remove built in entries, you also need to go to "Options => Filter options => untick hide Microsoft/Windows entries".

I don't have myself "Restore previous versions", but it may be related to "Previous versions property page".

Cut/copy/delete/rename I expect you are out of luck.

Answer 3

How do I remove items from the context menu?

Add, Remove, Edit Context Menu items in Windows 7 | 8 lists different context menu editors:

• Ultimate Windows Customizer
• Right-Click Extender for Windows
• Context Menu Editor for Windows
• ContextEdit will allow you easily control the items that appear on your context menu of Windows Explorer
• ShellExtView or ShellMenuView. They are small utilities that display the list of static menu items that appear in the context menu when you right-click a file/folder in Windows Explorer, and allow you to easily disable or edit unwanted menu items.
• File Menu Tools lets you add, delete & customize the context menu items of the Windows Explorer.
• for a fast and easy way to clean up your Window Explorer and Internet Explorer right-click context menu, try MenuMaid.

Links are provided for all of these together with additional information and screenshots.

Answer 4

I've found that ShellMenuView and ShellExView are pretty good for editing the context menu.