I know this is a very basic question, but I couldn't find the answer. When I right click on a file with extension .abc
and click on Properties
and then Change...
, then even when I click on Browse...
and then on Other Applications
, I cannot find the application corresponding to the executable I want to associate with the extension. So, I tried taking the following steps, but no luck:
Here are the steps I took:
I've found the path to the executable which I want to associate with the given file extension (for instance
C:\Users\JohnDoe\Desktop\MyPrograms\ABCApp.exe
may be such a path ifABCApp.exe
is the application I want to use to open files with the.abc
extension).I've navigated to
Start>Control Panel>Programs>Default Programs>Set Associations
, and tried to add the.abc
extension and the associated executable to the list, but this window will only allow me to change the executable used to open an already registered extension. But I want to register a new extension and its executable.
I've found some posts on the internet saying I need to modify the registry with regedit.exe
in order to register the extension, but I'm a bit fuzzy with the steps. Could someone please clearly explain what I need to do?
Thanks!
UPDATE: Since the .abc
extension is not registered with Windows, it is not possible to choose Open With
when one right-clicks on an example.abc
file. The following screenshots show the difference betweeen the context menu displayed by right-clicking on an application desktop icon when (1): the application is not registered with Windows, versus when (2): the application is registered with Windows (in my localized version of Windows, Apri
means Open
and Apri con
mans Open With
):
Registered app's right-click context menu:
Unregistered app's right-click context menu:
UPDATE: I've tried the solution posted by @meatspace below, but I get the following error:
I've tried your answer:
C:\> assoc .abc
.abc=ABCApp.SpecialFileType.14
C:\> ftype ABCApp.SpecialFileType.14=C:\Users\JohnDoe\Desktop\ABC\ABCApp.exe
The file type 'ABCApp.SpecialFileType.14' was not found or there were no associated commands
C:\>
Exactly how can I create the needed regedit.exe key, if that is the only solution? (Not sure if the dots get translated into subdirectories or not in regedit and how to name the path to the key).
Thanks!!!