Adding items to a files right click menu in Windows Explorer

Question

What do I need to do to add an item to the right click menu for files with certain file extensions, along with sub menus?

An example would be adding items to run Python files (.py, .pyw, .pyc) with a specific version of Python, so the menu for a .py files would look like say:

Open  
7-Zip >  
    ...7zip stuff
Run >  
    Python 2.5  
    Python 2.6  
    Python 3.1  
Edit >  
    IDLE 2.5  
    IDLE 2.6  
    IDLE 3.1  
various other items

Answer 1

FileMenu Tools can help you create extra items in the context menu of Windows Explorer, including sub-menus. You can add the extra items only for some extensions or type of elements (files, drives, folders, ...).

Answer 2

In Windows XP (other Windows' should be similar):

1. Open the File Types configuration dialog (in an explorer window Tools->Folder Options, File Types tab)
2. Select the Registered file type you would like to add an item for
3. Select the "Advanced" button under the "Details for ... extension" box
4. Create a new action and associate it with the command line you would like to run.

That should add an item to the context menu for that file type.

Answer 3

You can manually browse the key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.py and add entries.

Such as in there you can create a new subkey under Shell key named Run and create a Value SubCommands and then create another subkey named Shell. And create keys there and attach command keys with default value as commands.