Computer troubles, specifically IrfanView...

Off-topic
1

I got IrfanView this morning which seems to be a really handy program. My only problem is that it’s changed everything so that all photos and about half my videos (I think the .avi ones) automatically open in IrfanView. I don’t want this. I want all my photos to open up as they normally would in Internet Explorer, and all my videos to open up in Windows Media Player. Can anyone help me with this?

Thanks,
Andrew

2

Some programs have options to choose which files you want to open with them. Media Player does; choose the Tools->Options menu, then find the “Formats” tab; there’s a big list of file types there where you can choose the ones you want.

Another way would be whenever you find a file that you want to open in a different program, hold Shift and right click it. There will be the normal “Open” option at the top, but there should also be an “Open With…” option. This will let you choose from a list of programs it knows about or specify another by finding it.

In that window there’s a little box at the bottom saying “Always use this program to open this type of files”. Click it, and it should be back to normal.

Good luck…

Phil

3

Phil,

Thanks for the help…there are still a few problems though. All the .avi files are now opening in Windows Media Player, but .mov, .wmv, .mpg, and .mpeg files are still opening in IrfanView. All the photos are still opening in IrfanView as well…can you help me with those?

Thanks a lot,
Andrew

4

I made a little mistake there. Actually, although under ‘Type’ in the folder they’re in, .mpg and .mpeg files say “IrfanView MPG File”, they open in Windows Media Player. This is good, but the .mov and .wmv files don’t automatically open in anything. I get the thing I attached to this post. Any advice?

image1.jpg

5

Ah… that’ll be because in my post-getting-up haze I forgot about the File Types window. In an explorer window, choose the “Tools->Folder Options” menu, and then click “File Types”. In there is a massive list of every file type it knows about.

Exactly how this works depends on which version of windows you’re using; some like WinMe try to be far too helpful and just get in the way. Either way, find the file type you’re after and click “Change” to change the program and “Advanced” to change the description of the file.

Phil

6

Ahh, come on Phil: you might as well tell him how to do it by editing the registry directly, too. :wink: (enough rope to hang, yes?)

-C

7

All I could find was “Tools -> Internet Options”

8

A great big “Bah!” to microsoft’s naming system. Windows Explorer, not Internet Explorer, sorry…

Ha… a month or so ago it came down to that as I fought to change the description of a peculiar filetype in Windows 2000. Aaah, regedit…

Phil

9

Thank you very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very much!!! You have no idea how much this has been annoying me. I’ve also changed the icons back to the good old normal ones.

Two more questions:

  • What should a .mpg file be called instead of “IrfanView MPG File”? And what about .jpg’s?
  • How do I change the movie files that only have “File” in the type menu thingy, so that they automatically open in a program like Windows Media Player instead of me having to choose that to open them with every time?

Thanks a lot for all the help,
Andrew

10

As a general rule IrfanView is very good about not hogging file extensions for its own use. If you tell IrfanView not to use an extension it will return it to the Windows default setting.

In IrfanView go to Options >> Properties
In the Properties dialog select the Extensions tab
Clear all the extensions that you don’t want IrfanView to use
Click OK

The file types should now be back to their Windows default settings.