MP4 file association: inconsistency

I think the OpensWithList refers to what gets put into
the window when you see, "What do you want to use
to open this?"

The assignment in Folder Options is the default program.
The way it *usually* works is that there will be an arbitrary
class name in the default value at
HKCR\.mp4\
Like maybe "mp4file"
Then under
HKCR\mp4file\shell\open\command
the default value will show the path to the default program:
C:\Program Files\Media Player Classic\mpc.exe "%1"

(That design has resulted in a lot of problems. Software
and malware can just change the class name in order to
point to an entirely different set of Registry settings for
a file type. And that class name can be anything. For
instance, .TXT files are normally listed as "txtfile", but
any program could change that to "Acme Text File" and
then create a key at HKCR\Acme Text file\ to set the
behavior and default icon for TXT files. Remember the
Netscape vs IE arms race? It used to be that installing
either browser would transform all webpage file associations.)

The "Play with Windows Media Player" is either an extra
key under HKCR\[mp4file]\shell, or it's a shell extenstion, under
a shellex key, which shows up in the context menu for the file
type. That kind of thing is just junk that a lot of software puts
in without asking. You can clean out those values/keys if you
want to. The only thing you really need to be concerned
with is the default program, and there's only one of those.


"Terry Pinnell" wrote in message
news:
| Can anyone explain why the file associations I've set in Folder Options >
| File Types don't match what I see in the registry please?
|
| The default is Media Player Classic (MPC), with Windows Medial Player
| (WMP) as the only other entry. No reference to QuickTime.
| http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4019461/MP4...tion-2.jpg
|
| Yet the registry key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.mp4, which is where I'm told the
| settings are kept, looks like this:
| http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4019461/MP4...tion-1.jpg
|
| --
| Terry, East Grinstead, UK