I got a new laptop (actually, my first ever - I have always had just a desktop plus a PortableApps-equipped thumb drive for travel), and decided that I like the consolidation of PortableApps enough that even for permanent installation on the new PC's C drive I would install a PortableApps collection instead of standard installations to the Program Files folder. But... How can I set up the default behavior for things like double-clicking files? From one program to another (like URLs and attached files in Thunderbird emails) I have some control, but Windows itself insists on me selecting an app from a list that it generates, and it doesn't know my apps exist. I found a little tool that will solve the problem for Firefox (RegisterFirefoxPortable.exe), but that's just one program. For example, I want to register all image file types to be opened with Irfanview Portable, various types of code files to be opened in Notepad++ Portable, etc. I have Windows 7 Home Premium.
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There are a few different ways you can do so, one involves manually modifying some settings in your computer (not that hard really, but time consuming), one involves a third party app that will do it for you, and the last involves just waiting a while.
To manually set your defaults, go to Control Panel->Programs->Default Programs->Associate a file type or protocol with a program (or just search for "make a file type" in the Start Menu and select the first entry).
Then go through the list, select a file type, click "Change Program" and then browse to the AppNamePortable.exe in the AppNamePortable folder.
For apps that will do it for you, there is eXpresso or Cafe, search for them right here in the forums and you should be able to find something decent on them.
Lastly, the PortableApps Platform will be able to handle file associations for you in an upcoming release.
Ah, I didn't notice the "Browse" button the first time! [blush] I thought it might require a bunch of registry edits, which I was dreading...
And it's great to hear that PortableApps will handle this in the future - that will take away anyone's last excuse for not installing one's open source apps this way.
Excellent, thorough reply - thanks!