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Why does the Context Menu for "Open With" appear twice?

Anonymous
2013-04-20T20:31:20+00:00

When I right-click on a file in Windows Explorer and select the Context Menu option to "Open with", in some cases the options I am shown for opening it are showing up twice. For example, if the file was a text file like 'filename.txt', when I right click it and choose "Open with", I then see "Notepad" showing up twice. If I do this same right-click procedure for a file that is an ISO file (e.g., filename.iso), the options for opening it (e.g., Windows Disk Image Burner) again show up twice. I do not see this same error of duplicates showing up for other types of files, but I do see it for these two types every time. How can I fix that duplication so that only one instance of these options appears in the Context Menu?

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-12-08T20:47:46+00:00

    Start > Type Regedit

    Click the > Next to HKey_Classes_Root

    You'll see Open With List

    There should be 3 Microsoft Text Editors

    Notepad.exe

    Wordpad.exe

    Winpad.exe

    If you're not familiar with Windows Registry, I don't advise changing anything without performing a backup of the files.

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Back-up-the-registry

    If you're seeing Open With twice then I'd advise you to boot into Safe Mode with Networking and do a scan for malware as advised earlier.  System File Checker does not look for viruses and any anti-virus software you have on your system was compromised and unable to detect it.  Boot into Safe Mode with Networking - Starts Windows in safe mode and includes the network drivers and services needed to access the Internet or other computers on your network.

    http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/en-us/default.aspx

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-11-19T21:22:26+00:00

    I think he means if you installed a program (eg. notepad) twice

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-11-19T17:01:50+00:00

    I have the exact issue that jw72253_X has.  I'm using Windows 8.1 Pro x64 which was upgraded from Win8 via Windows Store.  Where can I look in registry to remove this duplicate Notepad entry?

    edit: I noticed that when I right click a txt file and go to "Open with" then click "Choose default program...", if I pick Notepad(Not "Keep using Notepad") then the icon for the txt file changes to a blue Notepad icon .  If I do the same procedure again it changes back to the "default" white paper Notepad icon.

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-04-26T15:29:45+00:00

    "... if there is multiple installations done on the computer". 

    Can you be more specific about what you mean, multiple installations of what?

    Yes, this problem occurs during Safe Mode.  There are no virus issues or other sorts of malware. The System File Checker revealed no issues.

    Where are these associations recorded in Windows so that I can look at that first?

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  5. Anonymous
    2013-04-21T11:51:47+00:00

    Hi,

    We apologize for the inconvenience.

    This issue may occur if there is multiple installations done on the computer. Before we troubleshoot this issue, I would suggest you to check if the issue occurs in Safe Mode, if the issue does not persist then perform Clean Bootand check whether the issue resolves.

    Note: After Clean Boot troubleshooting step, refer to “How to reset the computer to start as usual after troubleshooting with Clean Boot” from the article.

    Also try running virus scan using Microsoft Safety Scanner, which would help us to get rid of viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.

    **Note:**Any data files that are infected may only be cleaned by deleting the file entirely, which means there is a potential for data loss.

    This issue may occur if a particular system file is missing or corrupt.

    How to use the System File Checker tool to troubleshoot missing or corrupted system files on Windows Vista or on Windows 7

    Let us know the status of the issue.

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