Set paint to default to JPEG?

Question

Somehow many years ago I set Windows XP to default to using JPEG when saving screenshots by hitting <ALT>-<PRINT SCRN> and then pasting into paint.

However, Windows 7 insists on using .png and I have to change it every time the way Windows 98 insisted on using .BMP.

I can't find anything to change the default.

Is there a way to make Paint use JPEG by default without having to select it multiple times? It makes a smaller image for posting, and a lot of forums only take JPEG or GIF, not PNG or BMP.

If necessary, I can copy the old MSPAINT.EXE from my XP computer to the Windows 7 computer the way I copied calc.exe, but if there is a way to set it in Windows 7, please let me know.

Answer 1

There is no way to change the default save format Paint uses, it's hard-coded to use the higher-quality PNG format so that it doesn't cause corruption (JPEG setting causes pictures to get blurry artifacts and pixelization).

PS. I think you know this, but for the benefit of future visitors I want to clarify that prior to Windows 8, there was no way to automatically save a screenshot as a file when you pressed a key combination.  It simply copied it to the clipboard, ready to paste somewhere else, and has no "file type" set.  If you go to a plain Windows XP computer and press Alt+PrintScreen, no JPEG file will be created at all (you have to go paste it somewhere, then save it).  If you were seeing a JPEG get automatically created when you pressed those keys, you must have had some extra program to do it.

PPS. I tested it out in a virtual machine, and moving the mspaint.exe from an XP computer to Windows 7 runs, it appears to default to a save of "24-bit Bitmap" option.  Technically this is against the licensing terms of use to transfer part of Windows.

Answer 2

Interestingly enough, the guides say the Vista version defaults to JPEG, and since

my system is still set up as a dual-boot with Vista, I thought I could just create a shortcut that said "Vista Paint" to use.

However opening the version in \Windows\system32\mspaint.exe on the the Vista partition does NOT work with Windows 7.

I can open it just fine, make some scribbles with the various tools, but the Save As... did not do anything, and the X button doesn't do anything either. I had to terminate it with Task manager.

It's weird. Most dialog box options work, but New, Open, Save, Save As..., and Exit do nothing. Nor does the X box, but the restore, maximize, and minimize buttons work just fine. It seems ONLy the New, Open, Save, Save As..., Exit buttons don't work, nor does the X button.

I can't find how the heck I configured XP to default to JPEG format either. Maybe the webpage I used is gone, but all the results are for 7 or 8 even though I put in "change default save format to jpeg mspaint XP" into Bing.

Just like I can't figure out how I made it so that my limited account can access the C$ and d$ administrator shares on my Windows98SE/Windows XP machine from my Windows Vista/7 computer, it seems that people have taken down those great tips because they are obsolete.