ADDING OPTIONS FILE TYPE TO CONTEXT MENUS

Many of us have experienced how Windows 98 hogs the file types it uses almost to the point of annoyance. Image files such as .bmp, .tif, and .gif files are a good example. Typically, if you click on a .bmp file to open it, Windows will default to its paint program to open it.

If we install a viewer or other software-imaging program, it takes over as the default program.

Wouldn't it be better if we could just right-click on a file, open the context menu, and choose which program we want to open the file? You can do this by first adding this particular action to the file type definition.

Open My Computer.

Select Folder Options from the View menu. Click on the File Types tab.

Select the required file type (e.g., Bitmap). Double-click to openit.

Click the New button at the bottom of the resulting Window within the Actions area. Type a description for the new Action. This description must be unique and start with the word "open" in order to open the file (e.g., "Open [JASC]").

Click on the Browse button and navigate to select the .exe application. Click OK. (One of the entries in the list must be highlighted to denote it as the default action for the file type; that is what happens when you double-click the file in Explorer.)

OK your changes.

Now, when you find a file of the type you altered, right-click the file and you will see the newly added option on the context menu.