How to associate file types machine specific ?

[Andreas17]

Hi Pierre

First of all your XnView is great. I like it.

I use the menu Tools/Options/Associations to associate file types to XnView. But I've recognised that I need to repeat this procedure for every user created on my Windows XP. Therefore I assume this association is saved somewhere under HKCU.

How can I have this association under HKCR and making it valid for all users? I couldn't find an answer neither in the FAQ nor in the forum for this question.

Thanks and kind regards,
Andreas

[Danny]

You can't have XNView do it for you. But you could try making the same entrys at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes.

[ckv]

I use the menu Tools/Options/Associations to associate file types to XnView. But I've recognised that I need to repeat this procedure for every user created on my Windows XP. Therefore I assume this association is saved somewhere under HKCU.

No no this problem haves nothing to do with HKCU. Far as I know you even can save associations yo HKCU so that they would work.

The problem is with the registery key rights. Example, if you create the associations in admin user, the associations registery keys gets only admin rights. Because of this all nonadmin users doesn't have the access to the registery keys what contains the associations. So really the associations exist on all users, but all the users doesn't necessarily have the rights to read them. Or at least I think so, because this is the issue with my XnView assosications.

Creating the associations in low right user, should be solution to this problem.

[Andreas17]

I'm aware about the registry key rights. I know only members of the admin group can write into machine specific registry keys. HKCR as a part of HKLM gives read access to all but only admins can write there.

HKCU exists once for each user separately. I've monitored it during file association change by XnView and it has added the entry ProgId REG_SZ XnView.jpg to the path HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.jpg
You may try it yourselfs.

I've exptected XnView will modify the file associations in HKCR as I've logged in as admin. That's obvious.

Kind regards,
Andreas