Keeping your default settings as Win10 evolves

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	WINDOWS 10 Keeping your default settings as Win10 evolves
	By Susan Bradley Windows normally respects whatever customizations you’ve made. But a recent update to Windows 10 has changed the rules a bit. Here’s how to take back control of the default applications you want to use.

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The full text of this column is posted at http://windowssecrets.com/windows-10/keeping-your-default-settings-as-win10-evolves/ (opens in a new window/tab).

Columnists typically cannot reply to comments here, but do incorporate the best tips into future columns.[/td]

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Honestly, Susan, for the life of me (literally, as I”m a dying dinosaur!), I cannot see how you can continue to recommend upgrading from Win 8.1 to Win 10 what with the ever-increasing loss of personal control over such critical elements as updates and, now, default associations.

I have two systems, one Win 7, the other Win 8.1, painstakingly “tricked out” to almost “read my (somewhat fading) mind”. Your update advisories have kept me from many a disaster and waste of my precious (old age) time. If I ever “upgrade” (hah!) at all, it will be on the secondary laptop running Win 7 and only after a full image backup has been salted away in the likely event the process puts me in the hospital and upon waking from the MS-induced coma my only (last) desire is to return to the world of my “childhood”.

Am I getting my message across?? :cheers:

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Honestly, Susan, for the life of me (literally, as I”m a dying dinosaur!), I cannot see how you can continue to recommend upgrading from Win 8.1 to Win 10 what with the ever-increasing loss of personal control over such critical elements as updates and, now, default associations.

I have two systems, one Win 7, the other Win 8.1, painstakingly “tricked out” to almost “read my (somewhat fading) mind”. Your update advisories have kept me from many a disaster and waste of my precious (old age) time. If I ever “upgrade” (hah!) at all, it will be on the secondary laptop running Win 7 and only after a full image backup has been salted away in the likely event the process puts me in the hospital and upon waking from the MS-induced coma my only (last) desire is to return to the world of my “childhood”.

Am I getting my message across?? :cheers:

Because quite honestly I see 8.1 as not going to get the love that 10 and 7 will get. Most people who love 8.1 honestly have classic menu installed.

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In the original version of Windows 10, an application not approved by Microsoft could set itself as the default application for specific tasks — typically via the file-associations settings.

Only by using unsupported back-door methods, which is what this recent correction for obsolete programs is about:

Changes to how Windows 10 handles default apps [in Insider Preview Build 10122, before RTM]:

‘Default apps’ refers to the way that Windows maps file types and protocols (like HTTP) to the Windows applications they open by default. For example, your favorite photo editor may be set as the default app for .JPG files, which means that when you double-click on a .JPG file in File Explorer, it opens in that photo editor. In Windows 8.1, Classic Windows applications (Win32) could invoke the prompt asking you to change your defaults, so you may have seen multiple prompts during install and after they launched. However, Windows Store apps could not invoke this prompt. Instead, a notification banner will appear after your apps are installed telling you that new apps are available and you would click on this banner to change your defaults.

We know your defaults matter to you. With Windows 10, all apps – both Classic Windows apps and Universal Windows apps – will be unable to invoke a prompt to change your defaults, only Windows. You remain in full control of your default experiences, while reducing some of the unwanted noise that multiple prompts can bring.

For example – if you install a new photo editor and go into File Explorer and double-click to open a JPG file – Windows will show you a prompt to change your default to the new app. So the prompt is shown in context when it matters, not randomly during setup or when an app is launched.

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 10122 for PCs (May 20, 2015)

Microsoft’s policy didn’t change, and was designed to reduce annoying popups.

Those programs included older-but-still-popular utilities such as WinZip

… which WinZip says are incompatible:

NOTE: WinZip versions 17.5 and older were not designed for use on Windows 10 and are not fully compatible.
We advise that you upgrade to the latest version of WinZip when installing on Windows 10.

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As a WS reader since 2010 and contributor/member since 2011, I have come to depend on Susan Bradley’s recommendations for updates. Since the roll-out of win 10 and particularly the roll-out of the new WS format (two a week), I feel that Susan has, for the most part, abandoned Win 7 update recommendations. I now sit with 107 “Important and Optional” available updates from Microsoft, but no warm and fuzzy advice from Susan as to which are safe or recommended. Am I missing something? Can this information be found elsewhere? What’s a Win 7 holdout to do? Thanks…..

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As a WS reader since 2010 and contributor/member since 2011, I have come to depend on Susan Bradley’s recommendations for updates. Since the roll-out of win 10 and particularly the roll-out of the new WS format (two a week), I feel that Susan has, for the most part, abandoned Win 7 update recommendations. I now sit with 107 “Important and Optional” available updates from Microsoft, but no warm and fuzzy advice from Susan as to which are safe or recommended. Am I missing something? Can this information be found elsewhere? What’s a Win 7 holdout to do? Thanks…..

I don’t think anything has changed. The last couple of patch watch articles have covered as many Windows 7 patches as Windows 8, and more than Windows 10.

With more than 100 you must be a few months behind, so try searching the newsletter archives for the KB number (without the KB).

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As a WS reader since 2010 and contributor/member since 2011, I have come to depend on Susan Bradley’s recommendations for updates. Since the roll-out of win 10 and particularly the roll-out of the new WS format (two a week), I feel that Susan has, for the most part, abandoned Win 7 update recommendations. I now sit with 107 “Important and Optional” available updates from Microsoft, but no warm and fuzzy advice from Susan as to which are safe or recommended. Am I missing something? Can this information be found elsewhere? What’s a Win 7 holdout to do? Thanks…..

I haven’t abandoned Windows 7 at all. I noted the updates for Windows 7 in this special patch watch. But I would be remiss if I didn’t call out the fix for a big fat hairy CIFS/SMB bug that has been not fixed for too long — AND – Microsoft released the update a week before Patch Tuesday.

If you have 107 important and optional updates for Windows 7 can you post them because I’m sure I have listed every one of them along the way but they often are in the text of the articles and not called out in the bottom grid.

Honey, I have spent way way tooooooo many nights up until 2 am writing the PW columns to have missed 107 updates (and have the undereye bags the next day to prove it)

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I use Acrobat DC extensively as an integral component of my typical workflow…and regardless of how often I reset it as default by every method known to mankind (and I mean every), Edge will eventually retake PDF as a default. It’s beyond irksome…

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My computer was updated with 1511 at 3AM while I was asleep, so I had no choice about the update. The next time I used my computer ALL the defaults had been changed and several of the Apps were gone along with Office 365 and my network connection. It took me 3 days to get my machine working again the way I like it set up. I still had the CD for Office 2010 so I was able to install it on my number 1 computer. My number 2 computer (Win 10) was similarly disabled. My older Win 7 computers still work OK and they work fine with the network.
Has anyone else had similar problems. Does anyone have advice on how to get the Win 10 machines to work with the network again?

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My computer was updated with 1511 at 3AM while I was asleep, so I had no choice about the update. The next time I used my computer ALL the defaults had been changed and several of the Apps were gone along with Office 365 and my network connection. It took me 3 days to get my machine working again the way I like it set up. I still had the CD for Office 2010 so I was able to install it on my number 1 computer. My number 2 computer (Win 10) was similarly disabled. My older Win 7 computers still work OK and they work fine with the network.
Has anyone else had similar problems. Does anyone have advice on how to get the Win 10 machines to work with the network again?

In the build to build update do NOT use express settings. All of your defaults will indeed be reset

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It looks like Irfanview is one of the programs being “targeted” by Win10. I keep getting the “A default app was reset.” message regarding various image formats. I’m going to try reinstalling it using the most recent information on their web page and see if that helps.

I may understand why this is happening, but it’s annoying as hell. It also makes me wonder how long it will be before it will be a requirement for every program I use to be “blessed” by Microsoft. And what may happen to programs like LibreOffice that are direct competitors to Microsoft.

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I started my apprenticeship in 1952, I still possess the first hammer I purchased, yes had a new handle once but believe it or not it STILL works. What is wrong with Microsoft (we all know). Please Microsoft make your operating System easier to use and control. My next computer will be a Mac. I am fed up with this insolence.

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Why does Microsoft keep shooting themselves in the foot? Or to rephrase, why do they insist on fixing things that are not broken? Many of their perceived improvements remain good reasons to remain wit Windows-7, or XP (if one’s applications require it). In particular: mandatory updates (oops, bad update, sorry it crashed your system), a compromised UI, clearly pandering to the smartphone/tablet set, and now, not respecting one’s personal settings. After jumping through the hoops to make an OS look and feel the way I want it, then MS comes along and changes them…hardly a way to encourage upgrades.

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I like many aspects of W10. But one of several things I don’t like is that Update will undo at least some registry changes you have made. For example I really do not want This PC to show the folders such as Documents, Pictures etc, so change the registry to remove them. It is very annoying to have them put back so often.

A recent update also unregistered current release Graphic Workshop Professional – easy enough to reregister, but pretty ridiculous. Alchemy Mindworks says that “version 6 software can become unregistered if Windows 10 performs a hidden major upgrade, such as the Threshold 2 build that began rolling out late last year”.

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