Chapter 31: Setting Default Programs

IN THIS CHAPTER

Setting default programs for documents

Setting defaults for your user account

Setting default actions for disks and devices

Setting defaults for all users

As everyone knows, there are many different brands of toothpaste, shampoo, cars, and just about every other kind of product you can buy. The same is true of software. Everyone uses a web browser to browse the Internet, and you have many different brands of web browsers to choose from. There's Internet Explorer, which comes with Windows 8.1. There's also Safari, Firefox, and Google Chrome, to name a few.

For media players, Windows 8.1 comes with Media Player, Media Center, or both depending on which edition of Windows 8.1 you have. In addition to those, there's QuickTime, Musicmatch, and many others. When you have two or more programs capable of handling the same type of document, you might want to make one the default program that opens automatically when you open a document. Setting such defaults is what this chapter is all about.

Setting Default Programs for Files

Typed text, pictures, music files, and video clips are all examples of documents and other types of files that you can create or download to your computer. There are thousands of different file types. Each type is indicated by its filename extension. For example, a picture might be a JPEG (.jpeg or .jpg), BMP (.bmp), GIF (.gif), TIFF (.tif or .tiff), PNG (.png), or any of a couple dozen other formats.

When you click (or double-click) a file icon while in File Explorer, the file opens in whatever is the default program for its type. If you have more than one program that can open the file type, you can override the default and open the file with some other program. Right-click the file's icon and choose Open With, as shown in Figure 31.1. The Open With option is available only if you have two or more programs installed that can open that type of file.

If you want to keep the current default program for this type of file, and override that just this time, click the name of the program you want to use to open the file.

If you want to change the default program that Windows always uses to open that type of file, click Choose Default Program at the bottom of the Open With menu. The Open With dialog box shown in Figure 31.2 opens.

Click whatever program you want to use for opening that type of document. Also, make sure the Use This App for All <filetype> Files option is selected (checked). Otherwise your new choice won't be saved.

If you can't find the program you want to use as the default, you can click the More Options link to look for it. Just make sure that the program you want to use is capable of opening that type of document.

Setting default programs using the Open With dialog box is just one way to do it. Many programs have options within them that enable you to choose which file types you want to associate with the program. The settings within the program might even override the settings you specify in Windows. So sometimes you have to go into the program that's acting as the default for a file type and make a change there.

Unfortunately, there's no one-rule-fits-all for the hundreds of programs that allow you to change associations within a program. Typically you start by opening the program and choosing Tools ⇒ Options or Edit ⇒ Preferences, or something like that, to get to the program's main options. To illustrate, we'll use QuickTime (Version 7) as an example because many people have that program.

In QuickTime, you first open the QuickTime Player from the Windows 8.1 Start screen. Then choose Edit ⇒ Preferences ⇒ QuickTime Preferences from its menu bar. Select the Browser tab, click File Types, and you're taken to a dialog box where you can specify file types that should open automatically in QuickTime. Select the file types you do want to open in QuickTime automatically. Clear the check marks for those file types for which QuickTime should not act as the default program. Figure 31.3 shows an example.

When you associate a program with a given file type, you just have to make sure to always specify a program that can open files of a given type. For example, it wouldn't make sense to associate video or audio files with Word or Excel because those programs don't play multimedia files.

If the program you're setting up does not have a preferences option, open Control Panel, select All Control Panel Options, Default Programs, Set Default Programs, and then choose Set Program Associations from the dialog box that loads.

Using the Default Programs Page

Right-clicking a document's icon and choosing Open With is the quick and easy way to set a default program on the fly, but it's not the only method, and you're not limited to setting defaults based on file types. You can also set defaults for protocols. A protocol is a standardized way of doing things. Different Internet services use different protocols. For example, the web uses HTTP, which stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol.

You can also set default actions for CDs, DVDs, and devices you connect to your computer. Use the Default Programs page in the Control Panel to set all these different kinds of defaults. To get there, use whichever method is easiest for you:

• Press Windows+X and choose Control Panel ⇒ Programs ⇒ Default Programs.
• From the Windows 8.1 Start screen, display the Charms and click Search. On the Apps screen, choose Default Programs.

You'll see the options shown in Figure 31.4 and summarized here.

• Set Your Default Programs: Use this option to choose default programs for your user account only.
• Associate a File Type or Protocol with a Program: Like the preceding item, except you start by choosing a file type or protocol rather than a program.
• Change AutoPlay Settings: Use this option to change what happens when you insert a CD or DVD or connect a camera to your computer.
• Set Program Access and Computer Defaults: This one is strictly for administrators. It sets defaults for Internet access and media players for all user accounts.

The following sections describe each option.

Setting your default programs

The first item in Default Programs lets you pick and choose which file types and protocols you want to associate with programs. When you click Set Your Default Programs, you're taken to a page like the one in Figure 31.5.

Click a program name in the left column to see a description of that program in the right column. Then you can choose one of the following options below that description:

• Set This Program as Default: Choose this option to make the selected program the default for all file types and protocols it can handle.
• Choose Defaults for This Program: Limit the program to act as the default for only certain file types and protocols.

Choosing the second option takes you to a list of all the file types and protocols that the program supports, as in Figure 31.6. You can scroll through the list and select the file types and protocols for which the program should act as default. Clear the check box of any file type or protocol for which you want some other program to act as the default. Then click Save to return to the previous page.

When you've finished choosing defaults for programs, click OK to return to the main Default Programs page.

You can also choose default app from PC Settings on your handheld or mobile device. Open the Settings charm and select the Settings link at the bottom of the bar. When the PC Settings page opens, choose Search and Apps and then select Defaults. The screen shown in Figure 31.7 loads.

In Figure 31.7, we haven't chosen a default program for mail. To select a default program click the Choose a Default link, as shown in Figure 31.7, next to the program that has no default. The menu shown in Figure 31.8 loads. Continue to select the program you want to use.

Associating a file type or protocol with a specific program

The second option in Default Programs is similar to the first. But instead of starting with a program, you start with a file type or protocol. When you click Associate a File Type or Protocol with a Specific Program, you see options similar to those in Figure 31.9.

File types are listed first, in alphabetical order. Protocols are separate at the bottom of the list. Use the scroll bar to scroll through the list. To assign a default program to a file type or protocol, first click the item you want to change and click the Change Program button. Then use the Open With dialog box that opens to choose a program.

Choosing default apps by file types and/or protocol is also possible from PC Settings. Click on the respective link at the bottom of the Search and Apps page as shown in Figure 31.9.

Changing AutoPlay settings

AutoPlay is a Windows feature that lets you choose what program you want to use to play content on CDs, DVDs, and devices (such as MP3 devices). Chances are you've already seen the AutoPlay screen at least once, after you inserted a CD or DVD, or connected a camera, mobile phone, or disk drive. Figure 31.10 shows an example.

Click the AutoPlay screen to see a list of actions to take. The AutoPlay dialog box lets you choose the action you want to take with the selected media. For a removable device that always has pictures on it, you might choose one of the Import Pictures and Videos options. Or, as the example in Figure 31.11 shows, the actions for the iPhone that we inserted include using the drive for backup purposes or showing the contents of the drive. Until you set a default AutoPlay option, however, Windows continues to ask you what you want to do when you attach the device.

When you click View More AutoPlay Options in the Control Panel, you get to see all your current AutoPlay default settings, as in Figure 31.12. You can also get there by clicking Change AutoPlay Settings in the Default Programs item in the Control Panel. Scroll to the bottom of the list to find icons for devices you connect to your computer, such as digital cameras.

To change the default action for any item, click the current action and choose the action you want from the menu that drops down. Click Save after making your changes to return to Program Defaults.

Setting program access and computer defaults

Anybody who has a user account can choose defaults using any of the methods described in this chapter. The Set Program Access and Computer Defaults option is strictly for computer administrators. It sets defaults that apply to all user accounts, and can even be used to limit programs that they can use. This is most often used in corporate settings when administrators want very tight control over how staff members use their computers. But anyone with an administrative user account on a home computer can use it to control family members’ program use as well.

Because the Set Program Access and Computer Defaults option can so severely limit what all users can do, you need administrative privileges just to start it. If you're in a standard user account, you'll need to log out. Then log in to an administrative account to open that option. When you first open it, you'll see three options:

• Microsoft Windows: Choose this option if you want to set the Internet programs that came with Windows 8.1 as the default programs.
• Non-Microsoft: Choose this option if you don't want to use any Microsoft Internet programs.
• Custom: Choose this option if you want to use a combination of Microsoft and non-Microsoft Internet programs.

After you choose one of these options, you'll see more options under that category. The exact options vary depending on what you choose. But they work in a similar manner. We'll use the Custom category, shown in Figure 31.13, as an example, because it offers the most options.

As you can see in Figure 31.13, the first options let you choose the default web browser, e-mail client, and media player for online music and video. Scrolling down enables you to choose a default instant messaging program and Java virtual machine. The options available to you depend on what programs you have installed on your computer at the moment. For each program, you have the following options:

• Use My Current: Choose this option to keep whatever program you're currently using as the default program. This will be the only option when you don't have multiple programs to choose from.
• <Program Name>: To specify a program as the default, click the option button to the left of its name.
• Enable Access to This Program: Choosing this option allows users to run the program. Clearing the check box hides the program's icon on the Start menu and elsewhere, preventing users from running the program.

There will be times when you can't choose exactly the option you want. Or when you choose an option, the selected program doesn't comply. That's because the programmers who create these programs aren't required to make them work with the Program Defaults selections. If that's a problem, your only recourse is to contact the program publisher. They may have a newer version that's compatible with setting program defaults in Windows 8.1.

Click OK when you've finished making your selections. You might see a message stating that your choices might not work because of current file associations. If you click Yes, Windows 8.1 will try to change the file associations to go with the new default program automatically. If it doesn't work, you can change file associations manually.

Wrap-Up

Default programs are programs that start automatically when you open a document or use an Internet protocol such as e-mail or the web. When you have two or more programs that can open a document or use an Internet protocol, you can choose which one acts as the default. Choosing a default doesn't preclude you from using other programs. The default just determines which program is used when you don't specify otherwise. Windows 8.1 offers several methods of choosing default programs:

• To set the default for a file type on the fly, right-click a file's icon and choose Open With ⇒ Choose Default Program.
• To use some program other than the default for a document, right-click the icon, and choose Open With and the name of the program you want to use.
• The Program Defaults page in the Control Panel provides ways of setting multiple default programs from a single page.
• The Set Your Default Programs option enables you to choose a program and specify the documents and protocols for which it should act as the default.
• The Associate a File Type or Protocol with a Program option enables you to first choose a filename extension or protocol, and then choose the program that will be the default.
• The Change AutoPlay Settings option enables you to choose what happens when you insert a disc or connect a device.
• The Set Program Access and Computer Defaults option allows an administrator to control defaults and programs for all user accounts.