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Windows Tips: Right-Click for Faster Windows Navigation

Scott Dunn

Safer Registry Handling

By default, you add a .reg file's information to the Registry when you double-click the file. Windows 98 and later versions prompt you before doing so, but Windows 95 and NT 4 add the information with no prompting. That can be dangerous--especially for trigger-happy double-clickers. If you handle .reg files frequently, it's safer and more convenient to make double-clicking a .reg file open the file in Notepad (or perform some other operation) rather than add it to your Registry.

In any Windows Explorer or folder window, choose View, Options; View, Folder Options; or Tools, Folder Options (depending on your version of Windows). Click the File Types tab. Select Registration Entries from the list of file types, and click Edit or Advanced, depending on your version of Windows. In the Edit File Type dialog box, select Edit in the Actions list and click Set Default. Click OK or Close and close the remaining dialog boxes.

The next time you double-click a .reg file, it will open in Notepad instead of being added to the Registry. (If the file is too big for Notepad, Windows will ask if you want to use WordPad instead.) When you're ready to incorporate the file into the Registry, simply right-click the .reg file and choose Merge.

Windows Tips pays $50 for published tips and questions. Scott Dunn is a contributing editor for PC World.

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