| SET A PROGRAM'S PROTOCOLS / FILE TYPES |
Default Programs is a control panel that is split into four programs. Set Your Default Programs, Associate A File Type Or Protocol With A Program, Change AutoPlay Settings and Set Program Access And Computer Defaults. In this section I will explain SET YOUR DEFAULT PROGRAMS which allows you to set a program as the default (normally used) program and also allows you to set the Protocols and File Types for a program regardless if that program is the default program or not.
To use the Default Programs control panel go to the Control Panel and click on the DEFAULT PROGRAMS icon. This will bring up the Default Programs window (Fig 1.1). You can also bring up the Default Programs window by clicking on the DEFAULT PROGRAMS Start Menu icon - Click on the START Menu button and then on the DEFAULT PROGRAMS icon (not shown/exampled here).
When the Default Programs window appears click on the SET YOUR DEFAULT PROGRAMS link (above) to continue. Doing so will make the Set Default Programs window appear (below) whereby it then compiles and displays a list of eligible programs - Eligible programs that can be set as the Default Program for a number of file types and protocols.
When the list of eligible programs are ready for use click on one to view its options. In this example I already have Firefox set as my default web (internet) browser but now I want Internet Explorer to be my default web (internet) browser. It currently only has 3 out of 9 of its possible protocols/file types set (as default) but after clicking on the SET THIS PROGRAM AS DEFAULT button the other 6 protocols/file types, currently being used by Firefox, will be set as default for Internet Explorer. Therefore internet explorer will have 9 out of 9 of its possible protocols/file types set as default. In other words. Internet explorer will become the default program for those 9 protocols/file types (i.e. the default program that displays web (html) pages for example).
A Protocol is a set of File Formats and Procedures that enable computers to exchange information. For example. FTP (File Transfer Protocol) tells a program, such as Internet Explorer, how it should transfer files between two computers whereas the HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure) tells a program, such as Internet Explorer, how to manage Security amongst other things when shopping online for example. As a beginner you should not concern yourself too much with setting the Protocols for a default program.
Now that Internet Explorer is set as the default web browser (program) the next thing to do is check what other protocols/file types, if any, internet
explorer is using or not using by default, by clicking on the CHOOSE DEFAULTS FOR THIS PROGRAM button (above). This will present you with the Set Program
Associations window (below). The settings on this window allow you to set (switch on/tick), or clear (switch off/untick), the default File Types (file
extensions), Protocols and Start Menu link(s) used by the default program (i.e. Internet Explorer).
In the case of Internet Explorer, in this example, because it is currently set as the default web browser (program) it means you cannot change any of the
settings. Ticking SELECT ALL will not work simply because all of the settings are selected already, and because you cannot untick any settings in order
to select them all again. However.....
.....If Firefox was set as the default web browser for example you could select INTERNET EXPLORER, from the list of eligible programs, and then click on the CHOOSE DEFAULTS FOR THIS PROGRAM button to change internet explorer's settings. In that case the .htm and .html file types (file extensions) would be unticked (Fig 1.7 below) to mean Firefox is the program that currently opens .htm and .html files (web pages) and is therefore still the default web browser, but that you can also set (tick) these two settings so that internet explorer will be the program to open .htm and .html files (web pages) and therefore become the default web browser for opening web pages (with file extensions of .htm and .html only).
So to clarify. Firefox is currently the default web browser (program) because it currently opens .htm and .html files (as shown in Fig 1.7 above) but as soon as you set internet explorer to open .htm and .html files, by ticking .htm and .html, it becomes the default web browser. This is only technically true though because the reality is that all protocols and file types would need to be set for a web browser program to truly become the default web browser. I say default web browser above to really mean default for showing .htm and .html files only, which are web page files. Other web page files include .php files and .css files for example. Anyway! Do not worry too much about these finer technical details.
When you return to the Set Default Programs window, after clicking on the SAVE button, Firefox will have two of its defaults missing (7 out of 9 defaults) because the .htm and .html defaults (file types) are now being used by internet explorer. Internet explorer will therefore of gained 2 defaults. Instead of 3 out of 9 defaults it will now have 5 out of 9 defaults. To prove the .htm and .html defaults now belong to internet explorer double click on a web page file and it should open with internet explorer. If you open a web page file with firefox, either by using its FILE menu > OPEN FILE menu-item or by right clicking on a web page file and using the OPEN WITH menu-item, that web page file will be displayed but firefox will complain it is not the default web browser (Fig 1.11 below).
At this point Set Default Programs probably seems useless, but that is where you would be mistaken. Set Default Programs really shines when used with
Media Players as it means you could have each installed media player set up to play its native media. For example. If you install three different media
players, as each media player is installed it will more than likely want to be the default media player and also want to be the default .mp3 file player
for example. With a program like ITunes you might only want it used for your IPod protocols and file types and have Windows Media Player set up for your
.mp3 files. With Set Default Programs this is possible.
You would simply use SET YOUR DEFAULT PROGRAMS as explained above to set the default media program
to ITunes for example, therefore no messing around guessing which protocols and file types belong to ITunes, and then select Windows Media Player from
the list of eligible programs and then use CHOOSE DEFAULTS FOR THIS PROGRAM to make Windows Media Player the media player for playing .mp3 files.
In the example below QuickTime is the default media player. I have selected Windows Media Player from the list of eligible programs and then clicked on
CHOOSE DEFAULTS FOR THIS PROGRAM. From there I selected (ticked) the .mpeg and .mpg file types and then clicked on the SAVE button to make .mpeg and .mpg
files play in Windows Media Player by default, even though QuickTime is the default media player for all other protocols and file types.
The above states that QuickTime is currently the default program that plays .mpeg and .mpg files, but as soon as I click on the SAVE button Windows Media Player will be the current default program to play .mpeg and .mpg files. The same could not be said for the .wmv (Windows Media Audio/Video) file type. Because QuickTime does not play .wmv files the .wmv file type is not listed in its list of file types (Associations). Windows Media Player is set as the default media player for the .wmv file type instead, even though QuickTime has been set as the overall default media player. The .wmv file type is native to Windows Media Player. If you set QuickTime as the default media player and then try and open/play a .wmv file with QuickTime, QuickTime will complain.
The key to using Set Default Programs successfully is knowing which protocols and file types are native to a particular program or piece of software. And one of the best ways of knowing is to search the Internet.
Microsoft product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation. As stated here by the Microsoft Corporation.
