How to undo device association?

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Guest

I did a bonehead thing when I was troubleshooting a problem recently, w/my
new Canon SD550 camera connecting to the Canon software in Windows. When I
first connected the camera, I got the usual dialog box of all the various
programs on my machine that could connect to the camera and download pictures
(Adobe Photoshop Elements, ACDSee, the Canon CameraWindow, etc.).

The bonehead part comes in when I checked the "Always perform this action"
w/the "Canon CameraWindow" selected. Now when I connect the camera, the Canon
CameraWindow always starts, never giving me a choice of which program I
actually want to use. D'oh! Yes, I know it's doing exactly what it's supposed
to do. Problem is, I want the dialog box of choices back, and I don't know
how to get it.

W/a simple file association, I know you can go into My Computer>Tools>Folder
Options>File Types tab, and scroll down until you find the file type you want
to change the association to. Trouble is, the camera is of course a hardware
device, and I have no idea where to look for the magic place to undo what I
did. It is *not* in the File Types list.

I've hunted thru the Registry, scoured the KB, and have simply run out of
ideas. Can anyone tell me how to undo a device association to a particular
program?
 
If the drive-letter is shown in My Computer for the Canon camera, then
right-click the drive, and choose Properties. Click the Autoplay tab, and
choose the desired application there.

Alternately, start Registry Editor (regedit.exe) and navigate to the
following branch:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers]

Export the branch to a REG file, using the File/Export menu option.
Then, delete the sub-key named "UserChosenExecuteHandlers"
Close Regedit.exe

Note that this resets the Autoplay preferences for _all_ the removable
drives in the system. You may need to reconfigure them again.

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User

Windows XP Troubleshooting
http://www.winhelponline.com


I did a bonehead thing when I was troubleshooting a problem recently, w/my
new Canon SD550 camera connecting to the Canon software in Windows. When I
first connected the camera, I got the usual dialog box of all the various
programs on my machine that could connect to the camera and download
pictures
(Adobe Photoshop Elements, ACDSee, the Canon CameraWindow, etc.).

The bonehead part comes in when I checked the "Always perform this action"
w/the "Canon CameraWindow" selected. Now when I connect the camera, the
Canon
CameraWindow always starts, never giving me a choice of which program I
actually want to use. D'oh! Yes, I know it's doing exactly what it's
supposed
to do. Problem is, I want the dialog box of choices back, and I don't know
how to get it.

W/a simple file association, I know you can go into My Computer>Tools>Folder
Options>File Types tab, and scroll down until you find the file type you
want
to change the association to. Trouble is, the camera is of course a hardware
device, and I have no idea where to look for the magic place to undo what I
did. It is *not* in the File Types list.

I've hunted thru the Registry, scoured the KB, and have simply run out of
ideas. Can anyone tell me how to undo a device association to a particular
program?
 
Thank you for pointing me in the right direction! It actually turned out to
be even easier than described. I connected the camera so that I could see it
in Explorer, right-clicked on it as advised, and I got a dialog that made it
even easier than the "Autoplay" instructions you described. The ensuing
dialog had a tab called "Events", and down about halfway had a section called
"Actions". The first choice, "Start this program", had a drop-down list of
all the programs I had previously seen before I made the goof, and the
CameraWindow program was chosen. The next Action choice underneath was
"Prompt for which program to run". I checked this button, and voila! I have
my choices back! This is so cool--now I can go back and forth if I want the
camera to default to the CameraWindow, or have a choice.

I'm also glad this worked, because I checked the reference you made to the
Registry, because I was curious, and I do not have the
"UserChosenExecuteHandlers" sub-key. All I have there is
"EventHandlersDefaultSelection", and "UserDefaults"--neither of which
mentioned the camera.

So thank you very much for aiming me in the right direction, and for adding
to my personal knowledge base!

Ramesh said:
If the drive-letter is shown in My Computer for the Canon camera, then
right-click the drive, and choose Properties. Click the Autoplay tab, and
choose the desired application there.

Alternately, start Registry Editor (regedit.exe) and navigate to the
following branch:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers]

Export the branch to a REG file, using the File/Export menu option.
Then, delete the sub-key named "UserChosenExecuteHandlers"
Close Regedit.exe

Note that this resets the Autoplay preferences for _all_ the removable
drives in the system. You may need to reconfigure them again.

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User

Windows XP Troubleshooting
http://www.winhelponline.com


I did a bonehead thing when I was troubleshooting a problem recently, w/my
new Canon SD550 camera connecting to the Canon software in Windows. When I
first connected the camera, I got the usual dialog box of all the various
programs on my machine that could connect to the camera and download
pictures
(Adobe Photoshop Elements, ACDSee, the Canon CameraWindow, etc.).

The bonehead part comes in when I checked the "Always perform this action"
w/the "Canon CameraWindow" selected. Now when I connect the camera, the
Canon
CameraWindow always starts, never giving me a choice of which program I
actually want to use. D'oh! Yes, I know it's doing exactly what it's
supposed
to do. Problem is, I want the dialog box of choices back, and I don't know
how to get it.

W/a simple file association, I know you can go into My Computer>Tools>Folder
Options>File Types tab, and scroll down until you find the file type you
want
to change the association to. Trouble is, the camera is of course a hardware
device, and I have no idea where to look for the magic place to undo what I
did. It is *not* in the File Types list.

I've hunted thru the Registry, scoured the KB, and have simply run out of
ideas. Can anyone tell me how to undo a device association to a particular
program?
Click to expand...
 
Glad you got this sorted!

Note: I believe UserChosenExecuteHandlers is applicable for SP1 and higher.

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User

Windows XP Troubleshooting
http://www.winhelponline.com


Thank you for pointing me in the right direction! It actually turned out to
be even easier than described. I connected the camera so that I could see it
in Explorer, right-clicked on it as advised, and I got a dialog that made it
even easier than the "Autoplay" instructions you described. The ensuing
dialog had a tab called "Events", and down about halfway had a section
called
"Actions". The first choice, "Start this program", had a drop-down list of
all the programs I had previously seen before I made the goof, and the
CameraWindow program was chosen. The next Action choice underneath was
"Prompt for which program to run". I checked this button, and voila! I have
my choices back! This is so cool--now I can go back and forth if I want the
camera to default to the CameraWindow, or have a choice.

I'm also glad this worked, because I checked the reference you made to the
Registry, because I was curious, and I do not have the
"UserChosenExecuteHandlers" sub-key. All I have there is
"EventHandlersDefaultSelection", and "UserDefaults"--neither of which
mentioned the camera.

So thank you very much for aiming me in the right direction, and for adding
to my personal knowledge base!
 
I just thought of a follow-up question:

Where does Windows pull the list of programs from, that the camera can open?
How does the camera know that these programs will work? (They all do--ACDSee,
Photoshop Elements, Windows Scanner and Camera wizard, etc.) I imagine it
must be somewhere in the Registry, but where?

It's one thing for File Associations to know that inserting a DVD Video
starts up PowerDVD, or something, but how does a *device* know this? Very
curious about this...
 
Hmm, that's interesting... I'm running SP2.

Ramesh said:
Glad you got this sorted!

Note: I believe UserChosenExecuteHandlers is applicable for SP1 and higher.

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User

Windows XP Troubleshooting
http://www.winhelponline.com


Thank you for pointing me in the right direction! It actually turned out to
be even easier than described. I connected the camera so that I could see it
in Explorer, right-clicked on it as advised, and I got a dialog that made it
even easier than the "Autoplay" instructions you described. The ensuing
dialog had a tab called "Events", and down about halfway had a section
called
"Actions". The first choice, "Start this program", had a drop-down list of
all the programs I had previously seen before I made the goof, and the
CameraWindow program was chosen. The next Action choice underneath was
"Prompt for which program to run". I checked this button, and voila! I have
my choices back! This is so cool--now I can go back and forth if I want the
camera to default to the CameraWindow, or have a choice.

I'm also glad this worked, because I checked the reference you made to the
Registry, because I was curious, and I do not have the
"UserChosenExecuteHandlers" sub-key. All I have there is
"EventHandlersDefaultSelection", and "UserDefaults"--neither of which
mentioned the camera.

So thank you very much for aiming me in the right direction, and for adding
to my personal knowledge base!
Click to expand...
 
For Digital Cameras, it's probably stored here:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\StillImage\Registered
Applications

For other removable devices, here:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers
Additional info: http://windowsxp.mvps.org/autoplayhandlers.htm

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User

Windows XP Troubleshooting
http://www.winhelponline.com


I just thought of a follow-up question:

Where does Windows pull the list of programs from, that the camera can open?
How does the camera know that these programs will work? (They all
do--ACDSee,
Photoshop Elements, Windows Scanner and Camera wizard, etc.) I imagine it
must be somewhere in the Registry, but where?

It's one thing for File Associations to know that inserting a DVD Video
starts up PowerDVD, or something, but how does a *device* know this? Very
curious about this...
 
And lot of information in this article.

Preparing Hardware and Software for Use with AutoPlay:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/d...cs_extending/autoplay/autoplay2k_cookbook.asp

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User

Windows XP Troubleshooting
http://www.winhelponline.com


For Digital Cameras, it's probably stored here:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\StillImage\Registered
Applications

For other removable devices, here:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers
Additional info: http://windowsxp.mvps.org/autoplayhandlers.htm

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User

Windows XP Troubleshooting
http://www.winhelponline.com


I just thought of a follow-up question:

Where does Windows pull the list of programs from, that the camera can open?
How does the camera know that these programs will work? (They all
do--ACDSee,
Photoshop Elements, Windows Scanner and Camera wizard, etc.) I imagine it
must be somewhere in the Registry, but where?

It's one thing for File Associations to know that inserting a DVD Video
starts up PowerDVD, or something, but how does a *device* know this? Very
curious about this...
 
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