Windows 10: How do I reset the setup.inx file association?

This problem of changing default file associations has happened to me twice with Windows7 and now twice with Windows10. In two cases, a newly downloaded program hijacked the file association causing issues. In two cases, I wanted to open a file to take a look at the data it contained and had to chose a program, so I did...only to realize a few nanoseconds after I hit continue that there was a checkbox that was checked by default indicating that I wanted to use that particular program to be associated with all such extensions (the reason it happened the second time is that I thought I noticed that the checkbox had been left unchecked by default earlier in the year, so I didn't really notice until it was too late that it was checked).

At any rate, on one occasion I resorted to formatting the hard drive and starting all over. On another, I just opted to get a new Windows10 laptop. On another, I managed to find someone online who gave me directions to do a registry hack to reset the file association to none...or whatever it was. Now, I noticed that I have a program that has the following file which is causing me trouble (as discovered by a comparison to another computer). Also, I know this program in question has nothing to do with Micro-Cap12, the electronic circuit simulator, which is what the file association indicates as the program to open it. The culprit is:

setup.inx

The properties menu says it's an INX file and opens with Windows Shell Common Dll.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I need to learn to be more patient, but that's difficult for someone who is a pretty fast touch typist. Also, it would be nice if others gave feedback to Microsoft to change that default setting and add a popup confirmation dialog box.

:)

 

Stealing File Association Setup

Hi,

In most cases, File Association are mostly decided on the user's end. For example, if a user has an unknown file and tries to open it. There should be a prompt that should ask the user which program does they want to open it temporarily or permanently. Choosing
that program will automatically change the icon of any same file to the icon of the program that the user chooses. However, the user can still change them by right-clicking on the file and choose "Open with..." and choosing another program to associate it
with temporarily or again, permanently. If there would be any other suggestions that you would like to share, we suggest in sending a feedback using the Feedback Hub for our engineers to look into it for you. You can easily send your feedback by following
the steps on this link
Send feedback to Microsoft with the Feedback Hub app.

Regards.

 

File Association Helper in Startup

from another forum on May 6, 2018:
You can uninstall File Association Helper in less than 5 minutes. Here are the steps to follow:

Step 1 — Uninstall File Association Helper via Control Panel

Simply go to Start > type Control Panel > double click the first result to launch Control Panel.
Then go to Uninstall a program > locate File Association Helper in the list and select it
Select Uninstall > wait until Windows completely removes FAH from your PC.
Restart your PC.
Step 2 — Clean the Registry Editor

Now that you removed the program, you also need to remove any traces or file changes associated with it. To do that, you need to open the Registry Editor.

Go to Start > type “regedit” > launch the Registry Editor
Locate the following keys and delete them:
KEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareFile Association Helper
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareFile Association Helper

Step 3 — Check all the hidden files and folders

File Association Helper may have left behind various hidden files and folders. In order to completely remove the software, you can also need to delete these files. Here’s how to do that:

Simply go to Start > type Control Panel > double click the first result to launch Control Panel. On Windows 10, you can also type “Show hidden files and folder” in the search box. Then simply check Show hidden files, folders and drives and jump straight to step number 3.
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Go to Folder > select Show Hidden Files and Folders
Locate the following folders:
Crogram FilesFile Association Helper
C*Biggrinocument and SettingsAll UsersApplication DataFile Association Helper
C*Biggrinocuments and Settings%USER%Application DataFile Association Helper

4. Delete them and then restart your PC.

Step 4 — Empty Temp Folder

The final step is to clean the Temp folder where all the temporary files are stored. To empty the folder, go to Start and type the %temp% command.

This will open the Temp folders. You can now empty them. If the system displays an error message when deleting some files, leave them. The files might be in use by Windows services or some running software.

Step 5 — Use a dedicated tool to remove software leftovers

After you performed all the steps listed above, you have removed 99.9% of all the files and folders left behind by File Association Helper. However, there may be a few file that escaped your scrutiny. In order to make sure that you have removed all of them, you can also use a dedicated software uninstaller.

These applications are specially designed to remove the selected application along with all of its files and registry entries. As a result, the application will be completely removed from your PC.

There are many great uninstaller tools available on the market, but the best are IOBit Uninstaller and Revo Uninstaller so feel free to try any of these tools.

 

When clicking the files getting error that the file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action.

Hello,

I understand that when you try to open the file, you are prompted that the files does not have a program associated with it for performing this action. We will certainly help you.

• What file are you trying to open?

This issue is caused if the file is not associated with any of the application or program to open it.

If those files are the pictures as I can see that you are trying to access the picture folder. I suggest you to follow the below steps and check if the issue resolves.

• Right click on the file and select Open with.
• Select Photo App or Photo Gallery.
• Double click and check if you are able to open that file.

Keep us posted if the issue is resolved. We are glad to help you.