Windows 10: Windows 10 context menu problem for Shell and Shellex

My context menu Windows 10 does not show items that I add in programs for example 7zip, Adobe and othersHowever, through CCleaner, I see that they are addedI go to the registry and see only standard items in Shell And when I right-click, I see this menu in folders and files However, in Shellex, all my added programs are there!QUESTION: how can I make my context menu see items that are Shellex when I right-clickOr how to add Shellex items to ShellImportant: I am NOT a programmer

:)

 

How can I edit a shellex label on context menu?

I'd like to change the text of a context menu:



I know also the exact ShellEx that added it including its CLSID... Is there a way to change those labels or are them hard-coded somewhere in the ShellEx dll itself?
Already tried a bunch of apps to edit shell extensions but they are only able to add/remove/disable entries.

 

Inconsistent Shell Context Menu


I noticed something peculiar this morning. The Explorer right-click context menu is inconsistent on what it displays.

For example, when I right-clicked on one folder, it displays the "Add to Windows Media Player List" and "Play with Windows Media Player" options.





However, when I right-clicked on another folder, these options are absent.





Whether these options appear in the context menu seems to be entirely arbitrary. About half of the folders have the options, and the rest do not.

Is this a known bug?

 

Unable to remove "Scan with Windows Defender" from Windows Explorer context menu

To remove `Scan with Windows Defender` from Windows Explorer's context menu, I obtained `remove Scan with Windows Defender.reg` from here:

Download Remove Scan with Windows Defender context menu in Windows 10

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\EPP]

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\EPP]

The first command removes `Scan with Windows Defender` from the file context menu. The second removes it from the folder context menu.

I ran the above `*.reg` file from an administrator account *without* `regedit` running. I then fired up `regedit` and checked that the *second* key is gone, rebooted the laptop, and confirm that `Scan with Windows Defender` is gone from the *folder* context menu.

Perplexingly, however, it is still present in the *file* context menu. Furthermore, the *folder* key `HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\EPP` still exists, containing value `(Default)` set to `{09A47860-11B0-4DA5-AFA5-26D86198A780}`.

I went back through years of computer housekeeping and found that in 2020 (MalwareBytes re-installation removes single-file scan from context menu), `Scan with Windows Defender` was added to the following `shell` keys rather than the above `shellex` keys:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\WindowsDefender

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\WindowsDefender\Command

The asterisk makes it impossible to track down manually. **Is this why `Scan with Windows Defender` remains in the *file* context menu?**

Before answering, please note from the above 2020 page that `Scan with Windows Defender` was also added to the *folder* context menu via a corresponding `shell` key. However, the above command specifying a `shellex` key seemingly removed removed the item from the *folder* context menu (even though the corresponding `shellex` key remains!)

I also tried the procedure at How To Remove Scan With Windows Defender From Context Menu Of Windows 10, which requires removal of key `HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{09A47860-11B0-4DA5-AFA5-26D86198A780}`. On my machine, this does not appear under `CLSID`.

The page Remove Scan with Windows Defender from Context Menu additionally says to try `regsvr32 /u "C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\shellext.dll"`, but it generates a `RegSvr32` popup error `The module "c:\Program Fileis\Windows Defender\shellext.dll" was loaded but the call to DllUnregisterServer failed with error code 0x8002801c. For more information about this problem, search online using the error code as a search term."

Following the success at https://superuser.com/a/1214921/767015, I installed before uninstalling, but it didn't work (I got similar error messages after both commands):

regsvr32 /i "C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\shellext.dll"

regsvr32 /u "C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\shellext.dll"

**What else can I try to remove `Scan with Windows Defender`?** I suspect that I will have to install Windows Defender before the above solutions can work. I can no longer find up-to-date information on installing the old Windows Defender. I suspect that even if I could find it, it will be tricky to replaces the current Microsoft Defender with Windows Defender.

I tried posting this to learn.microsoft.com, but when I submit it, I get a page entitled "404 - Page not found"..

*After* doing that, I will take the next step of installing `Scan with *Microsoft* Defender` on Windows Explorer's context menu. Microsoft Defender is my current antivirus.