Have you ever wondered how does Windows determine what software to use to open a file? One example is Windows opens text (.txt) files with Notepad by default but if you’ve installed a third party text editor such as Notepad++, it would probably allow you to set it as the default text editor during the installation so in future whenever you open a text file, it will be opened with Notepad++ and not the Windows Notepad. Windows keeps the file association reference in registry and you are able to view it in Control Panel > Default Programs > Set Associations.
If you’ve used Q-Dir and XYplorer, you may have noticed that it comes with a very handy feature which is their internal file association or some people call it portable file association. This feature allows you to maintain any number of private portable file associations independently of the global ones defined in the Windows registry. For example, if you’ve set Q-Dir to associate AVI video files with VLC media player, running any AVI video files from Q-Dir will play it with VLC media player. However when you run the AVI file from Windows Explorer, then it will continue to use the default Windows Media Player.
If you find this feature very useful but don’t want to do it from Q-Dir or XYplorer, you can give eXpresso a try.
Obviously you will need to configure and associate the program that eXpresso should use to open the files. This can be easily done by simply double clicking on a file and it will prompt you that the files are not yet recognized by eXpresso and asking you if you would like to set an association. Clicking the Yes button will open a window asking you to choose the application that will open the file.
If you click the No button, the file will open using the default program set in Windows and eXpresso will never prompt you to create an association for that type of file anymore until you delete the extension from Extension Configuration options.
You may have noticed that you can set an alternative application for the extension from the image above. Do note that it does not automatically fall back in using the alternative application when the main application is not found but rather allowing you to use another program other than the main application by pressing and holding the Alt key on your keyboard and launching the file.
The convey feature is probably the most confusing option because the description wasn’t really clear what was it all about. After testing, I found out that the Convey feature in eXpresso actually creates a temporary Send To shortcuts when eXpresso is active. You will need to first drop the send to shortcuts to eXpresso\Data\Links\ folder and then when you run eXpresso, the shortcuts are automatically copied to the user’s SendTo folder. Try right clicking on a file and you will notice that there are additional shortcuts in Send To menu. When you close or terminate eXpresso program, the shortcuts are automatically removed.
You can either double click on the eXpresso icon at the notification area to pause the internal file association or use the hotkey Win+Alt+P. To resume, either double click on the eXpressor icon at the notification area again or right click on the icon and select Pause. Unfortunately the hotkey only works for pausing eXpresso but not for resuming.
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