Windows 10 keeps changing my default programs

Anonymous
2017-07-17T19:36:54+00:00

Windows 10 keeps changing my default pdf program from Adobe Acrobat to Microsoft Edge. 

Please don't tell me to set my default program in control panel - I do that weekly.

Please don't tell me to do the "OpenWith" registry hack - I've done that, and it did work, until the next major Windows 10 update. Obviously, someone at Microsoft found out about that one.

I have also tried running another hack, that works for a while, but after a few days, I see that ANNOYING edge icon on my pdf files, and have to go back into control panel and change everything back.

It's really annoying, because, it's MY computer. I paid for it, and it included my O/S license - it is MY decision to use Adobe Acrobat for pdf files, not Microsoft's.

Please note that we also have a laptop where this issue NEVER occurs.

I know i'm not the only one out there where this still occurs even after setting the default and running the registry hack.

Moved from: (Windows / Windows 10 / Desktop, Start, & personalization)

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Settings

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-03-26T19:26:41+00:00

    I doubt that Microsoft would list in their update description, that they are implementing this strategy.  You are basically saying that since they are not telling me that they are cheating, then that proves that they are not cheating.  So you can go back and tell your masters that that lie is not going to fly.

    It is not happening to everyone, but that does not mean that this strategy is not being slowly rolled out as Microsoft evaluates the users response to see if they can get away with it.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-03-26T16:47:55+00:00

    It doesn't just change the icon - it changes the program. Yes - it only occurs on my PC, not my laptop - but I don't unzip packages of files on the laptop. There are other replies to this thread - and other threads - where this is occurring on others machines. It shouldn't be ignored and dismissed as a setup issue. It is not a setup issue. There has to be a registry setting SOMEWHERE that is flagging these applications to go back to Microsoft's "recommended" applications. It doesn't occur with applications where Microsoft does not have a recommended application. 

    Again - as I have stated, ad nauseum, if I open one of the thousands of zip files I get annually containing .mp3 files using WinZip - I will see them with the Windows Media Player icon - and if I open one of those .mp3 files from the zip file, it will play using Windows Media Player. If I extract those files, they will change automatically to Groove Music. That triggers all other files back to Microsoft recommended file types. .pdf files change from Adobe Reader to Edge; video files change from VLC to Windows Movies & TV app. AGAIN - I have circumvented the issue by using WinRAR to extract my files. 

    If it was just one type of file being changed, then I could be persuaded to agree that it was a setup issue - but it is not. I have over 20 years of desktop support experience and I know how to change a default program. With Windows 7 and previous Windows O/S - I NEVER saw anything like this occur. NEVER. I have see the registry hack to fix this issue - adding OpenWith "". It only works temporarily. Again - which is why I am no longer using WinZip to extract my files. Regardless - the trigger is the automatic changing of the .mp3 files from Windows Media Player to the default Groove Music that changes the other files to the Windows recommended program.

    I have provided enough information to Microsoft and in this thread for someone smarter than me - someone who knows the O/S a lot better than I do - to be able to find whatever setting in the registry is that is causing the issue.

    Finally - WinRar is now my default zip program. If I happen to right-click on a zip file and open with WinZip and extract my files, it will change my default zip program from WinRar to WinZip.

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-03-26T21:28:53+00:00

    Correct Hydrlogic!  Win10 wants to do EVERYTHING for you and it's partly because of lazy users that put up with it.  I don't need a talking assistant to do everything for me.  If I want new pictures or wallpaper, I will download them.  The best and most stable system MS had was XP and it's no longer supported, I wonder why?  (Sarcasm), I know why, they wanted more control.  USERS OF THE WORLD TAKE BACK YOUR COMPUTERS, after all we paid for them and the system that runs them.

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-03-27T00:53:32+00:00

    Not sure what you are talking about.  I simply stated that the end user does not have the choice of selecting their own app.  It's MS way or the highway.  You are entitled to your opinion as am I DW.

    BTW, I was coding with DOS and NEWDOS in 1980, were you even alive then?  Let's just agree to disagree and leave it at that.

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  5. Anonymous
    2018-03-26T21:08:44+00:00

    I have the best evidence that you can get.  It is Microsofts' program that is doing it.  Windows 10 throws up a popup announcing that it is changing the default programs, and then it does it.  There is no secret there.  Windows 10 tells me that it is going to do it, and then it does.

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