Hi Gary
>>> "I've tried to clean up his HK Current User Classes registry entries as best I could by looking for any references to jpg or jpeg and deleting them." <<<
What you have done is left some half-baked associations in the registry so it hasn't a clue what to do with *.jpg files, and you are now unable to edit the settings that you would have had if you had not deleted all instances of these file types.
The first thing to try is what I always suggest, ie. set the associations FROM WITHIN the application. Can the user open the Microsoft Office Picture Manager? The shortcut isusually in the Start Menu folder for Microsoft Office under the sub-folder named "Microsoft Office Tools".
Tools menu > Files > Check the file types to associate > OK > Close and test by double-clicking a *.jpg file.
In Office 2003 the Picture Manager executable is:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\OIS.EXE
The simple act of closing Picture Editor and closing it again on my system created a new "Open With > Picture Editor" on my Right-Click menu for *.jpg's (and possibly other file types). I cannot see why you should not be able to Shift > Right-Click on a *.jpg image to force the "Open With ..." option to display, then browse to OIS.EXE while leaving the "Always use this program ..." box checked.
I'm quite confident that you will be able to set the file association as described in the methods above. If you cannot, then there is something wrong with the permissions somewhere and you may have to mess with the registry. This is always the last choice to make, simply because so many things can make one registry different from another even when talking about one simple file association, and it's therefore difficult to suggest what to change.
The most common reason that certain file types do not allow you to edit settings in the "Folder Options > File Types" dialog is that there will be a value under that key that is there deliberately to protect that file type.
Locate the extension:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.jpg
The [Default] StringValue will provide the name by which the file type is referred further on down the HKCR tree. This is the most commonly altered value, for instance Paint Shop Pro version 7 will modify the [Default] value of "jpegfile" to "PSP7.Image", and consequently the key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\PSP7.Image
will be created to store the details of the actual file association.
The "Content Type" StringValue in the:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.jpg
key should be left as "image/jpeg", but again this is sometimes altered by installed programs.
The original unassociated [Default] value in the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.jpg key should probably have been "jpegfile", and therefore the key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\jpegfile
further on down the HKCR tree would hold the actual file associations. Most often, despite an installed program becoming associated with *.pg file types as with Paint Shop Pro, the:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\jpegfile
key will still remain and can be modified. I suspect you have deleted this too.
OK, so if you were to ascertain what the current [Default] Value is under the key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.jpg
and look for the corresponding key further down the tree of keys, you should there find the "Shell\Action\Command" (eg. shell\open\command) sub-keys that hold the details of what program command to call on a double-click, what text to display on the Right-Click menu of those file types, and any other actions such as "Edit" and "Print".
Let's assume that the key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.jpg
still exists, that the [Default] String Value is "jpegfile", and that the key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\jpegfile
exists.
In that latter key you will most likely find a REG_DWORD value named "EditFlags". The actual Value-Data is what dictates whether this file type is seen in Folder options > File Types, whether it shows the buttons to Edit its association, and whether that button is available or disabled if it does show.
The position of the numbers in that "hex" value, and their values, have special significance. There is a rule through which you can modify this value to release the file type for reassociation through Folder Options > File Types, but some don't follow the set rules and I'm therefore not going to give them at this stage. In some circumstances you can delete the "EditFlags" value for a rsult, but I DO NOT recommend that - at this stage anyway.
Probably the best thing you could do is to navigate to the aforementioned registry keys (if they exist), and export them to *.reg files that you could either Zip up to upload here as attachments for us to see, or just rename them as *.txt files and upload them separately. Alternatively copy and paste the exported *.reg files into the Code Snippet box where it stays as plain text.
From these I'm sure we can create a *.reg script to merge some working settings to the affected registry.
TRY THE SIMPLE METHODS FIRST :-)
