How to remove programs from the "open with" menu

Windows XP tries to be helpful. If you open a file with a particular extension using a certain program, it will add that program to the "Open with" right click menu options forever after when you click "Open with." What if you have programs in that menu that you would like to get rid of? Maybe you tried to open a file with the wrong program, and now there it is, stuck in the "Open with" options. Here's how to fix that:First, log on as an administrator and open the registry editor.

Back up the registry key you're going to edit, using the Export command in the file menu.

Navigate to the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts

This will display a list of all the file extensions that are registered, shown as folders in the left pane.

Scroll down and find the file extension that you want to edit.

Click the white arrow beside it to expand the subfolders.

Select the subfolder labeled OpenWithList

In the right pane, you'll see the names of programs in the Data column. Right click the name of the program you want to remove from the list.

Click Delete.

At the "Are you sure?" prompt, click Yes.

Do this for all programs that you want to remove from the list for this file extension. Close the registry editor.

Now the extra programs shouldn't show up when you click the Open With menu.