Multiple icons for file formats associated with Winamp messed up on Windows 7 & 10

[Wineroz]

I recently have moved from Windows 7 / Winamp 5.666 to a clean installation of Windows 10 / Winamp 5.8. But I have the same problem: I add audio formats to be played in Winamp- and I am unable to change their icon for some of them


It goes like this. For FLAC, MP3 and WAV I use a simple registry hack. For FLAC it is

code:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Winamp.File.FLAC\DefaultIcon]

@="C:\\ICONS\\icon for FLAC.ico,0"

With this solution in place, in future all I have to see some change is to change that "icon for FLAC.ico" file in the folder "C:\ICONS". But this does not work always as some additional files are somehow bungled together- if I change icon for one, it changes also for others

On previous setup [W7 / W 5.666] I had such connection between APE and WV. My workaround was to set the icon for WV and forget about seeing APE other than with default Winamp file icon [thus APE looked exactly the same like for example M4A]

On current setup [10 / W 5.8] I have connection between WV and TTA; and a fake MP3 format that I created and called MP333 [I made a file with such extension and told Windows to open it always with Winamp]. I change icon for one of them and all 3 get changed


On both setups I looked in registry for other entries concerning Winamp and those files and tried to temper with them- I failed as I am not an registry expert and I saw some complicated entries there aside from multiple simple ones. I tried some pieces of software than handle changing of icons- but they all failed at this task. I tried using freeware by NirSoft called ShellExView and ShellMenuView- but all I got from them is that I was able to notice some differences in how these files are described in them, but could not change their various descriptions to match those like in e.g. FLAC

I do not know how but on Windows 7 it was better for me- I could set apart WV and TTA. But on Windows 10 they looked the same- which likeness totally disrupted my modus operandi

And so I went back to Winamp options. And I found out that under

Preferences > File Types > Recognized File Types

it says to use the Windows'

Settings > Apps > Default Apps

to handle them, as the files listed there are not eligible any more for selecting and deselecting and the list of them can be only scrolled. And of course the Windows'

Settings > Apps > Default Apps > Change default apps by file type

does not take care of this issue. It only allowed me to repair one of them; I have now WV with the icon I want and TTA reverted to the default Winamp icon. [But after that and some of the trials mentioned above, if I now uninstall Winamp and install it once again, the icons [long story short] get messed up even more- sometimes they all look the same. And by look I mean how they look in the freeware FreeCommander file manager and freeware Mp3tag tag manager- I forgot to check that in Windows Explorer]


And so I went back to Winamp, searching further for something that might work. And I found this:

Options > Preference > Jump To File> Extras > Winamp File Type Addition > Enable "Files Types" preferences page additions

It says that

"This allows for a custom icon for files and playlists to be made or using an icon library to change supported file icons"

Is this in regards to that default 1 icon for file and 1 icon for playlist that are chosen from sliders under the

Preferences > File Types > Recognized File Type

by any chance. Or is this in regards to what I am trying to do: to have many audio formats associated with Winamp but see some of them with individual icons, with the rest of them bearing the default Winamp icon? And why does Winamp has problem with APE, TTA and WV in the first place, even though there are on that list of files?

Or does anyone know of a tool that will take care of such changes? Or some other registry hacks?

[MrSinatra]

http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?t=453742

[Wineroz]

Originally Posted by MrSinatra

http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?t=453742

I went thought that thread


My problem is not with file association with Winamp bot with file icons of associated files with Winamp. I had no issues whatsoever with Windows Media Player taking control over audio files

What I have is default Winamp icon for some files that in registry have been explicitly told to use an icon from a stand alone file. Why does e.g. FLAC follow this registry entry why TTA does not?


I recently located two new registry entries

code:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Applications\winamp.exe\DefaultIcon]

@="C:\\ICONS\\file WV.ico,0"



[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\winamp.exe\DefaultIcon]

@="C:\\\\ICONS\\file WV.ico,0"

But removing them apparently changed nothing. Even the WV stayed the same, i.e. displaying the icon I choose for it and not reverting to using the default Winamp icon [which is used by for example MIDI and OGG]. And also this question arises: how did Winamp display that default icon if it was set to be my "file WV.ico" and how it is displaying now anything if those two entries are absent?

[Wineroz]

A new manifestation of this bug I have found


If using Mozilla Thunderbird 60.8.0 (32-bit) I will create a new message and attach a file in format
- FLAC
- M4A
- MP3
- TTA
- WAV
- WV
and without sending or saving a draft try to open them, for each of them I will get a pop up question, asking me which software to choose for playing. This is nothing new, as such association was required by Thunderbird in earlier versions also for other files [JPG, CDR etc.]. And what is important here, the icons in the Attachments box look the same as everywhere else. And so for:
- FLAC, MP3, WAV and WV I see what I want to see
- for TTA incorrectly I see the default Winamp audio file icon
- for M4A I correctly see the default Winamp audio file icon [as I did not tamper with it]

But if now I save that message, close Thunderbird and reopen it and go to draft of it, I will see that TTA has now icon of the MP3 while WV has no icon. And what is more I can play all of them [including TTA] but I am unable to play WV in Winamp anymore- because when clicked, the pop up windows says that I am trying to open nsmail.tmp file. And it is true in: when that file is dragged from Attachments window of the message to Winamp I get no sound and the info about file is like this:

code:
file:///C:/Users/YOUR-U~1/AppData/Local/Temp/nsmail.tmp

And what is most important here, in Thunderbird's Attachments box I can see that the WV file still has the .WV extension - but instead of mine it has there a plain white icon [the system default for unknown files]


That strange

code:
YOUR-U~1

is the reworked by Thunderbird name of the user in the actual path, which is reality has YOUR-USER-NAME [literally: that is the user under which I operate when trying to solve problems, so that I will not have to change my real user name to a text like "INSERT HERE YOUR USER NAME" when pasting a path on Internet - in order to protect my privacy]

Off course this is most likely solely the fault of Thunderbird- but this might be a vital clue. The WV format somehow gets downgraded to that old 8-sign-per-filename-DOS-rule. While TTA suddenly masks itself with the icon prepared for MP3 [while everywhere else it masks itself for a default Winamp file]

[Wineroz]

By using the freeware File TypesMan by NirSoft I was finally able* to set the icons that I want for the problematic WV and TTA- by simply choosing them it the Default Icon parameter for each of them with a proper path


But now if want to add to the equation also APE*, i.e. assign to it an individual icon, the TTA also gets that new. And when I try to revert it, I can setup an icon for TTA, which then also gets assigned to APE. Just the way it was on Windows 7. But at least File TypesMan somewhat admits to this problem existing because both TTA and APE have in that software such an info attached to them that reads:

"Notice - Changing the properties of this file type may affect the following extensions: .ape, .digi, .it, .mac, .mjf, .mmcmp, .mp+, .mpc, .mpp, .mptm, .pt36, .sap, .sfx2, .st26, .tta"

And as I checked [some of them], these formats really are affected in the same matter


So the question would be: why are these particular files connected with each other? Most of them if not everyone [MP+, MMCP, MAC, IT...] are on the list of files in Winamp; but so are MP3, FLAC and WAV- and yet those do not have the same problem and are also not pointed out to be intertwined in that "Notice" by the File TypesMan

And what is more important: how to break away a selected fileformat from that chain? Because...


* ...After restoring the system from an image [I always do it this way: check out changes and / or install new stuff, make sure how they work, restore system, implement positively tested adjustments to the system, save a new image of system] I was again able to set the TTA icon. But this time the APE also borrowed it from TTA, while before the restoration it did not. And I just do not know what I did back then to apparently partially exclude APE from that chain of icons listed in the "Notice"

[MrSinatra]

where, exactly, is the winamp bug?

afaict, this is unique to you.

[TheGuyinShades]

I had this problem in the past as well, the issue is Winamp doesn't create separate registry entries for all filetypes. It will associate numerous filetypes with the "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Winamp.File" key, rather than creating seperate "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Winamp.File.(EXT)" keys. Also, Winamp locks the "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.(EXT)\UserChoice" key, so you'll have to change the permissions on those keys manually, since it overrides the "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.(EXT)" key.

[TheGuyinShades]

I can walk you through how to fix it if you want.

[Wineroz]

Originally Posted by TheGuyinShades

I had this problem in the past as well, the issue is Winamp doesn't create separate registry entries for all filetypes. It will associate numerous filetypes with the "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Winamp.File" key, rather than creating seperate "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Winamp.File.(EXT)" keys. Also, Winamp locks the "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.(EXT)\UserChoice" key, so you'll have to change the permissions on those keys manually, since it overrides the "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.(EXT)" key.

That is correct: the culprit is the >>Winamp.File<< string

I figured out that yesterday by myself after dwelling into Registry, as I was cleaning up my shell menu in various ways. I simply compared malfunctioning APE with FLAC and spotted that correlation. And then tested it on APE and MPC. And also applied it to TTA. The result was always the same: the file format was released from that chain [even FileTypesMan no longer displays that info for them]

Originally Posted by TheGuyinShades

I can walk you through how to fix it if you want.

Thank you, but I already did it

But I would like to you to vet my solution. I wrote a REG; this version is for APE

code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00



; Winamp some of the file formats writes in the Registry as >>Winamp.File<< instead of >>Winamp.File.XYZ<< [where that XYZ means a particular file fomat].

; And so there are multiple entries all evoking the same settings- thus the problem of one icon appearing for different file formats.

; To break a file format from such chain these changes, at least 4* strings must be changed

;

;

;

; Assuming the there really is a file at

;

; C:\Program Files Expanded\ICONS\file APE.ico

;

; this REG file will fix the icon appearance for the file format of APE







; #1



[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.ape]

@="Winamp.File.APE"







; #2

;

; The additional >>NCH.Switchape<< string is preserved for the Switch Sound File Converter by NCH Software



[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.ape\OpenWithProgids]

"NCH.Switchape"=hex(0):

"Winamp.File"=hex(0):



[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.ape\OpenWithProgids]

"Winamp.File.APE"=hex(0):

"NCH.Switchape"=hex(0):







; #3

;

;



[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Winamp.File.APE\DefaultIcon]

@="C:\\ICONS\\file APE.ico,0"







; #4



[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.ape\UserChoice]

"ProgId"="Winamp.File"

"Hash"="ei8rl/wRiy0="



[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.ape\UserChoice]

"ProgId"="Winamp.File.APE"

";Hash"="ei8rl/wRiy0="







; #5...

;

; *Ferreting in Registry was ended at

;

; HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts

;

; So they might be also some other places below it, where such changes might be needed, if something goes wrong with that icon in the future.

; In order to find them a search for >>.XYZ<< must be performed [where that XYZ means a particular file fomat]







; Some more info:

; http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?t=454880

This of course has to be applied on top of [normally working for file types like FLAC]:

code:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Winamp.File.APE\DefaultIcon]

@="C:\\ICONS\\file APE.ico,0"

But a question arises: why would Winamp creators choose to chain together so many file formats together? Why FLAC and MP3 got their individual strings, while APE and TTA did not?

[TheGuyinShades]

Yeah, those are pretty much the steps I would have told you to follow, though I don't know if the Hash values under UserChoice actually do anything, though a few programs seem to create them.

Originally Posted by Wineroz

But a question arises: why would Winamp creators choose to chain together so many file formats together? Why FLAC and MP3 got their individual strings, while APE and TTA did not?

That's a good question, maybe those filetypes weren't common until after 2004 or so, when Winamp development seemed to have slowed down dramatically, and they just feel like making keys for new filetypes. Winamp also only creates one key for all playlist types, "Winamp.PlayList" rather than making separate keys for M3U, PLS and so on.

One word of warning, whenever you go into Winamp's Preferences menu and click on File Types it will reset all the extensions you made keys for back to "Winamp.File" unless you change the permissions on the UserChoice key to Set Value - Deny.

[TheGuyinShades]

One word of warning, if you go into Winamp's Preferences and click on File Types it will reset all the extensions you created keys for back to "Winamp.File" unless you set a Deny - Set Value permission on the UserChoice key.

[TheGuyinShades]

Sorry for posting that twice, my first reply wasn't showing up originally and I guess I can't delete the second one now. I guess it needed to be approved before showing up, but I don't know why Quick Replies just show up immediately and don't need to be approved.

[Wineroz]

Originally Posted by Wineroz

That is correct: the culprit is the >>Winamp.File<< string
[...]

code:


; #4



[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.ape\UserChoice]

"ProgId"="Winamp.File"

"Hash"="ei8rl/wRiy0="



[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.ape\UserChoice]

"ProgId"="Winamp.File.APE"

";Hash"="ei8rl/wRiy0="

[...]

And my registry hacks stopped working; kind of


I testes them again on the same machine with the same system but put a different [backup] drive- and they worked

So much later [i.e. today] I restored my system on the main drive. And I still can execute them, but apparently the point 4 is problematic. Because I am unable to access that location

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.ape\UserChoice

Here is what happens


After adding the file to the Registry there is a pop up saying "Not all data was successfully written to the registry. Some keys are open by the system or other process, or you have insufficient privileges to perform this operation". So by happenstance with the very first try I came up with such solution on my own

1] Open Registry

2] Navigate to that Key [i.e. the UserChoice "folder"

3] Right click and select

Permissions... > Security > Group or user names > RESTRICTED

4] Now go to to the windowed box below

Permissions... > Security > Permissions for RESTRICTED > Full Control > Allow

and check that box

5] Click Apply to expand the access


And this worked for the time being: the key of "UserChoice" from that path was unblocked for changes. So I applied them and finally saw the icon I have chosen for APE in my filemanager.


But:

A] I was not able to repeat that for TTA. Its UserChoice key stayed locked no matter how I tampered with access rights

B] APE after double left click was no longer opening in Winamp but some other software


So for problem "A" I associated APE with Winamp by the means of

Open with > Choose another app

and selected Winamp with the "Always use this app to open . ape files". The APEs were once again played in Winamp- but I lost my icon [as the acquired the default "Winamp.File" icon]


As for problem "B". I tried this solution https://www.windowstechinfo.com/2013...istry-not.html, but using

psexec -s -i -d regedit

command in the CMD for the software from that PSTools package. But Registry opened with that somehow shows only limited number of entries. The whole "UserChoice" key is absent in it, while the list of files is suddenly short [like a half of the height of my screen instead of the normal full heights multipled few times]. And if I go back to normal Registry and then all the entries are back. I tried adding my REG files when using this psexec tool and when using the normal Registry. I also tried "Run as administrator" option from the shell menu executed on shortcut to the [normal] Registry- but that place was still blocked

And then I tried to deal with "A" again. After some joggling / repeated executions I managed to once again see my chosen icon. But then again, the file was being opened not n Winamp. So I associated it with Winamp and lost the icon. And did that whole thing again. So I tried associating it with Media Player Classic. APEs were now opened in it but that key UserChoice was still blocked- so MPC managed to replace Winamp with itself in that blocked location of Registry, but did not unblock it for the User editing the Registry. Also associating APE with Winamp has no problem with that restricted access



How to I get rid of that blockade? And why, just why, are not all of the audio formats added to the Registry by the Winamp by default with individual names [thus avoiding that culprit "Winamp.File" generalization?] As my problems with tweaking of the Registry and lack of such problems by Winamp and Media Player Classic show- this must be changed by the developers! So that the users will not spent endless hours on trying to avoid some glitches made by Microsoft

[Wineroz]

Originally Posted by Wineroz

And my registry hacks stopped working; kind of
[...]
How to I get rid of that blockade?
[...]

Well, does anyone know how to unblock entries in Registry for editing?

[TheGuyinShades]

Originally Posted by Wineroz

Well, does anyone know how to unblock entries in Registry for editing?

You have to right click on the key and select permissions, then click on the Advanced button and delete the Deny permission entry.

[Wineroz]

Originally Posted by TheGuyinShades

You have to right click on the key and select permissions, then click on the Advanced button and delete the Deny permission entry.

That has worked, thank you

But it worked only in the sense that the blocked entry in Registry was now accessible to my REG file



And also after using my REG hack a loop of glitched "settings" was created:
the Registry was unblocked and I was able to change the icons to the desired ones >>> but at the same time a left double click opened those fileformats in another audio related software >>> associating files with Winamp was blocking them again in the Registry

I went through the entries the Registry deleting the invocations of that other software but somehow it did not help at al. It was only after adding this to the Registry

code:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Winamp.File.APE]

@="Free Lossless Audio Codec File"



[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Winamp.File.APE\shell]

@="Play"



[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Winamp.File.APE\shell\open]

@=""



[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Winamp.File.APE\shell\open\command]

@="\"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Winamp\\winamp.exe\" \"%1\""



[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Winamp.File.APE\shell\open\DropTarget]

"Clsid"="{46986115-84D6-459c-8F95-52DD653E532E}"



[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Winamp.File.APE\shell\Play]

@="&Play in Winamp"

"LegacyDisable"=""



[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Winamp.File.APE\shell\Play\command]

@="\"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Winamp\\winamp.exe\" \"%1\""



[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Winamp.File.APE\shell\Play\DropTarget]

"Clsid"="{46986115-84D6-459c-8F95-52DD653E532E}"

that the situation became normal: i.e. I have my icons and the files open themselves in the Winamp. I modeled those above entries from another Winamp associated audio fileformat for which I successively have changed its icon a long time ago



Although I fear that after once again restoring my operating system from an image and applying to it the now working solution, all of this will once gain somehow break itself. And I base this o the fact that I only had to do that for the APE format, leaving TTA as it was [aside from unblocking it in Registry]. And so I will come back and tell, if everything went well and sustained itself



And on the side note

Is this

code:
Clsid

thing some kind of ID that will be different on other operating system- like after installation of it from scratch? Or even it will be different on the same machine but with different installation of [in this case] Winamp- like after un-installation and then a re-installation of it? Thus I will have to adjust my REG files after changing computers?

[Wineroz]

Originally Posted by Wineroz

That has worked, thank you
[...]
I fear that after once again restoring my operating system from an image and applying to it the now working solution, all of this will once gain somehow break itself. [...] And so I will come back and tell, if everything went well and sustained itself

It seems to be working after restoration



But this still remains an unknown facet to me

Originally Posted by Wineroz

And on the side note

Is this

code:
Clsid

thing some kind of ID that will be different on other operating system- like after installation of it from scratch? Or even it will be different on the same machine but with different installation of [in this case] Winamp- like after un-installation and then a re-installation of it? Thus I will have to adjust my REG files after changing computers?

So, does anyone know an answer to theese questions

[Wineroz]

Originally Posted by Wineroz

[...]
it worked
[...]
the situation became normal
[...]

Unfortunately...

After installing up-to-date Windows 10 from scratch on w new machine I once again had huge and numerous problems with settings the icons right, a those REG hacks once more did not work in their entirety



Long story short: in the end I had to basically revert to usage of free FileTypesMan by NirSoft and do it on a file-by-file basis, double checking each time the results

[And all of that is because Winamp was poorly designed in terms of its Registry entries, with the NCH Switch Sound File Converter Plus being even more messier in this regard; and with newer versions of Switch being even worse - thus creating a fatalistic combo]



But at least I was able to find a new and easy way of breaking off of the file entanglements [which in theory can be used for all kinds of file formats / pieces of software]. The user has to just select a file of the problematic file format and tell it to always open with some other software, preferably the one that is not used by the user for anything [e.g. assign APE to Groove Music] - and then re-assign it back to Winamp. And that is it, as it should work even without a reset of the operating system. And that can be checked with the usage of F2 option within the aforementioned FileTypesMan. all that is left to do then is to set an icon for the now free file format

[Wineroz]

Originally Posted by Wineroz

Unfortunately...
[...]
[And all of that is because Winamp was poorly designed in terms of its Registry entries, with the NCH Switch Sound File Converter Plus being even more messier in this regard; and with newer versions of Switch being even worse - thus creating a fatalistic combo]



But at least I was able to find a new and easy way of breaking off of the file entanglements [which in theory can be used for all kinds of file formats / pieces of software].
[...]

But again: beware of NCH Switch Sound File Converter Plus

When re-installing later on this piece of software I ended up with such messed Registry that I had to uninstall Switch in order to be able to play files by double clicking. [And in the end had to restore the operating system from an image]

Switch creates huge mess in Registry. Others users reported this to NCH years ago on their forum - and apparently they only spread and multiplied the problem instead of fixing it

[Wineroz]

My findings about this issues continue in this thread:

http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?p=3220578