Unable to assign Acceleration Key for an Action
I have found what I consider to be a bug in Windows XP. It would affect almost no one, but still a bug. As an example, assume that Microsoft Word is already installed and a person installs the Microsoft Word Viewer also.
- Open Control Panel/Folder Options/File Types tab.
- Select a file extension. (Say .doc)
- Click Advanced and the Edit File Type dialog box opens.
- Select New button and the New Action dialog box opens.
- In the Action: text box, type &View (with the intent that the keyboard shortcut for this is Alt+V)
- In Application used to perform action:, type the path to wordview.exe
- Select OK to close the New Action dialog box.
- Select OK to close the Edit File Type Box.
- Select OK to close the Folder Options Box.
- In Windows Explorer, right click a .doc file. The context menu will show &View instead of View.
Does this happen to others?
–Paul
Workaround
Hi Paul, Yes! You’ve found a bug in the Windows XP File Types dialog. I can reproduce the problem exactly, but have a workaround for this issue.
When you type the name of the new Action (in Step 5 above), add a blank space after the action. For example, type “&View ” instead of “&View” (without quotes). Or, type a multi-word string (such as “Open with Word &Viewer“) in the Action text box. This circumvents the problem.
Another workaround is to edit the registry and set the file type description manually. This can be done by modifying the (default) value in the file type’s ProgID, which is located here:
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT<ProgID>shell&View]
Where <ProgID> is the actual ProgID for that file type. To better understand what ProgID is, have a look at the graphic below:

Here are some ProgID examples: txtfile, jpegfile, giffile, Wordpad.Document.1, xmlfile and so forth.
Bookmark this Page!
BlinkList | del.icio.us | Digg it | Furl | reddit | Spurl | StumbleUpon |
Related Posts
- Add a New File Type to the Search Index in Windows Vista
- Add the “Open With Notepad” Context Menu Option for All File Types
- Searching Multiple File Types in Windows Vista
- Change the Default Icon for Unknown File Types in Windows Vista
- How to Create New File Type Association in Windows Vista
- Default Programs Editor – A Useful File Association Editor for Windows 7 and Vista
- Edit the Information Displayed in the “Type” Column of Details View in Folders
- Display a Warning When Users Try to Modify .Lnk Association in Vista
- PreviewConfig Tool Registers File Types for the Preview Pane in Windows Vista
- How to Remove “Always Use the Selected Program” Option From Open With Dialog
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed! We feature Tips, Troubleshooting information, Scripts and Utilities for Microsoft Windows Operating Systems!
Prefer an E-mail subscription?

› 