Use Default Apps Registry Finder [DARF.vbs] to Fix App Registration Issues

Default Apps Registry Finder [DARF.vbs] is a script I wrote, which dumps the complete Default Apps registration information for a specified keyword/app name. This script is very useful in resolving application registration issues and removing orphaned entries from the Default Apps window.

Skip the intro & go directly to DARF.vbs download

Default Apps Registration/Unregistration Issues

Here’s a case where an app entry appears twice in Default Apps.

DARP - Default Apps Registry Finder - Duplicate entries in Default Apps

In this example, one of the Telegram entries is obsolete and pointing to an invalid file. The orphaned entry shows up in the Open With dialog with no icon or caption.

Default Apps Registry Finder - Obsolete entry in Open With dialog

Here are more examples showing deleted/uninstalled software appearing in the Open With dialog with the raw file path and no icon.

Default Apps Registry Finder - Obsolete entry in Open With dialog

Default Apps Registry Finder - Obsolete entry in Open With dialog

The above issues occur if the corresponding application folder has been uninstalled and its folder deleted, but the app registration registry keys remain.

Another situation is that you may have used a web browser in portable mode. The browser would have added its registry entries pointing to the existing path. After you move the app to a different drive, update the portable app, or the version number in the folder name changes, the old registration will be non-functional, and the latest version of the program may not update its registry paths automatically.

The Default Apps registration is stored in the following locations:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\RegisteredApplications

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\RegisteredApplications

However, the above keys also reference additional registry locations, such as the “Capabilities” key and the file class keys. DARF.vbs queries all the information for you and dumps them to a log file.

Note: This script does NOT modify any setting on your computer.



Use Default Apps Registry Finder (DARF.vbs)

The Default Apps Registry Finder (DARF.vbs) script comes to the rescue. It queries the Default Apps/Application Registration entries from the registry and dumps the information into a log file.

Editor’s note: The DARF.vbs script is similar to my FileExtInfo tool and Leo Davidson’s FileTypeDiag utility, but the script only queries the Default Apps registration entries. You can say that this script is a subset of FileTypeDiag.

How to Use DARF.vbs

Download and run DARF.vbs. Type in the application name. You may type the partial name of the app — e.g., To fetch Firefox entries, search for “firefox“. Likewise, typing “word” will fetch both WordPad and Microsoft Word entries.

DARF script - how to use - default apps registry finder

It dumps the registry information to a DARF.log file in your %temp% folder and opens the file.

A Sample DARF Log File

Here’s a sample log showing the output for the search query → “thunderbird

Default Apps Registry Finder Report
Generated by script DARF.vbs v1.0
Report generated on 9/23/2022 4:41:08 PM
© 2022 Ramesh Srinivasan, Winhelponline.com
https://www.winhelponline.com/blog/default-apps-registry-finder/
==========================================================================================


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Apps Registered Under HKEY_CURRENT_USER
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\RegisteredApplications
	Thunderbird Portable	REG_SZ	Software\Clients\Mail\Mozilla Thunderbird Portable\Capabilities

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Clients\Mail\Mozilla Thunderbird Portable
	(default)	REG_SZ	Mozilla Thunderbird Portable
	DefaultIcon	REG_SZ	D:\Software\ThunderbirdPortable\App\Thunderbird64\thunderbird.exe,0
	DLLPath	REG_SZ	D:\Software\ThunderbirdPortable\App\Thunderbird64\mozMapi32.dll

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Clients\Mail\Mozilla Thunderbird Portable\Capabilities
	ApplicationDescription	REG_SZ	Thunderbird is a full-featured email application. Thunderbird supports IMAP and POP mail protocols, as well as HTML mail formatting. Built-in junk mail controls, RSS capabilities, powerful quick search, spell check as you type, global inbox, and advanced message filtering round out Thunderbird's modern feature set.
	ApplicationIcon	REG_SZ	D:\Software\ThunderbirdPortable\App\Thunderbird64\thunderbird.exe,0
	ApplicationName	REG_SZ	Thunderbird Portable

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Clients\Mail\Mozilla Thunderbird Portable\Capabilities\FileAssociations
	.eml	REG_SZ	ThunderbirdEML2
	.wdseml	REG_SZ	ThunderbirdEML2

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Clients\Mail\Mozilla Thunderbird Portable\Capabilities\StartMenu
	Mail	REG_SZ	Mozilla Thunderbird Portable

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Clients\Mail\Mozilla Thunderbird Portable\Capabilities\URLAssociations
	mailto	REG_SZ	Thunderbird.Url.mailto2
	mid	REG_SZ	Thunderbird.Url.mid2

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Clients\Mail\Mozilla Thunderbird Portable\DefaultIcon
	(default)	REG_SZ	D:\Software\ThunderbirdPortable\App\Thunderbird64\thunderbird.exe,0

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Clients\Mail\Mozilla Thunderbird Portable\Protocols

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Clients\Mail\Mozilla Thunderbird Portable\Protocols\mailto
	(default)	REG_SZ	Thunderbird URL
	FriendlyTypeName	REG_SZ	Thunderbird URL
	URL Protocol	REG_SZ	
	Edit Flags	REG_DWORD	2

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Clients\Mail\Mozilla Thunderbird Portable\Protocols\mailto\DefaultIcon
	(default)	REG_SZ	D:\Software\ThunderbirdPortable\App\Thunderbird64\thunderbird.exe,0

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Clients\Mail\Mozilla Thunderbird Portable\Protocols\mailto\shell

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Clients\Mail\Mozilla Thunderbird Portable\Protocols\mailto\shell\open

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Clients\Mail\Mozilla Thunderbird Portable\Protocols\mailto\shell\open\command
	(default)	REG_SZ	D:\Software\ThunderbirdPortable\ThunderbirdPortable.exe -compose "%1"

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Clients\Mail\Mozilla Thunderbird Portable\Protocols\mid
	(default)	REG_SZ	Thunderbird URL
	FriendlyTypeName	REG_SZ	Thunderbird URL
	URL Protocol	REG_SZ	
	Edit Flags	REG_DWORD	2

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Clients\Mail\Mozilla Thunderbird Portable\Protocols\mid\DefaultIcon
	(default)	REG_SZ	D:\Software\ThunderbirdPortable\App\Thunderbird64\thunderbird.exe,0

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Clients\Mail\Mozilla Thunderbird Portable\Protocols\mid\shell

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Clients\Mail\Mozilla Thunderbird Portable\Protocols\mid\shell\open

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Clients\Mail\Mozilla Thunderbird Portable\Protocols\mid\shell\open\command
	(default)	REG_SZ	D:\Software\ThunderbirdPortable\ThunderbirdPortable.exe "%1"

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Clients\Mail\Mozilla Thunderbird Portable\shell

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Clients\Mail\Mozilla Thunderbird Portable\shell\open

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Clients\Mail\Mozilla Thunderbird Portable\shell\open\command
	(default)	REG_SZ	D:\Software\ThunderbirdPortable\ThunderbirdPortable.exe -mail

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Clients\Mail\Mozilla Thunderbird Portable\shell\properties
	(default)	REG_SZ	Thunderbird &Options

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Clients\Mail\Mozilla Thunderbird Portable\shell\properties\command
	(default)	REG_SZ	D:\Software\ThunderbirdPortable\ThunderbirdPortable.exe -options

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Clients\Mail\Mozilla Thunderbird Portable\shell\safemode
	(default)	REG_SZ	Thunderbird &Safe Mode

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Clients\Mail\Mozilla Thunderbird Portable\shell\safemode\command
	(default)	REG_SZ	D:\Software\ThunderbirdPortable\ThunderbirdPortable.exe -safe-mode

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Thunderbird.Url.mailto2
	(default)	REG_SZ	Thunderbird URL
	EditFlags	REG_DWORD	2
	FriendlyTypeName	REG_SZ	Thunderbird URL

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Thunderbird.Url.mailto2\Application
	ApplicationIcon	REG_SZ	D:\Software\ThunderbirdPortable\App\Thunderbird64\thunderbird.exe,0
	ApplicationName	REG_SZ	Thunderbird Portable

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Thunderbird.Url.mailto2\DefaultIcon
	(default)	REG_SZ	D:\Software\ThunderbirdPortable\App\Thunderbird64\thunderbird.exe,0

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Thunderbird.Url.mailto2\shell

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Thunderbird.Url.mailto2\shell\open

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Thunderbird.Url.mailto2\shell\open\command
	(default)	REG_SZ	D:\Software\ThunderbirdPortable\ThunderbirdPortable.exe -compose "%1"

[*Missing Registry Keys*]
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\ThunderbirdEML2
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Thunderbird.Url.mid2

[*Missing Files*]
D:\Software\ThunderbirdPortable\ThunderbirdPortable.exe

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Apps Registered Under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

	(No entries found for search query: THUNDERBIRD)

The dump shows the list of Default Apps registry entries added by Thunderbird. It also highlights missing registry keys and files. This report lets users know which registry entries need to be cleaned up manually if the official uninstaller doesn’t work.

Contents of DARF.vbs

This script is especially helpful if you use many portable apps and want to clean up the registry entries manually every now and then.


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Ramesh Srinivasan is passionate about Microsoft technologies and he has been a consecutive ten-time recipient of the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award in the Windows Shell/Desktop Experience category, from 2003 to 2012. He loves to troubleshoot and write about Windows. Ramesh founded Winhelponline.com in 2005.

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