Unable to replace Photos app with Photo Viewer as default (10240).

StorminSA said:

Nothing I do will allow me to set Photo Viewer as default or even uncheck .jpg for example as a file type with Photos as default app. Any suggestions would be appreciated!!

This tutorial may help.
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/...dows-10-a.html

2 Years on and still working a treat.

Thanks :)

nexus said:

The problem with PhotoViewer opening with a print dialog instead of the image viewer was due to an incomplete registry key (missing "open" subkey). Executing the following .REG file solves this problem. No reboot needed.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\photoviewer.dll]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\photoviewer.dll\shell]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\photoviewer.dll\shell\open]
"MuiVerb"="@photoviewer.dll,-3043"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\photoviewer.dll\shell\open\command]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,72,00,75,00,\
6e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,20,00,22,00,25,\
00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,\
25,00,5c,00,57,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,6f,00,77,00,73,00,20,00,50,00,68,00,6f,\
00,74,00,6f,00,20,00,56,00,69,00,65,00,77,00,65,00,72,00,5c,00,50,00,68,00,\
6f,00,74,00,6f,00,56,00,69,00,65,00,77,00,65,00,72,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,\
00,22,00,2c,00,20,00,49,00,6d,00,61,00,67,00,65,00,56,00,69,00,65,00,77,00,\
5f,00,46,00,75,00,6c,00,6c,00,73,00,63,00,72,00,65,00,65,00,6e,00,20,00,25,\
00,31,00,00,00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\photoviewer.dll\shell\open\DropTarget]
"Clsid"="{FFE2A43C-56B9-4bf5-9A79-CC6D4285608A}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\photoviewer.dll\shell\print]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\photoviewer.dll\shell\print\command]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,72,00,75,00,\
6e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,20,00,22,00,25,\
00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,\
25,00,5c,00,57,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,6f,00,77,00,73,00,20,00,50,00,68,00,6f,\
00,74,00,6f,00,20,00,56,00,69,00,65,00,77,00,65,00,72,00,5c,00,50,00,68,00,\
6f,00,74,00,6f,00,56,00,69,00,65,00,77,00,65,00,72,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,\
00,22,00,2c,00,20,00,49,00,6d,00,61,00,67,00,65,00,56,00,69,00,65,00,77,00,\
5f,00,46,00,75,00,6c,00,6c,00,73,00,63,00,72,00,65,00,65,00,6e,00,20,00,25,\
00,31,00,00,00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\photoviewer.dll\shell\print\DropTarget]
"Clsid"="{60fd46de-f830-4894-a628-6fa81bc0190d}"

IownAmoneyPit said:

This works like charm nexus.

Here is a zip file of .reg key for those that don't know how to make the registry key, Simply save the file to your desktop then extract the zip file & follow the prompts to add it to the registry.

Attachment 25166 (Credit nexus)

May 2018 and the zip still works like a charm! Many thanks!

nexus said:

The problem with PhotoViewer opening with a print dialog instead of the image viewer was due to an incomplete registry key (missing "open" subkey). Executing the following .REG file solves this problem. No reboot needed.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\photoviewer.dll]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\photoviewer.dll\shell]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\photoviewer.dll\shell\open]
"MuiVerb"="@photoviewer.dll,-3043"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\photoviewer.dll\shell\open\command]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,72,00,75,00,\
6e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,20,00,22,00,25,\
00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,\
25,00,5c,00,57,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,6f,00,77,00,73,00,20,00,50,00,68,00,6f,\
00,74,00,6f,00,20,00,56,00,69,00,65,00,77,00,65,00,72,00,5c,00,50,00,68,00,\
6f,00,74,00,6f,00,56,00,69,00,65,00,77,00,65,00,72,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,\
00,22,00,2c,00,20,00,49,00,6d,00,61,00,67,00,65,00,56,00,69,00,65,00,77,00,\
5f,00,46,00,75,00,6c,00,6c,00,73,00,63,00,72,00,65,00,65,00,6e,00,20,00,25,\
00,31,00,00,00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\photoviewer.dll\shell\open\DropTarget]
"Clsid"="{FFE2A43C-56B9-4bf5-9A79-CC6D4285608A}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\photoviewer.dll\shell\print]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\photoviewer.dll\shell\print\command]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,72,00,75,00,\
6e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,20,00,22,00,25,\
00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,\
25,00,5c,00,57,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,6f,00,77,00,73,00,20,00,50,00,68,00,6f,\
00,74,00,6f,00,20,00,56,00,69,00,65,00,77,00,65,00,72,00,5c,00,50,00,68,00,\
6f,00,74,00,6f,00,56,00,69,00,65,00,77,00,65,00,72,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,\
00,22,00,2c,00,20,00,49,00,6d,00,61,00,67,00,65,00,56,00,69,00,65,00,77,00,\
5f,00,46,00,75,00,6c,00,6c,00,73,00,63,00,72,00,65,00,65,00,6e,00,20,00,25,\
00,31,00,00,00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\photoviewer.dll\shell\print\DropTarget]
"Clsid"="{60fd46de-f830-4894-a628-6fa81bc0190d}"

3.25 years and still works!
Let's hope MS never sees this or they'll find a way to further force feed the frigin Photos app =
--------------
I also found the following code at How to Make Windows Photo Viewer Your Default Image Viewer on Windows 10 and am posting for edification (note, no deactivate.reg, yet):

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers]
"C:\\Windows\\System32\\rundll32.exe"="VISTARTM"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers]
"C:\\Windows\\System32\\rundll32.exe"="VISTARTM"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.BMP]
@="BMPImage.Document"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\BMPImage.Document\DefaultIcon]
@="%SystemRoot%\\System32\\imageres.dll,-70"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\BMPImage.Document\shell\open\command]
@="C:\\Windows\\System32\\rundll32.exe C:\\Windows\\shimgvw.dll,ImageView_Fullscreen %1"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.GIF]
@="GIFImage.Document"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\GIFImage.Document\DefaultIcon]
@="%SystemRoot%\\System32\\imageres.dll,-71"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\GIFImage.Document\shell\open\command]
@="C:\\Windows\\System32\\rundll32.exe C:\\Windows\\shimgvw.dll,ImageView_Fullscreen %1"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.JPG]
@="JPGImage.Document"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\JPGImage.Document\DefaultIcon]
@="%SystemRoot%\\System32\\imageres.dll,-72"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\JPGImage.Document\shell\open\command]
@="C:\\Windows\\System32\\rundll32.exe C:\\Windows\\shimgvw.dll,ImageView_Fullscreen %1"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.PNG]
@="PNGImage.Document"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\PNGImage.Document\DefaultIcon]
@="%SystemRoot%\\System32\\imageres.dll,-83"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\PNGImage.Document\shell\open\command]
@="C:\\Windows\\System32\\rundll32.exe C:\\Windows\\shimgvw.dll,ImageView_Fullscreen %1"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.TIF]
@="TIFImage.Document"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TIFImage.Document\DefaultIcon]
@="%SystemRoot%\\System32\\imageres.dll,-70"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TIFImage.Document\shell\open\command]
@="C:\\Windows\\System32\\rundll32.exe C:\\Windows\\shimgvw.dll,ImageView_Fullscreen %1"

IownAmoneyPit said:

This works like charm nexus.

Here is a zip file of .reg key for those that don't know how to make the registry key, Simply save the file to your desktop then extract the zip file & follow the prompts to add it to the registry.

Attachment 25166 (Credit nexus)

Yup, it's 14th February and still works! Kudos to Nexus for offering us this registry fix! I work a lot with Windows Photo Viewer and no other program can do what that little utility does! And maybe there are other programs which do the exact thing, but WPV does it best and comes with Windows pre-installed.

For those wondering and looking for a fix, go ahead and download the cool registry editor which IownAmoneyPit archived and which Nexus wrote because it's still working, even in February 2019. Let's hope MS will never patch this because WPV is a great picture tool and they did a very dumb thing to change it into Photos app. I hate Photos app, it's not helping me at all and I will disable it if possible :)

NTeodor said:

... I hate Photos app, it's not helping me at all and I will disable it if possible :)

You know, you can uninstall it using powershell and the command:
get-appxpackage *photos* | remove-appxpackage

However, I am not sure how to install the app alone again. A Google search for how to uninstall pre-installed windows 10 apps will give you loads of guides on how to uninstall one by one, and most include a line to install them all again (though as a bulk, not single)

A fine discovery for me as I found out WPV were not "available", and I had uninstalled the app, making any photo open in paint.... Google FTW!

This is only one that worked for me
Restore Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 10

Thanks! This script works like a dream on individual machines, but how would I go about deploying it to all the PC's in my domain via group policy?

Oh heck YES!

I have missed Photo Viewer so much. This is absolutely excellent and literally takes like 30 seconds. I would recommend that you export your registry first, and make a backup prior to doing the merge, just in case.

But this seemed to have worked flawlessly.

Thank you so much. We are blessed to have brainiacs out there who are willing to share their knowledge with mere mortals such as we.

Dr. Greg