The VideoLAN Forums

When I installed VLC Media Player 2.1.2 (64-bit) all audio files where forcedly associated with VLC. If I go to tools > preferences > interface > set up associations... all checkboxes are checked and greyed. I can't click any of them to deactivate the associations. I then tried using regedit to manually delete file associations from [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Clients\Media\VLC\Capabilities\FileAssociations] . But any changes there are recreated the next time VLC starts.

Please advice on how to make VLC stop hijacking my file associations. Why does VLC do this in the first place? The installer asked if I wanted to keep settings from my previous installation. Well, in my previous installation I had set up exactly the file associations that I wanted. It is bad behaviour of VideoLAN/VLC to ask the user for permission to keep the current settings and then go right ahead and force different settings!

Yes, this is an issue of the 64bits version of VLC. This is fixed in 2.1.3

this is EXACTLY why I did not want to risk an upgrade from 2.0.7 after your advice to do so in my other thread ( the one about keeping previous preferences; also = the one where you told me to " go away" after I complained that web site was hard to navigate. I also have 64 bit win 7 - probably your most common platform - yet apparently your least tested.

Perhaps one day you will implement some quality control over new releases and stop adding the same number of bugs as you fix, each time. As it stands, installing any newer release is a total lottery as to what it will break.

and, before you tell me to, I'm going now. bye and have a bug free xmas

Yes, this is an issue of the 64bits version of VLC. This is fixed in 2.1.3

Thank you. Can I ask what type of fix it will be. I mean, how will the fixed installer behave? Previously the installer has had a list with checkboxes for file associations. I think there was three categories ("audio, video, other" or something like that) that could be expanded to a list of individual file extensions. If that is coming back then I have a question: if I have VLC previously installed and want to do an upgrade, what happens if I uncheck all three file association categories? Will VLC then retain the VLC file associations I previously had? Or will it remove all previous file associations? I want a way to keep all previous file association without making any new ones. The problem with using the checkboxes in the installer is that I have around 10 audio file types, 3 playlist file types, and a couple of video file types that I want to keep associated with other programs. The rest I want to associate with VLC. That means that I have had to, for every upgrade, to go into that expanded list and manually find all of those file types and uncheck them.

Since my first comment was a bit angry and then cybmole added one that didn't overflow with joy I want to add this: VLC is great and you do a terrific job with it! It is the best video player out there. I hope all devs have a splendid holiday season!

I also have 64 bit win 7 - probably your most common platform - yet apparently your least tested.

It works fine on Windows 7 64bits. It fails on VLC 64bits, not VLC 32bits.
VLC 64bits has always been advertised as beta/experimental and the main page always redirects to VLC 32bits.

Perhaps one day you will implement some quality control over new releases and stop adding the same number of bugs as you fix, each time. As it stands, installing any newer release is a total lottery as to what it will break.

And you are still as aggressive as usual. Please document yourself and think before speaking, but as usual, you can't do that.
And you still refuse to understand what is a community... Maybe if YOU tested, bugs would be fixed...

Please go away.

Maybe if YOU tested, bugs would be fixed...

well politely and with all due respect, Mr head programmer sir, the way I was trained to produce software was:
1. code,
2. test,
3. release to end users

Not 1. code, 2 release, 3 test.

maybe it's taught differently in France

ready...fire...aim....

Maybe if YOU tested, bugs would be fixed...

well politely and with all due respect, Mr head programmer sir, the way I was trained to produce software was:
1. code,
2. test,
3. release to end users

Not 1. code, 2 release, 3 test.

maybe it's taught differently in France

ready...fire...aim....

And you are racist. Account banned.

Interesting forum.
I come here looking for the same answer, and you don't give one,
you just ban the poor bastard.

The "poor bastard" made a veiled death threat on a developer. That deserved an immediate ban. Period.

And if you don't like "release early, release often", don't use community open-source projects. You don't pay for the software, and hence there is no money to pay testers with, and hence there is not much testing.

Love my VLC player but encountered the same issue when upgrading to 2.1.5 (Win7, 32-bit). My .mp4 files have become associated with audio properties in the Details Pane at the bottom of the Windows folders. All other video files (avi, wmv etc) still correctly associate with video properties (size, frame rate etc), but .mp4's now display audio properties (album, artist etc). VLC Preferences for file associations are grayed out... I'm 'almost' happy to find other users experiencing the same thing on earlier versions. Any help or workaround? Thanks!

* RESOLVED by downgrading to earlier version (randomly chose 2.0.5) *

Problem still seems to exist 3 years later. No option to simply 'Keep previous associations'.