I did a bonehead thing when I was troubleshooting a problem recently, w/my
new Canon SD550 camera connecting to the Canon software in Windows. When I
first connected the camera, I got the usual dialog box of all the various
programs on my machine that could connect to the camera and download pictures
(Adobe Photoshop Elements, ACDSee, the Canon CameraWindow, etc.).

The bonehead part comes in when I checked the "Always perform this action"
w/the "Canon CameraWindow" selected. Now when I connect the camera, the Canon
CameraWindow always starts, never giving me a choice of which program I
actually want to use. D'oh! Yes, I know it's doing exactly what it's supposed
to do. Problem is, I want the dialog box of choices back, and I don't know
how to get it.

W/a simple file association, I know you can go into My Computer>Tools>Folder
Options>File Types tab, and scroll down until you find the file type you want
to change the association to. Trouble is, the camera is of course a hardware
device, and I have no idea where to look for the magic place to undo what I
did. It is *not* in the File Types list.

I've hunted thru the Registry, scoured the KB, and have simply run out of
ideas. Can anyone tell me how to undo a device association to a particular
program?

"HLMencken" <HLMencken@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:7BDB5B5F-C2DA-40EC-A13B-7A9D3F710767@microsoft.com...
> I did a bonehead thing when I was troubleshooting a problem recently, w/my
> new Canon SD550 camera connecting to the Canon software in Windows. When I
> first connected the camera, I got the usual dialog box of all the various
> programs on my machine that could connect to the camera and download
pictures
> (Adobe Photoshop Elements, ACDSee, the Canon CameraWindow, etc.).
>
> The bonehead part comes in when I checked the "Always perform this action"
> w/the "Canon CameraWindow" selected. Now when I connect the camera, the
Canon
> CameraWindow always starts, never giving me a choice of which program I
> actually want to use. D'oh! Yes, I know it's doing exactly what it's
supposed
> to do. Problem is, I want the dialog box of choices back, and I don't know
> how to get it.
>
> W/a simple file association, I know you can go into My
Computer>Tools>Folder
> Options>File Types tab, and scroll down until you find the file type you
want
> to change the association to. Trouble is, the camera is of course a
hardware
> device, and I have no idea where to look for the magic place to undo what
I
> did. It is *not* in the File Types list.
>
> I've hunted thru the Registry, scoured the KB, and have simply run out of
> ideas. Can anyone tell me how to undo a device association to a particular
> program?

associate.exe from the Windows Resource kit has a switch do
undo associations:

Registers or Unregisters a file extension operating system shell.
ASSOCIATE .ext filename [/q /d /f]
.ext Extension to be associated.
filename Execuatble program to associate .ext with.
/q Quiet - Suppresses all interactive prompts.
/d Delete - Deletes the association if it exists.
/f Force - Forces overwrite or delete without questions.
Examples:
Associate .Lst NotePad.Exe
Adds the association of .Lst with Notepad.Exe.
Associate .Lst /d
Deletes the association of .Lst from Notepad.Exe.
Associate .Lst
Returns the association for .Lst if it exists.
Return Value:
A return value of zero indicates success.