Special File Type Keys
There are a few special file type keys in the Registry, each of which work like
standard file types, despite having much greater scope. They are:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*
The asterisk (*) Registry key, conveniently placed at the top of the
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT tree in the Registry Editor, defines actions and extensions
for all files. If there??™s a context menu item you??™d like to eliminate,
odds are it??™s in the Shell or ShellEx subkeys of the * key.
By adding a new action key to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\Shell, you can add
a context menu item for all the files on your PC. For instance, you could
add a key named OpenInNotepad, type Open in Notepad into the key??™s
(Default) value, and then add a command key that points to notepad.exe,
as described later in this section. When you??™re done, right-click any file
and select Open in Notepad to view the file in a new Notepad window.
See ???Customize Context Menus for Files,??? later in this chapter, for
details.
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Unknown
This key is used to define the behavior of all files with unregistered file
extensions. By default, there??™s only one file type here, openas, which is
responsible for the dialog window in Figure 3-11. You can, of course,
add new actions or even change the default action here. For example,
you may work with a bunch of different types of documents Windows
doesn??™t recognize, and wish to open them all in your favorite text editor
without having to register them all first.
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