Cannot select GoldWave as the default program for mp3 files

[skyhigh]

I recently upgraded from GoldWave v5 to the new GoldWave v6. After the upgrade I found that both versions of GoldWave were installed on my computer and that when I clicked on an mp3 file it was still opening with GoldWave v5 as the default program associated with mp3 files.

Since I only wanted to use the new version of GoldWave I uninstalled GoldWave v5. After uninstalling GoldWave v5 I found that the default program associated with .mp3 files had reverted to Windows Media Player. I tried to change the default program for mp3 files back to GoldWave again but found that I cannot associate the mp3 file type with GoldWave any more. When I select "Open With" or pick the .mp3 file extension from the "Default Programs" list on Windows 7 it brings up a list of the programs associated with the .mp3 file extension. GoldWave is not in the list of programs. When I select "Browse" and then manually click on the program file at C:\Program Files\GoldWave\GoldWave.exe it fails to add GoldWave to the list of programs that can be selected. It doesn't matter how many times I have browsed and then clicked to select GoldWave.exe as the program I want to use, the GoldWave program does not show up in the list of associated file types, and I am unable to complete the "Open With" process with GoldWave selected as the program to use.

Somehow Windows 7 has gotten in a confused state with the GoldWave program. I suspect that it is remembering something about the GoldWave v5 program which is no longer installed and because of that it is failing to add the new association to the GoldWave v6 program. I have no clue how to resolve this issue and get GoldWave v6 setup as the default program for mp3 files. This is extremely frustrating to me as I use GoldWave a lot, and I want GoldWave to be the default program used to open .mp3 files.

[skyhigh]

I have two different computers and both computers were configured to use GoldWave v5 as the default program for opening mp3 files. I upgraded both computers to GoldWave v6 and on one of the computers (running Windows 7) I had the problem that I posted above where I could no longer associate GoldWave as the default program for mp3 files. On the other computer (running Windows 8.1) I was able to setup GoldWave v6 as the new default program for mp3 files.

I reviewed what I may have done differently during the upgrade process on these 2 computers and I believe that when I upgraded the Windows 7 computer and discovered that clicking on mp3 files was still opening the file using the older GoldWave v5 that I first attempted to use the "Open With" dialog to switch to use GoldWave v6 as the default program. That didn't seem to work properly (maybe because both programs had the same name). Next I uninstalled GoldWave v5 on that computer and then tried again to set GoldWave v6 as the default program for opening mp3 files, but was unable to do so.

On the second computer which is running Windows 8.1 I already knew that I would need to uninstall GoldWave v5 manually, so immediately after installing GoldWave v6 I uninstalled GoldWave v5 and then I used the "Open With" dialog to set GoldWave v6 as the default program for opening mp3 files. On the second computer this worked properly and that computer is now using GoldWave v6 as the default program to open mp3 files.

My Windows 7 computer is still unable to open mp3 files using GoldWave v6 as the default program. I installed GoldWave v6 a second time on this computer, but that didn't help and the problem with not being able to select GoldWave as the default program for files of type mp3 persists.

[GoldWave Inc.]

Windows gets confused when two different versions of GoldWave.exe are installed. Try restarting your computer to reset the associations. Drag-and-drop an MP3 file from Windows Explorer onto GoldWave. Also be sure to open an MP3 file in GoldWave. It should be possible to set it as the default program after that.

[khisel]

Having a similar issue. V5 was associated with mp3s and wavs on the "Open With" menu. After uninstalling 5 and installing 6, the open with menu doesn't include GW and the usual methods to add it (choose a program) doesn't work. For some reason I upgraded my Win 10 machine just fine, this is Win 7. I tried the suggestion to open an mp3 and still no joy.

I'd really like to run the newest version but I've had to go back to 5 because of this.

[GoldWave Inc.]

After you've opened a few MP3 files in GoldWave and/or dragged-and-dropped them from File Explorer, Windows should list GoldWave as a recommended program. If you right-click on a file, choose "Properties", then the "Change" button, then the "Browse" button, you should be able to set it manually. You may have to use Administrator mode to set it as the default.

[khisel]

Thanks for the quick reply, but sadly, it did not work. Happily I DID find a solution with lots of hunting. It seems Windows 7 was still "remembering" GoldWave.exe in the "Program Files (x86)" directory and refused to link to GoldWave.exe in the 64-bit "Program Files" directory.

I used OpenWithView from Nirsoft (I'm not allowed to post a helpful link) to disable the old association and then "Open With/Choose default program" started working as usual (you must tell it to use GW as the default once, then change it back to your player later.) GW is now in the list of programs that can open MP3s and WAVs (a second operation required for the latter association).

A more thorough explanation is on sevenforums.com. Just search for "cannot-add-program-open-menu" and go to page 3.

Thanks for a great program, it's fabulous. I don't know why an uninstall (I even tried Revo's deep-uninstall option) did not remove that file association to the 32-bit version but it appears I am not alone.

[skyhigh]

Thank you for posting the solution you found khisel. I had also tried the steps listed previously (rebooting windows, dragging an mp3 file to open it with GoldWave, opening an mp3 file using GoldWave) without success. When I downloaded the OpenWithView utility you mentioned in your post I found that it showed the GoldWave program was still linking to the old program location in the "Program Files (x86)" directory which was no longer there. After disabling the bad GoldWave association I was then able to use the open with dialog "browse" button to select the new GoldWave program from the "Programs File" directory and then GoldWave showed up in the open with "Other Programs" list. Unfortunately it still had the checkbox to "Always use the selected program to open this kind of file" greyed out, but I could pick GoldWave from the "Other Programs" list and use it to open the mp3 file. However I could not have it remember GoldWave as the default. I went back to the OpenWithView program and found that GoldWave was still showing as disabled, but that it now did show the correct program location for GoldWave in the "Program Files" directory. I reenabled GoldWave using the OpenWithView program and after that was able to go back to the open with dialog and check the box to remember GoldWave as the default. Things are working correctly again for me now and I am very happy to have GoldWave working as the default program to open mp3 files again.

[Darkside_1]

Hi,

Have you also tried going into the settings on GoldWave itself "Options ==> File Format Options ==> Windows Associations tab" and choosing mp3 to associate with Gold Wave?

I had the same problem with an earlier version before getting Ver 6.23 where I manually changed the path from Program Files (x86) to Program Files then setting the windows association in the Gold Wave program.

This was able to re-add Gold Wave to the right-click Open With window and still allow me to set the default properly.