"Open-with" opens twice the same file

[Luisftv]

Hello,

 

When I do a right-click (using a file manager) and use "Open-with" on any image, Paint.net opens the image file twice.

 

I already uninstalled Paint.net, then cleaned the registry from any remints on the hard drive.  I was thorough.  After that I downloaded the latest version as of today and installed it.  The issue still persists.

 

NOTE:  IF I first open Paint.net and go to File-Open then the image file opens only once.  No problem there.

 

This issue started happening after I installed this last update 4.3.10

 

Is there a setting or a fix so that the context menu option (when using a file manager) will only open the image file once?

 

Thanks.

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by Luisftv

[BDP]

Just tried Open With... on three separate *.pdn files, and it only opened one each time

 

Brian

 

[Pixey]

It's only opening one for me too, when I use 'open with' from a file on my computer.

 

Per your screen, you have two 'windows' opened.  Remember if you already have an image open in paint.net, then try to open another image that is a PDN, then paint will open it in a new window.

[Luisftv]

 

I think there is a confusion here.

 

I have only the Windows 10 desktop, absolutely no window of any sort is opened at all, not even Paint.net.  Then I go to Windows Explorer (file manager), navigate to the local folder (or network folder, it makes no difference) where I have jpg or png files, then I right-click on one (and only one) of the files and choose "Open with..." and then I choose Paint.net.  When the program opens, it opens the one file twice (what Pixey calls "two windows").

 

Please read carefully what I just said so you don't think I don't know what I'm doing or what is happening.  For example, Pixey just said that "Per your screen, you have two 'windows' opened. " which is correct but those two "windows" that are opened were opened by Paint.net out of it's own volition when using the "Open with..." in the file manger.  By the way, I think she meant "two files opened" or two instances opened of the same file.

 

Also, Pixey suggestion is to open another file while Paint.net is opened.  If you read my original post you will notice that I said that opening any file once Paint.net is open (using File, Open) is not a problem at all, it will only open the file once - no error there.  My post here is about opening a single file using the right-click/context menu when using a file manager (which means that Paint.net is not open yet).  Now, if Pixey meant to open another file with the right-click/context menu using a file manager while Paint.net is opened, then that also will open the single selected file twice regardless if I already have another file opened or not.

 

Again, I completely uninstalled Paint.net (I cleaned the windows registry from all entries from Paint.net, I ran other troubleshooting steps such as using chkdsk, futils, dism, and some registry cleaners) and then re-installed it and the problem persisted.  I did the same on another computer and the problem persisted.

 

I also ran six different antiviruses (Bitdefender, GData, Emsisoft, ESET, Malwarebytes, HitmanPro) on the computers and all was completely clean.

 

Oh, by the way, I have a clean install of Paint.net.  No plugins or anything else added, just as it is "out of the box".

 

I am thinking that perhaps there is a hidden setting in Paint.net or some Windows 10 registry tweak that need to be implemented/deleted/fix.

 

I am hoping that someone else has ran into this problem and found a solution they can share.  It is probably something simple, but I can't see it.

 

Thanks.

 

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by Luisftv

[midora]

I would check in the registry if the open command contains more than on "%1".

[Pixey]

I'm sorry you are so irritated with me trying to help you.  It is not easy to help people in their very first post.  Yes, this is what I meant by 2 windows being open:

 

It seems you have another problem and hopefully someone else can get to the bottom of it.

[Luisftv]

Pixey,

 

Thanks for your help.

 

I'm not irritated by your effort.  Not at all.  I apologize if I sound irritated.

 

I already checked the registry.  Remember that I mentioned that I had uninstalled completely the program and that I cleaned the registry from all Paint.net entries.  After installed, I went one by one checking the Paint.net registry entries and they are all as they should be.

 

Also, do notice that on the screenshot that I provided the two instances (or two windows) that have been opened is of the same file... opened twice by the program.

 

I hope someone can shine some light on this issue.

 

 

[Pixey]

50 minutes ago, Luisftv said:

Thanks for your help.

 

You are most welcome.  I know how frustrating these hiccups can be.

 

Another thing, are File Explorer and File Manager not two different programs?  I have File Explorer and not File Manager.

This may a case of semantics, but it may help to know.

Sorry, I'm not very computer savvy when it comes to those things 😊 but @toe_head2001 is and perhaps he'll login soon to help.

[toe_head2001]

Let's try to narrow down the issue.

 

If you open an image via the paintdotnet protocol, does it still load twice?

 

 

[Luisftv]

 

toe_head2001, opening the image file using the "Run" option opens the file only once.  No problem there.

 

Pixey, "File Manager" is the technical and universal name given to all programs in all operating systems which are designed to help you handle all your files (copy, move, delete, rename, find, open, etc).  In the Mac OX the built-in file manager is called "FINDER" and in Windows it is called "File Explorer". In Linux the file manager is called by different names depending on the distro (version of Linux), for example: Dolphin, Krusader, Nemo, Thunar, Caja, Konqueror, PcManFM, XFE, etc.  By the way, for Windows there are far more advanced file managers than File Explorer, such as:  DirectoryOpus, SpeedCommander, Total Commander, Free Commander XE, etc. Don't worry, I understand that not everyone knows these terms.  Don't worry.  I've been around computers since the day they came out to the market, and I am also a computer programmer.  Maybe I'm a computer nerd after all.

 

The strange thing is that this is only happening with this particular program, Paint.net.  I have several other photo editing programs and they all behave normally.

 

I am researching (trying to find) a "Context Menu" editor app that can actually open ALL the setting for the right-click that Windows has.  As you know, there are two main advance places where all Windows settings can be found:  GPEDIT.MSC and the Windows REGISTRY.  I am well verse with both, but I don't want to spend countless hours looking through them and testing each setting.  A dedicated app should be able to pull ALL the right-click/context menu settings and help me view or edit the entries for a particular program.  However, all the apps that I have found are limited and the only ones that come closed are made by NirSoft but still can't find the solution.

 

If I find the answer I'll post it here.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

 

Edited April 13, 2022 by Luisftv

[Pixey]

Wow.  You do really know the computer stuff 👍

 

But all I can suggest is, after Googling  (as one does) 🧐  this problem of Windows Explorer opening two files, instead of one,  I found this and their suggestion:

But, you probably would know this anyway.  I'm just giving my 2 cents worth.

 

 

This issue might occur if some system files is corrupt.

 

I suggest you to perform a System File Checker of the Computer and check if it helps.

System File Checker is a utility in Windows that allows users to scan for corruptions in Windows system files and restore corrupted files.

1. Right click on Start Menu.

2. Click on Command Prompt (Admin).

3. Then type ”sfc /scannow” without the quotes and hit on Enter Key.

[Luisftv]

Hi Pixey,

 

Yes, I had already tried that.  As a matter of fact, I had tried more than that:

 

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
sfc /scannow

fsutil dirty set c (add a colon after C - this forum makes it into a happy face if I put the colon)

Plus some advanced utilities to fix the Windows Registry.

etc., etc.

 

I have several other file managers installed in the computer. I decided to uninstall them all.  After that, the File Explorer right-click worked as it is supposed to.  So, I re-installed one by one the other file managers and the only one now that does not work properly is Directory Opus.  I cannot, for right now, figure out how to fix that one (the context menu Paint.net issue that is).

 

In the end, I just got tired of troubleshooting and decided to implement another way around the problem.

 

What I want is to be able to right-click on an image (anywhere in the hard drive or any storage device) and then be able to select Paint.net to open that file. So, since "Open with... Paint.net" is not working properly with Directory Opus (but it does work now with all the other file managers), why not make a new Context Menu entry all together? One that would work globally with any file manager.

 

These are the steps.

 

Step 1 - CRUCIAL
Find the Paint.net installation folder path. In my case is: C:\Program Files\paint.net

 

Step 2
Open "Notepad" or another text editor and paste the following:

 

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Open with Paint.net]
"Icon"="C:\\Program Files\\paint.net\\paintdotnet.exe"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Open with Paint.net\Command]
@="C:\\Program Files\\paint.net\\paintdotnet.exe \"%1\""

Step 3
Save the file with any name you want to your desktop or any folder. For example, file name: "Paintdotnet fix reg code" and Notepad will make this into a .txt file.

 

Step 4
Using a file manager, change the file extension of the file from ".txt" to ".reg" and the new file name should read: "Paintdotnet fix reg code.reg"

 

Step 5
Double click on the registry file to import the contents into the registry.

 

Step 6
Using Dopus (Directory Opus) or any other file manager, go to an image file and right click on it, then you will find "Open with Paint.net" right there (somewhere in the Context Menu - for me it shows towards the bottom) and no need to go into "Open with..." anymore.

 

Now Paint.net opens the file only once!!!

 

If you installed Paint.NET to a different directory/path, then simply modify the code above to reflect that. For example, say you installed it to this Path: C:\Programs\PaintDotNet Then the registry file will be:

 

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Open with Paint.net]
"Icon"="C:\\Programs\\paintdotnet\\paintdotnet.exe"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Open with Paint.net\Command]
@="C:\\Programs\\paintdotnet\\paintdotnet.exe \"%1\""

IMPORTANT: Notice that in the Windows Registry, folders use TWO back slashes \\ for the path.

 

This solutions saves me a second not having to go an extra step anymore (into "Open with...").

 

I almost forgot to mention that this registry fix (above) will only work with a Windows Administrator account.

 

For a "User" account, this should work (this one I have not tested though):

 

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\directory\shell\Open with Paint.net]
"Icon"="C:\\Program Files\\paint.net\\paintdotnet.exe"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\directory\shell\Open with Paint.net\Command]
@="C:\\Program Files\\paint.net\\paintdotnet.exe \"%1\""

Don't forget to make sure the install path is correct, or modify it if you need to.

 

 

Edited April 14, 2022 by Luisftv

[Pixey]

OMGoodness gracious me 😁 what a hoop to jump through to get it working. 

 

At least now, if anyone else has this trouble, we can direct them to your post

[Love Paint.NET]

Well, that told me!!!  

 

I have read through every one of these suggestions, and I have to admit I find myself slightly more confused than I was when I asked the question in the first place!  I am not exactly new to computers, but I am, by no stretch of the imagination, a "techie".  I started by using an Amiga, forty years ago.  I taught myself, with some help from other Amigans, and produced some excellent work.  I never wanted to stop using the Amiga, but due to lack of support and development, I found it necessary to buy a dreaded "droid" and expose myself to the mysteries and intricacies of the Microsoft system.  However, I will never enjoy using it, as I enjoyed using the Amiga. 

 

That said, we are where we are, and I now own a Windows 7 laptop, a Windows 10 laptop, and a Windows 10 tablet.  I have Directory Opus installed on all of them - it is the one program I would not be without.  Therefore, I was amazed to read in one of the replies, that of all of the "file sorting" programs tried, Opus was the only one that persisted in loading two copies of graphics into Paint.NET.  Version 4.3.10 is the first version of Paint.NET this has happened with, and therefore I would be inclined to say the "fault" lies with Paint.NET, rather than Opus.

 

I want to solve this problem, so I propose taking two courses of action.  I will send copies of the replies to Greg Perry at Directory Opus (suitably "anonymised" of course), and ask him if he can suggest any other solution.  Secondly, I will seek the help of a computer "expert" friend of mine as to the possibility of changing anything within the file loading system.

 

I will close this epistle by thanking everyone for their help, and I will report back on my hoped for success - or abject failure, as the case may be!!!

Kathy

[Rick Brewster]

If this is only happening with Directory Opus, then it's pretty much guaranteed there's something wrong with the way Directory Opus is doing things. 

[Love Paint.NET]

I doubt that very much.  I have used Paint.NET for some years, and never had any problems loading pictures (via Opus) until I downloaded the latest version of Paint.NET. 

 

I now have an answer to the problem from Leo, a developer of Opus, which he has given me permission to share on this site, as below:-
 

LeoDirectory Opus developer

34m

If you install 12.27.1 beta 3 (or later), it fixes the issue.

 

 

Kathy Opus 12 Pro

6m

Many thanks Leo. Just done that and it works.

Trust Opus to have an answer for every problem!

 

If you don't already have Opus, please download version 12, and then download the beta version Leo recommends.  It works.  Opus triumphs again.

 

Kathy

[Rick Brewster]

Yup, sounds like a latent bug in Directory Opus got fixed. Not uncommon in the software world ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Glad it's working now.

 

[Love Paint.NET]

Opus is still the best program ever for ANY computer platform.

[Rick Brewster]

I don't use it myself, but all I hear from people who do is that they love it