HOW TO CHANGE FILE EXTENSION?

How to change file extension for VLC?

You can do it with the help of the VLC settings interface. Go to Tools -> Preferences, and then press “Set up Associations..." button. Select the file extension that you need to play with free avi player and “apply” the changes. All the media files icons will be changed into the VLC icon. Just double-click and the player will open immediately and will start to play.

If with double-clicking the playing didn’t start, or if this seems to have no effect on the UI, check whether you have correctly chosen Windows preferences. Go to Start -> Default Programs. (on Vista; see the relevant item on Windows XP or newer Windows OS; possibly this is not applicable to Windows 2000) Then click "Set default programs", select the "VLC media player" item and check the description (You will see - "All default settings for this program are active"). Select your own line of action by either choosing "Set this program as default" or "Choose default settings for this program".

You can achieve the same with the following directions (not recommended):

• Right-click in the Windows Explorer a file you want to open.
• Open the file in the context menu that pops up – click “Open with”.
• Click "VLC media player" to use VLC just this once, or click "Default program..."
• Choose the name of the program, with the help of which you want to open the file (VLC).
• If VLC is not displayed, click Browse to locate it on your hard drive.

OR:

• Right-click in the Windows Explorer a file you want to open
• In the context menu that pops up press “Properties”.
• Click “Change” in the General tab.
• Choose the name of the program, with the help of which you want to open the file (VLC).
• All the files with the same extension will be opened with the program that you choose. For instance: you change the program that opens the file movie1.avi -> all the files with extension .avi will be opened with that program.

Rerun the installer

Reinstall VLC and go to "associate files" option when it pops up. Warning - on Vista and newer OSes this will not cure the "Windows Media Player won't go away" symptom, and you should click "Set default program" route instead, as it was mentioned above.

Edit the registry

Warning: These instructions are outdated and should not be used. Avoid direct registry editing, unless you REALLY know what you are doing.

Warning: If you REALLY know what you are doing, use this course of actions.and do not forget to back up you registry.

• Open text editor (Preferably Notepad)
• Copy this text below
• Modify the strings C:Program FilesVideoLANVLCvlc.exe to match your VLC installation
• Save as vlc.reg
• Apply vlc.reg (adding this data to your registry).
• Have fun with VLC.