Select multiple images and not print them

[Enjay]

So, I'm used to selecting a bunch of files, hitting enter and having them open in the associated program - specifically, I'm interested in images. e.g. select a bunch of PNG textures, hit enter and they all open in Paint Shop Pro.

However, in Windows 10, this has changed a bit:

If I select up to 15 pictures, everything happens as described.
If I select 16 or more pictures, Windows opens a "Print Pictures" dialogue instead.

I don't want to print them, thank you very much, I want to open them because I'm working on a whole bunch of textures, sprites, whatever.

Is there any way to change this behaviour? I've tried googling but every search term I have entered has ended up with loads of matches on how to select multiple files or how to print multiple files but not how to stop Windows trying to print multiple files when I want to open them instead.

I can't even select and then right click because the Open context menu option gets replaced with Print when >16 files are selected.

[wildweasel]

Is there not an Open With option either?

[Mikk-]

Nope. I have the same problem as Enjay. I dunno why windows 10 did this but it sure is dumb

[wildweasel]

Well, the alternative I can think of is to open your program of choice ahead of time, then drag the selected images into its window. This might only work with some programs, though, as stuff like IrfanView might not take well to opening a bunch at once.

[edward850]

Nope. I have the same problem as Enjay. I dunno why windows 10 did this but it sure is dumb

It's not Windows 10.

[Mikk-]

is that > 15 images? Cause that sure looks like 3

[edward850]

I tried with 100 and it still showed me open.

[kodi]

Are all 15+ of the same file format?

[Mikk-]

I've noticed you can open many files if they're different types - I just went to my unsorted folder (355 items) and I could open them in the context menu. However - if they're the same type like my /screenshots directory (130 images in .png) then you'll get the print option and no open option.

[edward850]

I tried with 56 PNGs and again 100+ JPGs (so all of the same type each time) and no matter what, I get the option to open. It almost seems to me like you've uninstalled something you shouldn't have.

[InsanityBringer]

Can confirm here:



About the only thing I can think of that's different with my w10 setup is that I don't use the default picture viewer because I hated it so much. I instead have most picture formats associated to open in Irfanview. Enjay mentioned he has things automatically open in Paint Shop Pro, so maybe its a problem caused by file associations? hmm

[Rachael]

It sounds to me like it's an issue with Irfanview.

I wonder if it's because of the way Irfanview takes a command-line, or if it's because it is 32-bit, or something else like that.

[InsanityBringer]

I really doubt its a problem with the specific programs. Unsurprisingly, if I reset the association to the default photo viewer, Open comes back, but every other tool I have on my machine (Krita, oaint.net) has the same exact effect as irfanview, and Enjay is using Paint Shop Pro. I guess I could try the 64-bit version of irfanview (I think the only reason I used the 32 bit one was some plugin compatibility problem, but I don't think its actually a problem and I was just misreading stuff)

[NeuralStunner]

It's by design!

There used to be a "this might slow down your computer" warning when trying to open a lot of files at once. Then they decided that all Windows users are drooling imbeciles and replaced that warning with the inability to even do so... Apparently this goes as far back as (gasp) Windows Vista.

If you feel OK with a small registry hack you can make it knock off that crap.

[Rachael]

For those who are super lazy like I am - Converted registry hack into quick-n-easy .bat file:

Code: Select all

@echo off
REG ADD "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer" /v "MultipleInvokePromptMinimum" /t REG_DWORD /d 16