Send to and Open with choices

I know there is a way to add applications to these options but I cannot find it.

Also -- what is the difference between the two

 

The Send To function is easily edited by going to (in XP) C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\SendTo and adding or deleting any shortcuts you would like to have displayed as options. Just create a shortcut to some destination and drag or copy/paste it into this folder. You can change the name of the shortcut to suit yourself since the function will stay the same if you don't change the extension or target.

The Open With function is a different game. There are two different areas so lets be sure we're on the same page.

One area is the one that appears as a dynamically created context menu when you choose "Open With" by right clicking some file. It contains the default program (if any) and some that you may have added.

The other is the list of Registered programs on your system that you get when you right click > select Open With > Browse.

So, you can edit the first list mentioned to a certain degree and remove any entries beyond the default one by:

Start > Run > regedit > and go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\
and find the file extension you want to edit.
Then open the "OpenWithList" folder and delete the entries you don't want to appear on the Right Click list.

Of course you wouldn't need to edit the second list normally.

 

This applies to Win98, in case any users of that OS are reading this.
Concerning Zephyr's option 2 for "Open With "--Don't know about WinXP, but in Win98 you usually have to hold down the Shift key at the same time you click on a file to get the "Open With..." option. (There is a Registry fix to avoid having to hold the Shift key, but it does not seem worth the fuss to me.) If you do not hold down the Shift key, you will only get "Open ".