Powershell script making swf extension open with internet explorer - powershell

Question

I am trying to figure out how to write a powershell script that will set all .swf extensions to open up on Internet Explorer. I was trying to do this with a command prompt similar to the example below. Unfornately my boss is requiring this to be done through powershell. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated since I have a txt file that will loop through about 400 computers and need to make these changes on.
CMD Way
C:\>ASSOC .swf
.swf=ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash
C:\>FTYPE ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash
ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash="C:\bin\FlashPlayer.exe" %1
What I am Trying:
Function Get-FileName{
[CmdletBinding()]
Param(
[String]$Filter = "|*.*",
[String]$InitialDirectory = "C:\")
[void][System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.windows.forms")
$OpenFileDialog = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.OpenFileDialog
$OpenFileDialog.initialDirectory = $InitialDirectory
$OpenFileDialog.filter = $Filter
[void]$OpenFileDialog.ShowDialog()
$OpenFileDialog.filename
}
$file = Get-FileName -InitialDirectory $env:USERPROFILE\Desktop -Filter "Text files (*.txt)|*.txt|All files (*.*)|*.*"
ForEach ($item in (Get-Content $file)) {
$sitem = $item.Split("|")
$computer = $sitem[0].Trim()
$user = $sitem[1].Trim()
cmd /c assoc .swf=InternetExplorer.Application
### Will the above line automatically install on every pc? ###
}
Any help with trying to insert how to change the FTYPE in powershell so that $computer can cycle through would be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

ASSOC and FTYPE are CMD.exe built-in commands, not executables, which means they can only be run in the context of CMD. The easiest way to run them is to invoke CMD from PowerShell.
cmd /c assoc .swf
cmd /c ftype ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash
If you need a "pure" PowerShell implementation, then you need to go to the registry. ASSOC and FTYPE merely write to the registry under theHKEY_CLASSES_ROOT hive. PowerShell does not have a default PSDrive for HKCR:, but that hive is also accessible under HKLM:\Software\Classes.
$ext = '.swf'
$HKCR = 'HKLM:\Software\Classes'
$ftype = Get-ItemProperty -Path "$HKCR\$ext" | select -expand '(default)'
$commandLine = Get-ItemProperty -Path "$HKCR\$ftype\shell\open" | select -expand '(default)'
$commandLine
To update these values, you simply use Set-ItemProperty on the same path.
Set-ItemProperty -Path "$HKCR\$ext" -Name '(default)' -Value 'ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash'
This requires you to run with Admin privileges. This also assumes that the key already exists. If not, you will have to create it with New-Item
if (-not (Test-Path "$HKCR\$ext")) {
New-Item -Path "$HKCR\$ext"
}
However, if all you want to do is set .swf files to open in iexplore.exe, then retrieving the values is unnecessary, as is modifying the FTYPE key. You need only change the extension association to InternetExplorer.Application instead of ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash. The following full scripts will do this:
In Batch file:
assoc .swf=InternetExplorer.Application
In PowerShell:
cmd /c assoc .swf=InternetExplorer.Application
In "pure" PowerShell, by modifying the registry:
$key = "HKLM:\Software\Classes\.swf"
$defaultName = '(default)'
$newValue = 'InternetExplorer.Application'
if (-not (Test-Path $key)) {
New-Item -Path $key
}
Set-Itemproperty -Path $key -Name $defaultName -Value $newValue
Note that modifying the registry doesn't take effect immediately. You need to also send a WM_SETTINGCHANGE event, or simply restart explorer.exe (eg: by logging off). You can find code to send the event here, but usually this isn't a problem for automated scripts because they force the user to re-login anyway.