Restoring .vbs (VBScript Script File) File Associations
“I am running Windows XP. I need to execute VBS scripts to run functions in other programs. I had no problem until some security program disabled execution of VBS Scripts. Now all I get is code Notepad and the VBS Scripts don’t execute. How do I get Windows to execute VBS Scripts again?”
Peter, if double clicking your VBS files results in them opening in Notepad, your security application has disabled VBS execution by changing the default application used to open the VBS file. In Windows, this is managed by File Associations. Let’s take a look at how to restore the default VBS File Associations.
You can restore the default application used to Open a file by changing it’s file association. If you open My Computer and choose Folder Options… from the Tools menu, you can find file association on the File Types tab.
Since the VBS file will open in Notepad, the file type is still registered on your system. Scroll through the list of file types until you find the VBS (VBScript Script File) entry. Select it and press the Advanced button.
The Edit File Type dialog box will appear. Here you can edit any of the various file associations for a given file type. In this case, we want to change the application used to Open a file. Select Open in the action list and press the Edit… button.
In the Application used to perform action: field, enter the following command line:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\WScript.exe “%1″ %*
Tick the checkbox marked Use DDE and enter the word WScript in the Application field and System in the Topic field. Now click Ok to close all open dialogs.
If you want to restore all of the default actions for the VBS file type, you can import the following .REG file.
FixVBSFileAssociationsXP.reg Windows XP only!
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.vbs] @="VBSFile" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.vbs\PersistentHandler] @="{5e941d80-bf96-11cd-b579-08002b30bfeb}" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile] @="VBScript Script File" "FriendlyTypeName"=hex(2):40,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,\ 00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,\ 32,00,5c,00,77,00,73,00,68,00,65,00,78,00,74,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,\ 00,2d,00,34,00,38,00,30,00,32,00,00,00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\DefaultIcon] @=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\ 00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,57,00,53,00,\ 63,00,72,00,69,00,70,00,74,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,2c,00,32,00,00,00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\ScriptEngine] @="VBScript" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\ScriptHostEncode] @="{85131631-480C-11D2-B1F9-00C04F86C324}" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\Shell] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\Shell\Edit] @="&Edit" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\Shell\Edit\Command] @=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\ 00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,4e,00,6f,00,\ 74,00,65,00,70,00,61,00,64,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,20,00,25,00,31,00,00,\ 00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\Shell\Open] @="&Open" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\Shell\Open\Command] @=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\ 00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,57,00,53,00,\ 63,00,72,00,69,00,70,00,74,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,20,00,22,00,25,00,31,\ 00,22,00,20,00,25,00,2a,00,00,00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\Shell\Open2] @="Open &with Command Prompt" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\Shell\Open2\Command] @=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\ 00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,43,00,53,00,\ 63,00,72,00,69,00,70,00,74,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,20,00,22,00,25,00,31,\ 00,22,00,20,00,25,00,2a,00,00,00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\Shell\Print] @="&Print" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\Shell\Print\Command] @=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\ 00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,4e,00,6f,00,\ 74,00,65,00,70,00,61,00,64,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,20,00,2f,00,70,00,20,\ 00,25,00,31,00,00,00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\ShellEx] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\ShellEx\DropHandler] @="{60254CA5-953B-11CF-8C96-00AA00B8708C}" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\ShellEx\PropertySheetHandlers] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\ShellEx\PropertySheetHandlers\WSHProps] @="{60254CA5-953B-11CF-8C96-00AA00B8708C}"
On Windows Vista systems, you should use the following .reg file instead.
FixVBSFileAssociationsVista.reg Windows Vista and Windows 7 only!
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.VBS] @="VBSFile" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.VBS\PersistentHandler] @="{5e941d80-bf96-11cd-b579-08002b30bfeb}" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBScript] @="VB Script Language" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBScript\CLSID] @="{B54F3741-5B07-11cf-A4B0-00AA004A55E8}" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBScript\OLEScript] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile] "FriendlyTypeName"=hex(2):40,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,\ 00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,\ 32,00,5c,00,77,00,73,00,68,00,65,00,78,00,74,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,\ 00,2d,00,34,00,38,00,30,00,32,00,00,00 @="VBScript Script File" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\DefaultIcon] @=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\ 00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,57,00,53,00,\ 63,00,72,00,69,00,70,00,74,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,2c,00,32,00,00,00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\ScriptEngine] @="VBScript" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\ScriptHostEncode] @="{85131631-480C-11D2-B1F9-00C04F86C324}" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\Shell] @="Open" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\Shell\Edit] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\Shell\Edit\Command] @=hex(2):22,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,\ 00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,4e,00,\ 6f,00,74,00,65,00,70,00,61,00,64,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,22,00,20,00,25,\ 00,31,00,00,00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\Shell\Open] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\Shell\Open\Command] @=hex(2):22,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,\ 00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,57,00,\ 53,00,63,00,72,00,69,00,70,00,74,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,22,00,20,00,22,\ 00,25,00,31,00,22,00,20,00,25,00,2a,00,00,00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\Shell\Open2] @=hex(2):4f,00,70,00,65,00,6e,00,20,00,26,00,77,00,69,00,74,00,68,00,20,00,43,\ 00,6f,00,6d,00,6d,00,61,00,6e,00,64,00,20,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,6d,00,70,00,\ 74,00,00,00 "MUIVerb"=hex(2):40,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,\ 6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,\ 00,77,00,73,00,68,00,65,00,78,00,74,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,2d,00,\ 34,00,35,00,31,00,31,00,00,00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\Shell\Open2\Command] @=hex(2):22,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,\ 00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,43,00,\ 53,00,63,00,72,00,69,00,70,00,74,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,22,00,20,00,22,\ 00,25,00,31,00,22,00,20,00,25,00,2a,00,00,00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\Shell\Print] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\Shell\Print\Command] @=hex(2):22,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,\ 00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,4e,00,\ 6f,00,74,00,65,00,70,00,61,00,64,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,22,00,20,00,2f,\ 00,70,00,20,00,25,00,31,00,00,00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\ShellEx] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\ShellEx\DropHandler] @="{60254CA5-953B-11CF-8C96-00AA00B8708C}" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\ShellEx\PropertySheetHandlers] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VBSFile\ShellEx\PropertySheetHandlers\WSHProps] @="{60254CA5-953B-11CF-8C96-00AA00B8708C}"
You may also download the .reg files here.
FixVBSFileAssociationsVista.reg
Related Posts:
July 9th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Followed instructions. Tried to run a VBS Script and got the following error message:
Windows Script Host
There is no script engine for file extension “.vbs”"
The clicked to download the fix for XP that you provided but when I ran it, I just got a few lines of code in Notepad and the reg file didn’t run.
Help
July 9th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
Hello Peter.
It sounds as though your .reg file type has been changed as well. This is somewhat common since some administrators will disable the ability to import registry changes.
You can try importing the registry file from the command line and see if that works. Open a Command Prompt window and navigate to the folder where you saved the .reg file that you downloaded. It can be imported using REGEDIT from the command line.
You can repair your .reg file associations with one of the files below. You’ll likely need to import it as I’ve shown you above.
FixREGFileAssociationsXP.reg
FixREGFileAssociationsVista.reg
As for your error message, see my post “There is no script engine for file extension” error when opening .vbs files.
July 22nd, 2009 at 2:34 am
Worked like a charms! Thank you very much!
May 26th, 2010 at 12:32 pm
Thank you. It was really helpful
October 5th, 2010 at 7:25 pm
You saved me a lot of headache…
Keep up the good work.
November 1st, 2010 at 10:51 am
THANK YOU!
November 5th, 2010 at 9:38 pm
Thanks so much! This finally fixed my 4-month broken cscript .vbs issue on Windows 7!
May 29th, 2011 at 1:26 am
Thanks!
I got the ‘There is no script engine for file extension “.VBS”‘ error, and spent about 30 minutes searching online for a solution. No one else seemed to have the right solution for anyone (that I found), going back 10 years of advice!
Your registry entries solved it for me on Windows 7. MSDN describes the issue (”This file extension is not mapped to a script engine.”) and how to solve it: “Check your file extension and also the spelling of your scripting language designation.” or “Use //E to designate a script engine.” At last the last item is a workaround, from the command prompt, to get a script to run.
Pretty sure setting Notepad++ to associate with VBS files caused the problem for me (from the NP++ interface). I should probably let them know…
Your real solution is much appreciated
June 22nd, 2011 at 4:55 am
Your vista reg key works in Windows 7, thanks.
July 19th, 2011 at 5:34 pm
I received this error when trying to run this script on a Windows 7 machine that won’t let me associate .vbs with either cscript or wscript. The default box is greyed out
Cannot import FixVBSFileAssociationsVista.reg: Not all data was successfully written to the registry. Some keys are open by the system or other processes.
September 27th, 2011 at 3:26 pm
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.vbs]
@=”VBSFile”
Already solved it for me.
November 3rd, 2011 at 5:35 pm
Hey Nilpo,
You may remember me (omrsafetyo) as the BATCH guru from devhardware
I happened across this article trying to fix a wsf file association issue for a client - I was trying to determine where “windows script host” was kept - wasn’t sure if it was vbscript.exe or wscript.exe, or something else entirely. I did my google search “how to associate a file type with windows script host” and this was the first page that caught my eye as relevant. Just wanted to say hi, and thanks for the assist!
November 5th, 2011 at 4:58 pm
@Nathan,
Of course I remember you. Thanks for stopping by. I’m glad you found it useful.
Nilpo
November 8th, 2011 at 3:36 pm
@Asa,
Hey, you may found my problem as well! My .vbs association keeps getting “lost” even after I fix it, and I use (and love) Notepad++ as well, and used the interface setup options to set .vbs to be edited w/ Notepad++ instead of the default of Notepad. I won’t know for sure for a few days, but thanks for the heads-up!
Thanks for the help Nilpo, the good posters here, and the folks over @ http://kiranpatils.wordpress.com/2009/08/13/there-is-no-script-engine-for-file-extension-vbs/ ! (look there for an easy way to reset the defaults using the %windir%\inf\wsh.inf file! - thanks to kiranpatils)
April 11th, 2012 at 11:28 am
Hello,
I am trying to open a mapped script on windows 7 but i am not able to , which i was able to open in xp… Is there anything i need to change in the script to make it work for Win 7
April 19th, 2012 at 6:06 am
Hi all,
I wrote code in *.vbs file, I used Notepad++ to edit this file, but when my computer suspended, I restarted my computer, and my file was broken, so when I opened this file, it only display “null nul nul … ”
size of this file is 150kb, no change with before it had this problem.
Can you help me solve this problem?
Thank you very much.
Best regards,
Hieu Tran
April 30th, 2012 at 12:01 pm
I have encountered the same problem and went with the regit suggestions for Windows 7, I received this message
“can not import FixVBS File associations. Vista.reg: error opening the file. There may be a disk or File system error.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions
Tommy
May 6th, 2012 at 1:39 pm
Hello friends,
Can any one suggest any solution
I have to automate IE - 8 in Windows 7.I want to send somekeystrokes on a IE-8 web page just by pressing a hot key.My code is working well in Windows XP - IE-6 but its not working in Windows 7 - IE-8.
The code :
Set objShell = WScript.CreateObject(”WScript.Shell”)
objShell.AppActivate(”Sign in to Yahoo!7 with your Yahoo! ID - Microsoft Internet Explorer”)
objShell.SendKeys”%{enter}”
objShell.SendKeys “5″
objShell.SendKeys “{Tab}”
objShell.SendKeys “6″
I am running this code in .VBE extention file
(To run this code please open up www.yahoomail.com web page first)
Thanks and reagards
Robbs
May 6th, 2012 at 1:42 pm
@Robbs: I’ve already responded to your thread in the forums. Please don’t spam irrelevant posts.
August 31st, 2012 at 3:15 pm
Thanks for your explanations, links and the code!!
It worked for me on Windows Vista.
I was trying to install postgresql and after looking with google for weeks, finally I found your page. No way to resolve in microsoft forums.
Best regards,
Carlinhos
September 20th, 2012 at 4:29 pm
Hi there! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that would be ok. I’m definitely enjoying your blog and look forward to
new posts.
September 26th, 2012 at 7:52 pm
Thanks. Fix confirmed!
February 18th, 2013 at 6:09 am
Fix is recommended! Regfix for Windows Vista and 7. Thumbs up!
April 19th, 2013 at 8:56 am
Thank you very much! Very helpful and effective fix!