How to change all the existing NetBeans file associations to point to a new NetBeans installation in Windows

Read on if you have one of these problems:

My netbeans.exe associations are broken. When I try to change the association to different NetBeans binaries it still won’t work.
I have two NetBeans installations and want to change the associations to use the other one.

Don’t worry, it’s a piece of cake.

Open up regedit.exe
Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\netbeans.exe\shell\open\command
Change the value of the (Default) key to the new NetBeans installation.
For example if you want to associate netbeans with C:\Program Files\Netbeans 7.3 Beta\bin\netbeans.exe it would be “C:\Program Files\NetBeans 7.3 Beta\bin\netbeans.exe” “%1”
Update: Seems like you have to update the associated application for the already associated file types as well.
Start by right-clicking the folder HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT -> “Find..”. Search for “netbeans”.
Tip: Press F3 to continue the search.
Update all the file types with the new Netbeans installation the same way as instructed in point 3.
You know you’re updating a file association when the registry structure is:
```
{filetype} 
  shell
    open
      command
```