Can I modify the Windows 7 preview pane so HTML files display just the text in the preview instead of rendering the html?

Question

When I click on html files in explorer the preview pane currently tries to render the html for the preview. I\'d like the behavior to just show me the text without interpreting

Answer 1

Update: Just use the PreviewConfig utility (zip file download), which makes the required changes to the registry for you. Here is a detailed explanation of how the registry changes work.

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To view HTML files as text in the preview pane use this registry patch (save with a .reg extension and double-click):

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\htmlfile\shellex\{8895B1C6-B41F-4C1C-A562-0D564250836F}]
@="{1531d583-8375-4d3f-b5fb-d23bbd169f22}"

Bonus: preview any file type without a preview handler as plain text:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\*\shellex\{8895B1C6-B41F-4C1C-A562-0D564250836F}]
@="{1531d583-8375-4d3f-b5fb-d23bbd169f22}"