setting default version of Quartus II in Windows 7

[Altera_Forum]

I installed Quartus II 14.0 but I don't want to switch over to it yet. I'm still running 13.0sp1. How do I make 13.0sp1 the default so that when I double-click a .qpf file the project opens in 13.0sp1 vs. 14.0? I changed all of the environment variables to point to 13.0sp1, and I tried to assign 13.0sp1 as the default for .qpf files in Explorer, but the projects still open in 14.0. 

 Any help appreciated!

[Altera_Forum]

Here's my "simple" solution, along with how I figured it out. 

 1. Start Quartus 14.0, and then exit.  2. Start a Cygwin shell (not the NIOS II IDE Shell version) and type  echo $QUARTUS_ROOTDIR  and that points to the 14.0 install  3. Start Quartus 13.1, and then exit.  4. Start a Cygwin shell and type  echo $QUARTUS_ROOTDIR  and that points to the 13.1 install  So, QUARTUS_ROOTDIR is dynamically set by Quartus, and gets left at the last version that ran.  Cheers, Dave

[Altera_Forum]

Very interesting, Dave. Instead of using Cygwin I just fired up 13.0 and double-clicked a .qpf file and sure enough, the project opened in a new instance of 13.0. Kind of a screwy work-around but it works. 

 Thanks!  Bob S.

[Altera_Forum]

The described method worked well for me under Windows XP, but doesn't seem to work any more under 64-Bit Windows 7. Neither does starting a specific Quartus version switch the QUARTUS_ROOTDIR environment variable nor is the environment variable examined when deciding about the actual *.qpf open action. 

 I'm not yet sure if it's a general 64-Bit Quartus problem or something caused by specific settings on my computer.  I solved the problem temporarily by changing the file association with a file type manager tool but still wonder if I missed a Quartus specific way to switch the file association automatically?  Regards, Frank

[Altera_Forum]

Frank, the simple solution described by Dave works also under Windows 7 64-Bit. I use this for switching between multible versions of Quartus (11.1, 14.1, 15.1). 

 Jens

[Altera_Forum]

For some reason, the behavior is different with my Windows 7 64-Bit version, as already reported 

  --- Quote Start ---  Neither does starting a specific Quartus version switch the QUARTUS_ROOTDIR environment variable nor is the environment variable examined when deciding about the actual *.qpf open action.  --- Quote End ---   I conclude from your post, that the problem is not specific to Windows 7 64-Bit as such. Thanks for clarifying.

[JFree1]

I re-posted this issue as it was still present with 17.1 while using Windows 10.

https://forums.intel.com/s/question/0D50P000040enaPSAQ/how-do-you-change-the-default-version-of-quartus-that-opens-files

I got it to work by temporarily removing the quartus.exe for the wrong version is was using from it's respective file folder, then launching a QPF and picking the correct association to the desired version at the windows prompt. Why this wouldn't work through the windows default programs manager is beyond me.