Lightroom does not operate like normal photo editing programs. You first have to import (reference) photo files in the Library module before you can start editing.

There are lots of free tutorials at the link below which will assist in understanding how Lightroom works.

http://tv.adobe.com/product/lightroom/

Lightroom Menu bar, Edit> Preferences> General tab> Import options, select "Show import dialog when a memory card is detected".

My answer above is also the reason it is not in the Autoplay list.

Actually the "Autoplay list" does include Lightroom when I attach a card reader to a USB port with a memory card inserted. I selected Lightroom and it did boot in the import dialog ready to import. Also happens when I turn on an external hard drive which is also connected via a USB port. My system is Win 7 64bit. See attached screen shot you will note my other photo editing software are also included. Normally I do not use this method to access the files but I boot Lightroom before attaching my card reader.

When you look at the Autoplay settings (Control Panel>Autoplay), what options do you have listed for "Pictures" and "Mixed Content"? You should see something like this:

I think you'd be wasting your time doing that uninstall/reinstall with your cameras....as far as I know it isn't possible to get Lightroom to auto-launch when connecting a camera (at least on WIn7)....though I really don't know why when others programs ARE listed.

To stop Lightroom auto-launching the import dialog when you connect your external drives, try setting the autoplay setting for the "Mixed Content" media type to "Take No Action". Usually, external drives would have a default file template of "General Items" (on the Customize tab of the device properties page), which translates to "Mixed Content"....so setting that autoplay setting should prevent the auto-launch. Leave 'Pictures" as "Import using Lightroom" and you should get Lightroom to launch when you insert a card, but not when you connect an external drive.

My LR 4.1 and LR 3.6 are both working the same as yours, where if I try to specify LR as an “opener” of a JPG image by right-clicking on the image and choosing Open With…, then Browsing to the Lightroom.exe to specify it, it doesn’t “take” and just comes back to the Choose-the-default-action dialog as if I’d clicked Cancel instead of selecting Lightroom.exe.

Despite what previous versions might have done, the Open-With target of Lightroom should be a catalog (.lrcat) file not an image, and LR must be enforcing this fact, now.  I think people were getting catalogs created with a .jpg extension which would cause LR to crash and perhaps it took Adobe until 4.1 to correct this, or since my LR 3.6 also seems to not allow itself to open JPGs, maybe LR 4.0 specifically mistakenly allowed this and Adobe fixed it.

I typically open up LR, select the Library module, then drag-and-drop the photos I want to import onto the main grid/loupe area of Library.  This opens the Import panel onto the folder of the image I dragged onto it.

UWPhotographer wrote:

 

This has nothing to do with autoplay or anything like that.

Correct, it has nothing to do with Autoplay....but equally it has nothing to do with Lightroom either. When a program is installed it will, in conjunction with the Operating System, set itself as the "default program" for various file types. Some programs ask, i.e. install WMP or iTunes or RealPlayer and they'll all ask if you want that program to be the default for a host of media files. Where there isn't likely to be a choice, the program will just have the OS set the correct file type association without asking. Lightroom is such a program, the various "Lightroom-only" file types such as .lrcat and .lrmodule are associated automatically.

But that's all that will get associated with Lightroom, none of the image file types such as .cr2, .nef, or .orf are associated with Lightroom for the simple reason that Lightroom was not intended to be used as a default program for such file types....on my system all such file types are more correctly associated with Photoshop.

However, there's no problem in a user requesting the Operating System to change the default association for a specific file type....or rather there SHOULDN'T be such a problem if the operating system is fully functional in that regard, and nor do I believe the actual program you choose has any influence on the outcome of that request. For example I have just changed the association for file type .nef from Photoshop to Lightroom, then when I double-click on a .nef file Lightroom is launched into the Import window, as expected.

In summary, .orf by default will NOT launch Lightroom when you double-click on one, but you should be able to change the file association to Lightroom if you wish. Note, however, when you install Lightroom 4.3 don't be surprised to find that you'll need to reset that file association again.....and ditto for any subsequent installation.

I fixed it!

http://windowsxp.mvps.org/openwithadd.htm

Go to this webpage and download this program OpenWithAdd and register the lightroom.exe in your specific location. In my case:

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.2

Maybe you are missing what I am trying to say. Lightroom doesn't exist in the list, as others have shown above. When you browse to the program, it still does not add it. Yes I can set it to Elements, or photo viewer or MS Excel for that matter. You cannot set it to Lightroom. Period. At all. Ever.

But the program I listed above registered Lightroom to Windows properly, and now Lightroom shows up in the list with Elements, Photo Viewer, etc., and now I can double click on an orf and Lightroom takes over! Wahoo!

So I was able to get to that point. When I click on Lightroom, that box on the right goes away, but Lightroom still doesn't show up in the box on the left, and the default program is still the same.

It does it on my computer running W7 Home Premium as well as my computer running W7 Professional.

I am having this problem as well, and I've even reinstalled Lightroom 4.3 and it still will not allow me to select lightroom as the default for CR2 files. Did anyone figure out why this is happening?