File Associations - Changing Defaults. Created by Sherry Surdam

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1 File Associations - Changing Defaults Created by Sherry Surdam

2 Preamble Before we start discussing file associations and how to use them, you need to know that Windows XP and Vista handle changing associations in a slightly different manner. We ll start with telling you WHAT a file association is and then discuss what you need to do if confronted with a file extension for which you have no associated program. 12/14/2007 2

3 What is a File Association? A file association is an association between a file and a program which can open that file. Well! That was certainly clear - wasn t it??? Maybe it would help if we looked at an example. Let's say you received an attachment from a friend or family member and when you clicked to open it nothing happened or, worse yet, XP asked you what you wanted to use to open it!! 12/14/2007 3

4 How on earth would you know that? Well, first try to determine the extension of the file - it s those three little letters following the period in the file name. But, you say, I can t SEE the extension. You can fix that! Right click the Start button and select Explore. Vista and XP look a little different but the procedure is identical. 12/14/2007 4

5 Right click the Start button, select Explore, and 12/14/2007 5

6 click Folder Options (you can also open the Control Panel and select Folder Options there). 12/14/2007 6

7 Select the View tab. [XP has four tabs in this screen but the General and View tabs are identical in both XP and Vista] 12/14/2007 7

8 Clear the Hide extensions for known file types check box. 12/14/2007 8

9 Now that we can see the extension, how do we get it to open?? If we recognize the type of file the extension represents (i.e..doc for a Microsoft Word document) we can determine if we have a program that will open it. All Windows versions have WordPad which will open most, if not all, text-type documents. But what if we don t recognize the type? Here's a link to a website with tons of info about file extensions: 12/14/2007 9

10 This is what the website header looks like. QuickTime and a TIFF (LZW) decompressor are needed to see this picture. QuickTime and a TIFF (LZW) decompressor are needed to see this picture. A short way down the left hand side you ll find a search box. Type the extension of the file in the box and left click Submit. You ll get a new screen with information that should help you find what you need. 12/14/

11 You may not be able to see this very well but there s much more information here than you really care to see! QuickTime and a TIFF (LZW) decompressor are needed to see this picture. 12/14/

12 You are told the program name, company who wrote it and, in the case of Microsoft, there s a link to their download site so you can get the viewer (more on how to get them in a moment)! You are even provided with the name of, and a link to, an alternate program you can use to open the file - in this case the free OpenOffice.org office suite. What more could you ask!?!? 12/14/

13 Let s say it s a slide show with an extension of.pps or.ppt. I happen to know (as most of you do) that.pps and.ppt extensions are usually associated with the Microsoft PowerPoint program. If you had PowerPoint, the file should have opened when you double-clicked it. But - what if you don t have PowerPoint - can you still look at the file? Yes! 12/14/

14 With most file types there is more than one program capable of allowing you to view it, even if you can t make changes to it. If you have a such a program it may open it for you without being told or, at least offer to do it for you! The first thing to do (and the least amount of work!) is right click the file (if it s a file you received by you may have to save it to your computer first). 12/14/

15 When you right click the file, you will get a drop down screen with a choice of programs that may possibly open the file for you. Try them, one at a time, to see if one works. You may not have any luck but don t be discouraged - we have options! As mentioned earlier, the folks at Microsoft have provided viewers that will allow you to view any of Microsoft s file types. They can be downloaded from 12/14/

16 When you get there, type viewers into the search box. If you know which viewer you want you can specify that viewer, i.e. Powerpoint Viewer. There are viewers for each version of the Office programs, XP, 2003, 2007, etc. 12/14/

17 Changing or Creating File Associations Okay, so you downloaded and installed the PowerPoint Viewer in order to see the file but when you double-clicked the file it STILL didn t open automatically! At this point you need to associate the file extension to the viewer so that it will always open Powerpoint files. There is more than one way to handle that process and, as mentioned earlier, XP and Vista are slightly different. Let s deal first with XP. 12/14/

18 Windows XP We ve gone through opening the Folder Options screen so do that first. When it opens, select the tab that says File types. 12/14/

19 Scroll down the list using the slider bar until you reach PPS. As you can see, mine already says Microsoft Office PowerPoint. 12/14/

20 I don t know what yours will say but it doesn t matter. That s what you re going to change. Left click to highlight the file type and then left click Change. 12/14/

21 A screen will pop up with several items XP thinks would do the job. One of them SHOULD be the PowerPoint Viewer that you installed. It may even be highlighted for you! 12/14/

22 If the viewer is not listed, Browse to where you installed it, select it and click OK. That should return you to this screen. 12/14/

23 Make sure there s a check in this box and that will associate the.pps extension to the Powerpoint Viewer. Click OK 12/14/

24 to return to this screen. While you re still here, do the same for the extension.ppt since some PowerPoint files have that extension. 12/14/

25 Vista Vista has made it somewhat easier to change file associations. There are fewer steps to take! To change a file association in Vista: Locate the file you want to associate using whatever method you wish. Right click the file and select Open With from the drop down screen. You ll get a second drop-down screen. 12/14/

26 Select Choose Default Program. 12/14/

27 If your choice is there, select it and click OK. Make sure there is a check in this box to make the association permanent. 12/14/

28 If it s not there, find it using Browse 12/14/

29 Or look for it on the Web. 12/14/

30 Note RE: XP In XP you can also use the right click, Open With option. However, I don t believe XP automatically offers you a chance to make the change permanent using that method. You need to use the Folder Options procedure to do that. 12/14/

31 Another Note: At some point you may find that a program you installed decided IT should be the program to open all files of a specific type (and doesn t ask your permission to do so!). This often happens with photo editors since a lot of us have more than one on our computers. For instance, let s say you normally use Elements to edit your photo files but you downloaded another program and now THAT program took over! 12/14/

32 How bold!! But all is not lost. You can tell Windows that you want Elements (or any other program you choose) to be the default by changing the file association using any of the methods we discussed today. 12/14/

33 And One Last Note - Honest! Please be cautious when changing file associations (or making any other changes!). As a rule, nothing horrible will happen if you do so but it certainly would be a very good idea to make notes of any changes you DO make so you can return things to the way they were before you starting mucking about! And creating a restore point before making ANY changes is always a good idea. Recovery to a previous working state is more likely if you are careful! 12/14/

34 See you next time and Happy Computing! Qu ic k Tim e and a TI FF (LZW ) de c om pre s s o r are ne ede d to s e e th is p ic tu re. 12/14/

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