Restoring/changing Association of

Application with Chosen File Type

Occasionally a file type will have the application associated with it to open it change, either because the application has been uninstalled (in which case the file will not open and an error message will be received) or because another application has taken over the association.  These steps will allow the user to reestablish the association or create a new one.

In Windows Explorer, find a file of the type which should be changed (you can also find a file using Start|Find|Files or Folders and look for *.ext  where .ext  is the extension of the file type.

In Windows 9X (95, 98, ME) when one is found, click to select it.  Then  Shift+right-click and choose "Open with..." from the context menu in Windows.  On the window that opens, scroll down through the list of applications until the desired application is shown and click to select it.  Then check the box at the bottom of the window which tells Windows to always use that application to open that file type.   Click OK.

In Windows XP, right-click the file and choose "Open with" from the context menu.  Click the "Choose Program" link at the bottom of the next dialog, scroll down through the list of applications, choose the desired application, then check the box that tells Windows to always use that application to open that file type.

This has established the default association, and no more action is required, but if, for aesthetic reasons, the user would like to have the file type marked with the icon of the newly associated application take the following steps.

In Windows Explorer click View, then select Folder Options from the drop down menu.  When the Folder Options window opens, click the File Types tab.  On the File Types tab scroll down until the file type that has just been changed is displayed.

Click to select that file type (this will highlight it) and then click the "Edit" button.  On the Edit File Type window which opens click the "Change Icon" button.  The next window that opens should have the proper icon for the new default association selected (highlighted) in the Current Icon window.  There may be one or two others to choose from.  If the desired icon is selected, click OK.  If none of the icons shown are acceptable, use the Browse button to find a different icon on the hard drive.

Close the Edit File Type window, close the Folder Options window, and close Windows Explorer.  This will return the computer to the Desktop.

To see a Viewlet demonstrating this process, go here.