Windows Vista: Editing File Types

Ever since MS-DOS, all files generally have a 3-letter extension that tells the OS and your applications what type of data a file contains. For example, the .TXT extension generally means text, the .DOC extension is a Microsoft Word document, etc.

When you double-click on a file, Windows will launch the associated application for that file type. For example, if you double-click on a .TXT file Windows will open the Notepad application. Sometimes when you install a new application, it can make assumptions and assigns a particular file type to itself whether you wanted it or not.

In Windows Vista, if you want to change the associated application for a particular file type, you have one of two ways of accomplishing this:

Method #1:

• Right-click on a file type that you want to change (for example: .JPG, .MP3, etc), and then select Properties.
• In the General tab, press the Change... button.
• Select the program from the list to open the file, or press the Browse... button to select an application from your hard drive.
• Press the OK button when done.
  

Method #2:

• Open the Control Panel folder in the Classic View, and double-click the 'Default Programs'.
• Click the 'Associate a file type or protocol with a program' link.
• Double-click the extension you want to modify, or select the extension and press the 'Change Program...' button.
• Select the program from the list to open the file, or press the Browse... button to select an application from your hard drive.
• Press the Close button when done.