I have Vista x64 installed on my system. For some reason, Windows has dropped some of my default file associations and won't let me change them back to their original configuration.

For instance, if I right click a .doc file and select "Open with..." then "Select a program from a list of installed programs" Microsoft Word is not listed in the list of programs. If I click on "Browse..." and select Word manually, I'm returned to the list of programs from which to to choose, but Word still isn't available.



I've also tried setting file associations through the control panel. Again, in the "Set Associations" window, if I click on "Change program..." I experience the same issue.

The issue is not limited to .doc files. For instance, Vista reset my .txt file association to Vista's Notepad, however; I previuosly had the default file assocation set to Notepad++. When I try change the default file association back to Notepad++ I experience the same issue as for the .doc file type.

Right, I'm selecting the .exe file.

I should add that for some reason, Windows keeps creating hidden %AppData% folders everywhere. I'm not sure what this is about.

Thanks for your help!

I tried creating a new Administrative account and everything was back to normal when I signed in under this account.

I also tried delphin's suggestion. Now I receive the following error message when I double click on a word document. Please see the attached screen shot. Unfortunately, I still can't change the file association for text files.

Just to be clear, I tried delphin's suggestion on the old administrative account.

If the new Admin. account is good it may be best to migrate into it and ignore or delete the old account.

How can I migrate everything from my old account to the new account? I've never done this before.

Thanks.

I suggest copying the folders in your < Username > folder to DVD then from DVD copy the folder contents into the equivalent folders in the new account.
When through you'll have made the transfer and have an extra backup on DVD.

What settings and/or other information will I still lose if I copy over everything in my username folder?