Vista Tutorial - Default Programs - Program Default Associations

Hello Bill, and welcome to Vista Forums.

In order to be able to open a file with a certain file extension, you will need to have a program installed on your computer that supports reading/opening it as the default program. In this case, the free program TextMaker Viewer may be a good choice to use.

TextMaker Viewer 2008 - Free document viewer for .doc, .odt, .tmd, .rtf, and more

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Shawn, much obliged. The textmaker viewer did the trick.
Thanks again.
Bill

Your welcome Bill.

Shawn

IF AN EMAIL HAS AN ATTACHMENT OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN AND SEZ IT CAN'T OPEN THE ATT. CREATE AN ASSOC IN THE CONTROL PANEL SET ASSOC.
HOW DO I DO THIS?

Bill Weaver

The first thing to do is find out what the file extension for the file is. From there, you will just need to google the file extension (ex: .doc) to see if you can find a good free program the supports reading or opening it and install it. You can also post here for recommendations. Installing the program usually will automatically assign the file extension as it's associated default program.

If you alread have a program installed that should read this file extension, then you can use these tutorials to help make them the default program with that file extension associated to it. For example, Notepad (C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe)for the file extension .txt.

Default Programs

and

Default Programs - Program Default Associations

Hope this helps,
Shawn

If the file sez, "unknown publisher" and "unknown file type", what then?
Thanks
Bill Weaver

Bill,

Unknown Publisher is a UAC Security Warning that asks you for permission before allowing a program without a certified digital signature to open or install. Without a signature, the program owner (company) cannot be verifed and is listed as unknown instead of the company name. For a detailed explanation about UAC and this, see: Understanding and Configuring User Account Control in Windows Vista


A unknown file type is a error message when you try to open or run a file with a file extension that does not have a program associated for it to open or run it with. These will usually be a file that you have downloaded or saved to your computer with a nothing but a blank white page for a icon.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Thanks for the info. Now another one.
I have installed PowerrPoint Viewer '03 but it won't open powerpoint atts in my email. They say cannot open the att. Has no program etc., etc., etc..
Any Ideas?
Bill Weaver

Hi Bill,

The 2003 version of PowerPoint Viewer may not support the newer versions of PowerPoint files. You will need to install the latest 2007 version instead.

PowerPoint Viewer 2007 - Free software downloads and reviews - CNET Download.com

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Shawn, I'm sorry I didn't mention it but I have downloaded the 2007 version and it didn't open the atts either!
Bill