An annoying problem.

[rustico]

I am experiencing a minor and irritating problem with some of my quick launch and desktop icons. The annoying problem is this...when I click on certain icons, such as, yahoo, visual thesaurus, etc. an "open with" window appears asking me to choose a program, i.e. acrobat reader, internet explorer and so on to open it with. This is a recent development and I am wondering if there is a quick fix for this inconvience. Could it be possible that during one of my cleanup sessions I inadvertently deleted something I shouldn't have? I am running Windows XP professional and Internet Explorer.
Thanks.

[d lehmann]

It is quite possible that you did that.
All you have to do is re-associate that type of file with a certain program of your choice (or of the file's choice) and your problem will be resolved.

[rustico]

I appreciate your input. I am not certain that I understand what it is you mean when you say "type of file" and "ceratin program". I am offered limited suggestions in the window that pops up and the "let the browser search" option does nothing. I have tagged each of the programs in the window and none of them fixes the problem. Maybe I'm just not discribing this accuratly enough. I am more of a heat and eat kind of person rather than chef.
Thanks again.

[d lehmann]

If your files don't open try this.

Go to: Start>control panel>folder options>file types>Scroll to pick a file extension>change button>scroll for a program or browse button to find program>then OK your way back out.
This should set your file associations system wide.
If you select the Advanced button, you can also change your icons to use.

This usually happens when installing a new program. It will associate all file types it uses for itself. For example, after you install coreldraw, a double click on a bmp file will open the file in corel draw, a time consuming process. For quick and easy viewing, you can associate bmp files with windows viewer just for viewing, but when working with bmp files, first open corel draw and then open the files to manipulate.

If your program shortcuts don't work then try this.

Start>my computer>C:>Program files>Adobe>Reader>scroll for .exe file (acord32.exe (usually the largest application file))>drop and drag this to your preferred location. The desktop, start menu button, quicklaunch area or literally anywhere that accepts it. This simply creates a shortcut. Then delete the non working shortcut.
This was for Acrobat and you will have to do the same with each prog. It can be confusing on some apps, so just double click on a good guess and see if the prog opens to find the exec file.


Hope this works for you.

[rustico]

Thanks, d. lehmann, but the problem persists. I will resign myself to this petty annoyance at least for the time being.