File Association - How do I change a files.. ?

[vhelp]

Afternoon all.. hope some of you are enjoying you extra day off

This question actually came on account of this thread here..

** how do you change file extentions?

..and I wanted to build on top of it, but regarding "file association".

Ok. Under WIN98, how to you re-associate any "file" with any "app" ??

Examples:
** re-associate .txt[notepad] to .txt[mypad]
** re-associate .dat[dbase] to .dat[excel]

If it turns out to be do'able, I was thinking of writing a small
utility to do this with a simple drag'n drop feature.

Thanks everyone,
-vhelp 3725

[fritzi93]

And a pleasant day off to you, too!

I'm not entirely certain I remember anymore, it's been so long since I've used Win98.

Easy in XP, right click a file -> Open With -> Choose Program. Tick the box "Always use selected program to open this kind of file". That normally does it. Or go into Tools -> Folder Options -> File Types -> Opens With.

Doesn't Win98 have something very much like that?

[vhelp]

Well, actually that works when there is no associated file
to lounch the given file. And when you right-click it, the
drop down dialog features a open with.. selection.

But, once you associate it with anything, it becomes a known
file, and the drop down dialog now becomes open instead.
And you can't change it back or to something else.

Maybe there is a patch or add-on that some coder created as a
explorer utility, but I don't know for sure. I do recall seeing
something like this for explorer and the drop down had a associate
selection to click on. There, was where you could re-associate files
with.

Cheers,
-vhelp 3727

[redwudz]

It's been a while since I've used W98 also. But in XP, I open 'Folder Options' under 'Tools' in any folder. Then open 'File Types'. There you can change the program associations of extensions. 'Advanced' will give you even more options, such as icon changes and actions.

One I commonly change is .nfo, a MS Info Document. I set it to open with Wordpad or Notepad, depending on the system.

A good source of information for me was one of the 'Windows 98 for Dummies' books. Despite the title, it's a great resource and you can often find them used on Amazon for a very low price.

[Supreme2k]

Here ya go, n00b! :P



Also, here's another site with tweaks like that.

[Megahurts]

vhelp,

You can use winfile.exe in the windows directory. It's the old File Manager program from Win3.0 and comes with all versions of Win9x & ME.

Cheers,

Chas

[JerryB]

Afternoon all.. hope some of you are enjoying you extra day off

This question actually came on account of this thread here..

** how do you change file extentions?

..and I wanted to build on top of it, but regarding "file association".

Ok. Under WIN98, how to you re-associate any "file" with any "app" ??

Examples:
** re-associate .txt[notepad] to .txt[mypad]
** re-associate .dat[dbase] to .dat[excel]

If it turns out to be do'able, I was thinking of writing a small
utility to do this with a simple drag'n drop feature.

Thanks everyone,
-vhelp 3725

hi,

to change the default program/filetype association.....
1. use windows explorer
2. hold the shift key down and right click on the file with the extention(file type) in question.......
3. in the window you get, click "open with"
4. that brings up another window with a list of program you have..!!
5. tag the program you want to be the default.....
6. check mark the little box that say "always open with"
7.click ok.... that it....
now when ever you open that file type that default program will be the one to open the file.....
note: there is another meathod but that is clumsy.. and diffiult to explain... the above is much easier..
if interested.... go to your windows explorer>view menu>click folderoptions>file types .. here you can create or modify .... you can have alot of fun with that.. smile.... goodl uck and enjoy....

[vhelp]

@ JerryB

Beautiful !! It works. Sold!!

Using WIN98..

And it works in folders too. No need to go into explorer as
an extra step. I think that the trick was that you had to
first click (or select) on the file. Then, when it is blue,
you (as JerryB mentioned) hold down the Shift key and then
right-click on the filename. Brilliant. (kind of sounds like
batman with all these punchy words) anyways.

Thanks everyone for your interests and suggestions.
So, there really is no need to right a front-end or utility
for this feature. It's all too simple.

This subject topic has concluded to a happy ending.

Cheers

-vhelp 3731