Excel File Associations

[gporter]

I'm running Excel 2003 and Excel Viewer 2003. I'm trying to get the viewer to open for all users automatically when they double click an .xls. I've looked at ftype and assoc and hacked the registry in HKCR buit can't get it to work right. I can get the viewer to open but it gives multiple errors you have to OK thru before it opens. Hoping someone is familiar with this.

 

[BobStubbs]

First, check that the Excel viewer is the latest version, and works correctly if you start it manually (the file is xlview.exe and will be in a folder such as C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11).

Then try this process, which works for me with Excel 2000 running on Windows XP ... what happens if you try this on your workstation?

-- Run Windows explorer
-- Choose the Tools ... Folder Options menu option
-- Click the [File Types] tab
-- Scroll down to .XLS
-- Click the [Change] button
-- Choose 'Microsoft Excel viewer' from the program list
-- Tick the 'Always use selected program ...' check box
-- Click [OK], then [Close]

Bob Stubbs (London, UK)

 

[Zathras]

gporter, there is no need to hack the Registry for that.

Do a Shift Right click on any .xls file and select Open With... You should see a dialog box that lets you select the executable to use and a check box that you can tick to make the association permanent.

That's the quick and dirty way. A better alternative would be to select View / Folder Options... (from any explorer view) and select File Types. If you are clever, you can follow the procedures to add other methods that will show up when you right-click on an .xls (or any other extension) file. For example, I have modified the actions for my .csv files to Open with Notepad by default, but have set up an additional Action to allow me to open it in Excel when I want to.