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Problem with file association

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dcloud

Technical User
Apr 11, 2005
148
US
I could not find a Windows XP Home thread so I hope its ok to post this here. I use a text program called NoteTab Pro (instead of Notepad or Wordpad, neither which I can stand). Now when I want to open a text document I would like NoteTab to be the program that opens it, but I'm having trouble doing this.

When I right click on a text file and go to Properties a window opens where I change the application that opens that file, but whenever I browse and pick NoteTab and click OK that program does not appear in the list and the text file still opens in Notepad.

I was wondering if anyone here could offer me some suggestions on why this is happening or how to fix it?

Thanks.

- dc
 
Try going to folder options and click on the file types tab. And create your own file association.

-=True wisdom comes from knowing you know nothing.=-
 
I know. I already tried that .....

Windows XP/XP Home:
Right click on the file and select "Open With" from the pop-up menu
Select "Choose Program"
Locate the program you want Windows to use to open files of this type and select it
Put a checkmark next to "Always use the selected program to open this kind of file".
Click OK

......this is what I did, but when I browse and choose NoteTab and then click OK it does not appear in the list. I am wondering why it does not appear on the list when I choose it. That seems very odd.

- dc
 
If it is not on the list, click on the [red]Browse[/red] button located below the list and find the App. Probablky installed in Program Files\NoteTab or something, and select it. then it should appear in the List.

----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.
 
Like I said I already did this, and it does not appear in the list for me to choose for some odd reason. That is what I am trying to figure out. That is the problem I need to find the answer to: why NoteTab does not appear in the program list when I choose it.

Unless maybe there is a registry tweak I can try, but it just seems odd that I would have to go to that length when it should appear in the list like any other program.

- dc
 
If it won't appeat in the list after selecting it from wherever it resides, then you can try to create the asssociation the hard way:


In Windows Explorer go into Tools->Folder Options ->File Types. Once there look for the [blue]TXT[/blue] extension, and Select it, then click on the Advanced Button, and select from the Actions box, "Open", and click on Edit. then change the path to wherever your Application is installed. O.K. your way out. And double click on a text file to test.



----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.
 
Sorry, I should have mentioned this in my original post - I tried all of these methods already (including yours, vacunita). None of them work. I find this odd because NoteTab is a program installed on my system. Obviously then it should appear in the folder options list, or at the very least allow me to select it as the main .txt program.

Why it is not means there must be something else wrong. I recently reformatted my system because I installed a new SeaGate SATA HD, but I don't think this would have anything to do with it.

- dc
 
I Fail to see how the Folder-Options method won't work, as You are actually replacing the path to the app it uses. That means it is no longer pointing to Notepad.

Does it revert to notepad when you O.K. your way out or what exactly happens when you do it via the Folder-Options menu???

Are You sure the path is complete : and not just NoteTab.exe but C:\Program Files\Notetab.exe or something similar?

----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.
 
What program is listed here?

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\txtfile\shell\open\command



Discussion of shortcut menus and verbs.


You can look up "associate a file name extension with a file type" and "To modify an existing file type" in the Help and Support program.

323526 - HOW TO: Use the ASSOC Command to Display and Modify File Name Extension Associations in Windows 2000

184082 - How to Use the Assoc Command to Change File Associations
 
The class path in regedit was:
%SystemRoot%\system32\notepad.exe %1

I have changed that to:
C:\Program Files\NoteTab Pro\notepro.exe %1

It works now. Yet it still seems odd to me I could not choose it using either of the normal methods - Folder Options or right-click/Properties.

- dc
 
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