Where did file associations go in Windows Vista?

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I can't be sure, but I believe this has been moved because it's not as necessary as it once was. Recently a business associate sent me a Microsoft Word file with no file extension (i.e. no ".doc", just a name). Of course, my main box on this contract is Windows XP, so double-clicking on the file just gets me a dialog box asking what program to use to open it.

I asked the associate if she was on a Mac, because I've often received files with no extensions from Mac users.

She said she was using the latest versions of Vista and Office.

I'm thinking that Microsoft has gone to using an embedded file type like Mac instead of extensions on the file name.

Greg: I don't think so. I have Vista, and it seems to work just the same re extensions as XP did. I've renamed several types of file (including word document) to remove the extension, and every time, the icon changes to a blank page, and double-clicking brings up the dialogue asking what program I want to open it in.

As for why the dialogue's in a less prominent place now -- well... it isn't. It's right there on the Start menu. In the right hand column, between 'Control Panel' and 'Help & Support'. You can't get much more prominent than that!

I suspect they moved it because they're trying to get people to notice and switch to the new program-centric defaults dialogue ("Set your default programs") rather than the old extension-centric defaults dialogue ("Associate a file type with a program", the one you show above), probably on the grounds that it's much more user-friendly (e.g. people who haven't enabled 'show extensions' and so don't know what extension is what can still set the programs they want to use for different filetypes).

I usually do this by opening Vista's Windows Explorer. I then find a type of file I am interested in, for example an MP3 file. I then right click on the file and select from the context menu

Open With -> Choose Default Program....

Then choose from the programs or use the Browse... button to find the program. Make certain the "Always use the selected program to open this kind of file" checkbox is checked.

This is a very fast way of changing associations.

http://rhftech.com

Great article and it helps solve my problem! However, HOW do you know WHICH file to change a program to? AND what does "unknown program" mean?
When I get an email and click to open the attachment and there is no file association to go with it, how can I possibly know what program does?
Please, answer this for me!!!!!!!!
Thanks-
Anne

Can you edit the way you edit a file also? That was with the same screen in Xp, but in Vista that window in gone. When you rightclick on an item (a jpg) you can open , print, edit and a bunch of other stuff. When you click edit it opens Microsoft photoeditor, can you change that to Photoshop p.e.. How can you do that in Vista, in XP isn't it a problem.

Bnny

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Anne: This new article tries to address that:
http://ask-leo.com/how_do_i_know_which_program_is_used_to_open_a_particular_type_of_file.html

Leo

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To make a OS 'NEW' things must be moved or graphicly *improved*. As long as it still can be done I guess it's OK

But how does one REMOVE an association - completely? Dreamweaver snagged .ASP files on installation. Now .asp pages on the internet do not open in IE. Dreamweaver starts up instead. I followed the reassignment instructions and choose IE. The unhappy result: instead of being browsable by IE, I get an IE open or save dialog box. So it still doesn't work. I went in to try to change this setting again and I see that Vista has created a list of preferred programs to open .ASP's: Dreamweaver and IE. I just can't make this go away.

Excellent question! I need to REMOVE a file association I added by mistake. I want that extension to have NO association to anything. Can this be done?

Same question like Michael Brandt's. I do not want an extension to be associated with ANY programs. I associated a program with an earlier unknown extension by mistake. To remove an association was easy to manage in earlier Windows versions but how to do it in Vista? Neither the article nor the comments helped: the only option is to raplace the associated program by another one.

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