Where did file associations go in Windows Vista?

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Leo, thank goodness I found your site. A friend sent me a WMV file. And of course I couldn't open it.(I have Vista) It told me I needed to associate a file to open it. I typed in the 'search' box Associated file panel.' wouldn't you know it. It came back 'No results' How lame can a 'search' get? I followed YOUR very clear instructions and was successful in viewing the video, although there was a kind of fight between 'Real Player' and 'Windows Media'.
Thanks so much for your help. I will recommend you to all of my similarly frustrated friends.
Mike.

Can't Associate in Vista:
My legacy (DOS) 3.4 version of MaxThink ("MT") (circa 1987):
Over the years (21+) and operating systems I have continually and reliably been using MT. It remains and likely will remain a program as essential to my use of the computer for any reason as the microprocessor itself.
Although its author, Neil Larson, had kept current with MS evolving OS's, I had been able, because of MS's willingness to support legacy programs, to use my MT 3.4. It was only this past January 2008 as my Win98se machine began to show its 10 years of fading further into antiquity, naturalized by MS's burgeoning OS's and faster hardware, did I make the switch.

The sweet little Dell Inspiron 530 running Windows Vista Home Basic SP1 which I just picked up at the end of 8/2008 is the kind of quantum jump I like to experience. Alone, it's ten-fold increase in processor clock speed and thirty-fold increase in RAM is that quiet thrill of speed I liken to a commercial jet airliner versus my Acura.

Setting up the association for MT in Win98se wasn't exactly straightforward. What worked required that I run a .BAT file to make the connection between the data file and the MT.EXE when they did not share the same folder.

This became the procedure I was to follow in Vista.

Being an old legacy app, there was no standard Windows installation which would include writes to the REGISTRY. I simply copied the MT folder into the C:\Program Files folder.

However, when I went to modify the .BAT association file, to account for a different folder name I had given to MT, the changes would not save even though the file closed after editing. A little strange I thought but surely at the very least I couldn't expect a change if it didn't take hold. So, I moved the .BAT file out of the C:\Programs Files folder, modified it there and then copied it back. The changes then appeared.

As a newbie to Vista and not at all read up on it, I drew the field conclusion that maybe the Vista C:\Program Files folder doesn't permit changes made to its contents. But I got my work-around change so I proceeded.

To make the association, I right clicked the file and followed the directions to OPEN WITH the .BAT file which I "browsed" to as permitted.

The first trial proved that the MT .EXE would open BUT to an empty editor and surely therefore without the contents of the MT data file to which I had activated.

Then I found your sight after many hours of having those exciting witches-in-the-Windows hunts that we've all so thrilling experienced in the past. Still, the sensible clock to resolution was fast running out and I could throw money at the problem with a purchase of MT for Vista itself. The dollars had already been a fraction of the Las Vegas play I had allowed myself.

Your great clarity to this problem "Where did file associations go in Windows Vista?",
as Google confirmed, was my last hope.

A thousand thanks for all your efforts and those of your concerned and thoughtful respondents to this issue.

No, this didn't fix the problem either.

Nevertheless, the discussion on your webpage has convinced me more than ever that a software technique exists for the "association" issue I'm experiencing and that sadly after years of avoiding the usual controversies of an MS OS release, I too have become a convert.

Thanks.

One common action I've added to every machine over the years is the ability to open a command shell in a folder or drive. This was simple... go to file types, select the Folder or Drive file type, click Advanced, then click Add new Action, give it a title (like "Command prompt...") and associate cmd.exe.

Unfortunately, the Vista list of file types only includes extensions and protocols, not "system" types like "Folder".

I assume I can go into the registry to accomplish this, but that's error prone and not something I'd demo for students as I have the technique above. Is there an easier way? If so, please update the article.

Thanks!

Hi,
I'm having problem with my vista. I accidentally associated iTunes. All my program icons changed and replaced with iTunes icon. Whenever i opened a program it will open instead iTunes. Whenever i UNINSTALLED iTunes all my other programs' icon would return to its proper icon and you can then launch the program as per normal. However, when i REINSTALLED iTunes it would again associate iTunes to all my other programs. I have downloaded several fixes but seems not working. What options do i have here? Thank you.

This gets me to the point of changing the file's association. However, I'm still stuck looking for the winzip application.

Original problem: zip files have inadvertently been changed to open as Flash files.

I need to browse to winzip to change it; I don't know where winzip is kept on Vista.

...one thing Leo, if you wish to change a property of an extension, you can't do via the Control Panel Method. Such as opening more than one Excel window, one has to change the excel.exe command from /%1 to /e.

App's for the effort, but as most efforts, it doesn't provide needed blurp for 'classic view' users (ie, we dont have in control panel, "Programs", instead we have "Programs e and Features"), so the article should blurp that.

For some reason, my classic view (Vista Hp Prem w/SP1) isn't displaying "classic view' in the windows like the article snap shots show. So it seems the article fails to blurp for some users 'we' find the pathway different than the article currently says. I go to control panel, then "Default Programs", the instead of 'set associations', my link is "Associate a file type or protocol with a specific program".

Ok i can do this for any other file but i messed up before and accidentally set .zip files to internet explorer and the box wont let me unclick it.

i have an xlxs file and can't find in the association listing?? HELP!!!

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