How does the computer decide which program to use when you click on something? 1. The computer asks you what program to use to open this item. 2. You could choose what to use to open the item. 3. The computer finds that item's extension and uses the default program to open it. Drafts

 

How does the computer decide which program to use when you click on something?

 

 

One of two things can happen when you click on a graphic, a document, a music file, a video, or any data produced by another program.

 

1. The computer asks you what program to use to open this item.

 

2. You could choose what to use to open the item.

 

3. The computer finds that item's extension and uses the default program to open it.

 

Let's look at these possibilities and how you can control them.

 

1. The computer asks you what program to use to open this item.

 

When the computer doesn't recognize the 3-character file extension (such as .doc, .mp3, and so on) in the file name, it needs help.  (Makes you feel superior, doesn't it?  Not so smart now, you stupid machine.... )

 

For an example, I'll use a file that I renamed with a non-standard extension of .old and try to open it.  I get the following response:

 

 

I get a popup window like this to ask how to handle this file.  The usual response is to click in Select the program from a list and then click OK.

 

Then I get this:

 

 

Now I get to try to find something that will open this program.

 

NOTICE the little checked box for Always use the selected program to open this kind of file.  This sets a default so that whenever I open an item with the file extension .old in the future, Windows will try to use the program I select now, by default.

 

If I uncheck this Always use box, the computer will have to ask me next time as well.

 

If the program I need to use is not on this list of "best guesses" (meaning programs I've used to open other kinds of files), then I could use the Browse button to go hunting for something else on my computer.  (There's also an option to look for a program on the Web if you like.)

 

2. You could choose what to use to open the item.

 

Sometimes you don't want to use one program to open a file, you'd rather use another.

 

Let's take a music file for an example.

 

Everytime you install some new program that handles music and maybe video, they almost always want to take over everything that they can.  Suddenly all your music files are opening in this new program, like it or not.  And sometimes, whether or not they can actually manage it.

 

What if you prefer another program?  Or, what if the program tries, and fails (such as Windows Media Player trying to open a DVD, and can't)?

 

Changing the default setting is in the next step, but first, let's look at a one-at-a-time technique.

 

I'll pick a music file and right-click on it.  This should get me a drop-down menu of choices.

 

 

From these choices, I can use Open With to get a submenu of choices.  Windows suggests Windows Media Player and Firefox, in this case.

 

On that list, I still don't have to settle for just the ones offered.  I can use Choose program to go find another program to play this file.

 

 

3. The computer finds that item's extension and uses the default program to open it.

 

* At your desktop, click on My Computer.

 

* Click on Tools drop-down menu.

 

* Click on Folder Options.

 

 

 

 

* In the Folder Options, click on the File Types tab.

 

 

* Scroll down to the DOC extension.

 

 

Basically, this tells the computer what program to use -- if any -- when you click on a document file ending in .doc, or tell email to open that file attached which ends in .doc . 

 

The instructions in Details for 'DOC' extension says it opens with Microsoft Office Word, by default.

 

* Click on the Change button.

 

 

These are possible programs you can use for this, based on Window's best guesses.  You don't have to use any of them -- you can use the Browse button to go find something else -- but these are possibilities.  Not all of them are guaranteed to work (Firefox in the example is not likely); it's just a guess. 

Any of the others (on my computer) might be able to.  Of course, some features in some files might be missing (macros, etc.) if not opened in Word.

 

Especially NOTICE the checkmark for Always use the selected program to open this kind of file.  This is the current default setting.  Anytime I click on a file ending in .doc then Windows checks here and knows to use the program I select this time for all future occasions when I open .doc files.

 

* Select WordPad and then uncheck the Always use box.  Then click OK.

 

You should now see a change.  (If not, try it again.  Windows is stubborn about this sometimes.)

 

 

Now the default is WordPad.  If I just click on a .doc file, WordPad will try to open it.  If I try to open this file from within an email, WordPad, not Word, will try to open it.

 

That means, of course, that this document will not show up as one of the most recently opened in Word, so you won't get every single attachment in your Word list of recent documents.

 

ANOTHER POSSIBLE USE: some of us have Adobe Acrobat Professional on our computers.  This program always assumes, and changes the default setting, so that any PDF file you try to open will do so in Adobe Acrobat Professional, which is a large program and takes some time to load.

 

So, use the steps above and find the settings for PDF files.

 

 

Now, change the setting to Adobe Reader instead, and uncheck the Always use box.  Now those files you just need to see will open a lot faster with a much smaller program.

 

For those files that you need to open using Adobe Acrobat Professional, just right-click on them and choose Open With to get the option to open with Adobe Acrobat Professional instead.

 

 

Drafts

Keep your drafts here so you can refer to earlier versions.

 

Draft 1

Draft 2