How to change filetype associations in Windows Vista, XP, 2000 and 98 fast and easy

This post comes from my annoyance on one of my machines running Windows XP SP2 as its OS. By default, XP annoits MS Word for editing html pages. It used to worse before I guess with Frontpage launching them. But in any case, here is a quick and easy way to change file type assoications. The examples given are with respect to changing html to open with Macromedia Dreamweaver as the editor by default.

Background Information

“File Type” associations are the links between your documents and the applications that create them. For instance, when you double-click a Microsoft Word Document on your desktop, Windows knows to start Word and instruct it to open the document because of the Microsoft Word Document file type. Likewise, when you click a website link in an email message, Windows knows which browser to open (e.g., Firefox, Internet Explorer) because of the HTTP Protocol file type.

Microsoft Internet Explorer allows users to open a file they are browsing in an HTML editor by using the File > Edit with (Default Application) option. The application used for this action corresponds to the HTML Editor which is set in the Programs tab of the Windows Internet Options. Macromedia Dreamweaver is not automatically added to this list upon installation. This article helps you to fix that problem

For Windows Vista

There are two ways:Method #1 (on the fly):

1. Right-click a file of the type you want to change, and select Properties.
2. In the General tab, click the Change button.
3. Choose a program from the list, or click Browse to select an .EXE file on your hard disk.

Method #2 (view a list of file types):

1. Open Control Panel.
2. In Control Panel Home, click Programs, and then click Make a file type always open in a specific program.Or, in the Classic View, open Default Programs and then click Associate a file type or protocol with a program.
3. Highlight a file type in the list and click Change Program.

For Windows 2000 and Windows XP

For Windows 2000 and Windows XP, the following steps are required to set Dreamweaver 8 as a default editor in Internet Explorer:

1. Launch Windows Explorer (typically, you can launch this by choosing Start > Programs > Accessories > Windows Explorer).
2. Select Tools > Folder Options…
3. Select the File Types tab.
4. Scroll to the HTM extension in the Registered File Types list.
5. Click the Advanced button. You may have to restore the file association before you see the Advanced button.
6. Select Edit from the actions list (not Edit within Dreamweaver), then click the Edit button.
7. Browse to the Dreamweaver 8 executable. The default location for the Dreamweaver.exe file is: C:\Program Files\Macromedia\Dreamweaver8\
8. Click OK until you are back at the File Types list.
9. Select the HTML extension and repeat steps 5 to 8.
10. Click OK.
11. Restart your system.
12. Open the Internet Options tool from the Windows Control Panel (Start > Settings > Control Panel).
13. Select the Programs tab.
14. Select Dreamweaver8 from the drop-down menu in the HTML Editor category.
15. Click OK.

For Windows 98

For Windows 98, the following steps are required to set Dreamweaver 8 as a default editor in Internet Explorer:

1. Open Windows Explorer (Start > Programs > Windows Explorer).
2. Select Tools > Folder Options or View > Folder Options (both will open the same window).
3. Select the File Types tab.
4. Scroll to the Microsoft HTML Document listing in the Registered File Types list.
5. Click the Advanced button.
6. Select Edit from the actions list (not Edit with Dreamweaver), then click the Edit button.
7. Browse to the Dreamweaver 8 executable. The default location for the Dreamweaver.exe file is: C:\Program Files\Macromedia\Dreamweaver8\
8. Click OK until you have closed all windows.
9. Restart your system.
10. Open the Internet Options tool from the Windows Control Panel (Start > Settings > Control Panel).
11. Select the Programs tab.
12. Select Dreamweaver8 from the drop-down menu in the HTML Editor category.
13. Click OK.

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