Have you ever found yourself suddenly
looking at a desktop full of icons that make absolutely no sense?
Windows occasionally loses track of what icons go with which programs.
While it is annoying it is not too big of a deal so long as the files
still behave correctly. Sometimes, however, a file type may become
associated with a program that was not what you wanted it to be or
there might be a type that you do want associated and don’t know how to
make it happen. This month we will discuss both of these situations and
how to resolve them.
The first
thing to be aware of is almost all files in Windows have a three letter
extension, the part after the dot, even if you don’t see them. By
default, Windows tries to sugarcoat it’s user interface and hide things
that in a perfect world would not need to be seen. Unfortunately, if
your computer is connected to the web at all, you know that viruses and
problems plague Windows. Windows is set to hide these extensions on
known file types, but has a little bug that will allow a file to have
multiple extensions and only show one. This means that something called
‘file.txt’ on your desktop may actually be ‘file.txt.exe’. When you
open this file it will then execute even though you thought it was a
simple text file. I highly recommend that you make Windows not hide any
extensions, so that you have a clear view of what type a file really
is, and be very suspicious of any files with double extensions,
especially if they came in email. To fix this problem, open any folder
on your desktop. At the top of the folder choose tools, then folder
options. Change tabs to the view tab. On the list that opens, uncheck
the box for Hide extensions for known file types. Then click on the box
at the top to Apply to all folders. This should expose the file types
on your desktop, and in all other folders.
When
the desktop icons randomly change, Microsoft has several suggestions on
how to fix these. First try hitting F5 to refresh the screen. Next, try
restarting your computer. If the problem still exists try this next
step (from Microsoft.com). Re-create the ShellIconCache file. This file
is re-created automatically when you change your display's color depth.
Follow these steps to change your display's color depth to a new
setting and then change it back to the original setting:
1. Right-click the desktop and then click Properties.
2. Click the Settings tab.
3. Change the color depth from the current setting to a new setting.
For example, change from Highest (32 bit) to Lowest (16 bit).
4. Click Apply, and then click Yes to accept the changes.
5. Change the color depth back to its original setting.
6. Click Apply, and then click Yes to accept the changes.
If this does not help, Microsoft recommends a registry change. Only
attempt this if you are comfortable making registry changes, as
mistakes can have disastrous results. The Microsoft article is here: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;132668
The other thing that can happen is that you may have tried to open a
file that had no known association and Windows gave you the "Open With"
dialog box. When you get one of these be careful that the box for
"Always use the selected program for this kind of file" is not checked,
unless you know for sure that this is the program you really want to
use in the future.
If
you end up with files that do not open with the program that you want
them to, you need to check the correct program for a preferences menu
to see if you can select the association there. You should also check
the program that uses the icon that was incorrectly associated with the
file to make sure the preferences are correct.
If the affected programs do not have a
preferences setting, then open the folder options dialog again, and go
to the file types tab this time. Find the extension that you need to
change and highlight it. Click on the change button, and use the next
dialog to pick which program to use.
Hopefully these tips will help bring unruly file associations to order.
If you have questions or comments, I
will attempt
to address them as time permits or if you have an idea for future
topics, please
email me at techhubby@divinediva.org.
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