IT Queries: Computer problems answered

I am using Windows Vista home premium and always have difficulty opening any email attachments in Microsoft Word. They automatically default to Microsoft Works Word Processor. How do I change it so I can view them in Microsoft Word?

The problem is Works has been set as the default program for .doc files. You need to change the file association settings for the .doc files.

Probably the simplest way to do this is to remove MS Works, we’d recommend this unless you have a very good reason for running it. Works is not a very good program.

To do this click the Start button, click Control Panel and Programs, you can uninstall it from there.

If you don’t want to uninstall the programs, then you can change the association. To do this, go to the Control Panel and choose Default Programs. In this screen, select “Associate a file type or protocol with a program”.

In there, you will get a list of file extensions. Go down the list and choose the DOC extension and click “Change Program”.

You’ll get the Open With dialog, Word will be one of the listed programs, choose it and click “Okay”.

This will set Word to open all DOC attachment. You may have to do the same thing for Excel spreadsheets, just look for the XLS extension.

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