Fix Windows File Association Problems (XP)

Ever wondered why you can’t seem to open that file or program within Windows today?
Maybe Windows “forgot” what opens what… No really.

You see, Windows XP keeps track of what programs opens what files through what is known as the Windows Registry. If you are new to this term, the registry is where Windows stores all its settings. Mess it up, and you will have all sort of problems crop up, including this, a File Association problem.

How would it get messed up?

A corrupted registry might be caused either by bad software, a virus or spyware, or your negligence to do maintenance work on your PC. It gets corrupted when it contains wrong entries, either ones that are added by programs or the most common, spyware and viruses (such as the Sircam virus).

Did You Know?

That this kind of computer problem is also known as an Invalid File Extension problem. A broken file association is pretty much the same as an Invalid File Extension.

So, what are you up against?

Let’s see, if you don’t do something about it, here are some ways on how this problem can annoy you in the future. So you shouldn’t take this problem lightly…

• If you want to take a look at your pictures, you can’t, because you won’t be able to open it. And it may include cliparts.
• You won’t be able to take a look at the contents of your hard drive (although you can just type in the drive letter to work around this).
• You’d have trouble opening video files (mpegs).
• If you have zipped files, you can’t open those either.

There are more of these but I listed only those that are commonly experienced by my clients.

Now that you have a general idea of how this problem in Windows can affect you, it’s time to move on to what this guide is all about, fixing file association problems in Windows XP yourself.

You see, there are two ways on how you can go on about trying to fix wrong file associations in Windows XP - the long way, and the short and easy way. Let’s start with the long and tedious way of repairing wrong file associations in Windows XP - if you want to discover the easy way of fixing file association problems, feel free to scroll down the bottom of this article.

General Way of Fixing Wrong File Associations in Windows XP

If the problem is not that severe, you can try and change it back without applying the registry files (download links at the end of this article). You do this by going to My Computer, Tools, Folder Options, then clicking on File Types. There you will see all the registered file types in Windows, pick the file type you are having problems with and click on the Change button. After picking the program you want, click on Ok, then on Close. You may want to restart your PC to be sure.

If it didn’t work, you may need to hack the Registry, which is not for the faint of heart. Luckily, I have some registry patches you may download. I didn’t make these myself, I just posted it here because I used one of it when I had a bad shortcut problem. I thought I’d share this with you - hope you find these useful.

The fix to a specific file association problem is listed at the end of this article and comes in the form of a ZIP file containing the .REG file which you need to import to restore - and therefore repair the file association problem you are having.

NOTE: If you can’t open the ZIP file because your archive program won’t work, you need to fix first your EXE file association. Other than that, you can just unzip the file and merge it without problems. You may want to read the “How to fix an EXE file association problem” that follows, for more information.

EXE File Association Problem

This is the most common file association problem in Windows XP. You’d know you have this problem when you try to open a program and Windows tells you that it cannot open the program because it doesn’t know what program created it and prompts you to manually look for the program. A probable cause of this is a virus which modifies the Windows Registry such as the SirCam virus or a *Nhatquanglan Virus.

How to fix this problem

To try and fix it yourself, you need to download and merge this zip file which contains the settings to correct the EXE file association problem - extract and save it on a folder. Remember the folder because you’d be going back to it later on.

But because your EXE file association is corrupted in the first place, you’d be having a hard time importing the REG file that follows because you won’t be able to start Windows XP’s Registry Editor (because it is an EXE).

To work around that, you have to launch the Registry Editor through the command prompt which you open up through the Task Manager. Here are the steps:

1. Open up Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Del
2. Click on File, then, while holding the Ctrl key, click on New Task (Run…)
3. This will open up a Command Prompt. From there, you can open up the Registry Editor by typing “regedit” (without the quotes).

With the Registry Editor open, you can now import the REG file which you can use to fix the EXE file association problem. Click on File, then Import - and look for the REG file you have extracted (the xp_exe_fix.reg file).

Windows XP will now tell you that you have successfully imported the file. Restart your PC and hopefully you have repaired the EXE file association problem you were having. With the problem gone, you can now download, unzip and merge the registry patches.

I have updated the list below to include fixes to additional problems as requested by my clients.

List of Other Problems

General Instruction: To try and repair the following, you simply need to download its corresponding fix, uncompress it to a folder, then import it to your Windows XP registry by double clicking on it.

• File Folder File Association - A problem that keeps you from opening folders. You can try to repair and restore it using this repair file.
• GIF File Association - problem when opening pictures in GIF format (those with a .gif extension)? Try and fix it by using this file (xp_giffile_fix.zip).
• ICO - When you are having problems with icons not appearing on your desktop (icons have a .ico extension by the way), go ahead and try and restore it back.
• JPEG File Association - Having trouble opening pictures you took with your digital camera or pictures that are residing on your PC? Restore the default Windows XP settings for this file format by using this repair file.
• LNK File Association - This happens when the shortcut to your favorite program don’t work (because shortcuts in reality have a .lnk extension). This registry import file tries to fix it for you.
• REG File Association - This happens when your Windows Registry editor cannot recognize .reg files. Try and fix this using this file.

Restart your computer after applying the fix you selected. Hopefully, this would clear things up.

Tip: If you did manage to fix the problem you were having, do yourself a favor and save yourself from the headache from another file association problem by keeping your Windows registry healthy.

Even If You Managed to Fix the File Association Problem…

You’d never know if there are problems still lurking. Trust me, I know. Take my computer for example - I thought that I have no broken file associations anymore, but I was wrong. It seems there are problems that I don’t know yet (many actually) and the good thing is that I managed to find and fix it - quickly, eliminating guesswork altogether.

Another Way of Fixing the Problem, the Quick and Easy Way…

Getting around file association problems in Windows XP is also possible when using software specifically written for that purpose. By using software, you have the chance of fixing file association problems that you might have missed, automatically, and without worrying about editing your computer’s registry. Not to mention avoiding possible problems in the future, like a Blue Screen of Death, random computer hangups, and more.

This kind of software belongs to a group of computer applications known as registry cleaners or registry optimizers - and were written to allow you to keep your Windows XP registry healthy by fixing file association problems as well as removing corrupt entries.

It also doubles as a preventive measure against possible errors in the future because some registry cleaners/optimizers can do other things aside from fixing broken file associations - and you need to run it regularly to get the most out of the software. To give you an idea, here’s a screenshot of such a program in action.

See why you need to keep a copy of a registry cleaner always nearby when you read the actual steps I did to find and fix registry related problems I thought never existed. You’d be surprised at how sneaky registry problems like broken file associations are, then I’ll tell you tips on how to avoid registry problems in the future.

The Author

My name is Hamilton Dahan. People come to me whenever they have trouble with their computer and they want to get it fixed or if they want my opinion on something tech related. The Haminihams provides people hands-on tutorials on the basics of using a computer and is based in Makati, Manila in the Philippines.
How may I help you today?

Source: supertechtips.info