Windows Folder Options

Windows XP refuses to allow me to designate OpenOffice to handle .doc files. XP defaults to MS Word Viewer (when it is installed), and, when I browse for and choose OpenOffice, it reverts to MS Word Viewer, and does not include OOo on the list of alternatives. It will allow me to designate WordPerfect. I un-installed Word Viewer, but that does not solve the Windows problem. Am I paranoid, or could the monopoly actually be trying to skew the market?

Jesse, if you go into the options of Open Office, you can make it handle the .doc files. I have made it happen on the original install, so I am not certain to the exact settings. I am refurbing some computers right now, so I should be able to answer your question in a couple of hours when I install open office.

Here's how to do it, NOT:

Opening Microsoft Office Files by Default
1.Exit OpenOffice.org and the OpenOffice.org Quickstarter.
2.Run the OpenOffice.org Setup program:
Click the Windows Start button, choose Control Panel, click Add or Remove Programs, select the OpenOffice.org 3.0Beta entry, click Change.
3.In the OpenOffice.org Setup, check the Modify option and click Next until you see the file types page.
4.Select or deselect the file types. Click OK and complete the OpenOffice.org Setup program.

Then when I check with Folder Options, WordPerfect is still selected. When I browse and choose OpenOffice, Windows sets the default to WordPad.

I've seen some weird behaviors in the past for file extension associations.

You might (back up the registry) delete the associations for .doc completely and then associate from inside Open Office or reinstall Open Office.

It seems MS made something simple in windows 3.1 and made it very complex now.

Dave

I just got the answer on an OOo forum. I'm running 3.0 Beta, and they've disabled file associations for the beta versions, so as to avoid people relying on it for important documents that might, possibly, be damaged or lost. There are a couple of tricks to get around it; the one I used was to tell Windows to use simpress.exe (the powerpoint analog), NOT swriter.exe.

Ok, the beta explains it. I am not using the beta version, I am using an older version. Thanks for the feedback on your problem.