File Associations - Explained

This week's article looks at file associations - making programs recognise certain files so that they can be automatically loaded when double clicked.

Most programs when installed will set within the registry the file types they recognise. For example, Notepad recognises files that end in .TXT. Double click a text file and Notepad will run and load the file you clicked.

In this article, we shall look at changing or adding new file associations so that when a program overwrites your standard set, you can set it back.

Defining a New Association

As an example, we are going to set up a new file association for files that end .ME. That is, for files like READ.ME. We are going to set this association so that when a .ME file is double clicked, it will run Notepad and open the file we clicked on.

To do this, carry out the following steps:

If you do not have a file ending in .ME, create a file in Notepad and save as READ.ME (you can place some text like "This is an example of file associations.")

Run Windows Explorer (NOT Internet Explorer!).

Click on the View menu and select "Folder Options."

A screen will pop up. Select "File Types." When you do this, you will see a list of all the file types that show their associated programs. Take a minute to scroll through the list.

When ready, click on the "New Type" button.

A screen will appear with fields to be completed. Each field is described below.

Description

This allows you to describe what the association is for. It is a good idea to complete this field so that you know what is happening. For the example, enter "Open .ME files with Notepad."

Associated Extension

This is where we enter the file type (the part of the file name that appears after the period in a file name. For example, READ.ME. "READ" is the file name and "ME" is the file type or extension).

For our example, enter ".ME" (don't forget the period!).

Content Type (MIME)

This is for files that are used with e-mail clients or used on the Internet. As it is possible that our .ME files will travel over the Internet, click the downward arrow to the right of this field and select "text/plain."

This tells the computer how to treat such files when they are sent over the Internet (such as attaching a .ME file to an e-mail).

For file types that you know won't be sent over the Internet, you can leave this field blank.

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