If it fails - reboot. Its Windows.

slartabartfast
Everything I know about windows I learned trying to make the danged thing work on my own machine. I would go mad working for Microsoft.
 
Windows will in fact offer the option to open say a .doc file with MS Word because it does know that common association, but the problem is that you could have two programs (or users) that both create files with the .doc extension (several do), even though they are totally different kinds of files. You would not want to be locked in to that association if you ran both programs. The file association is really just a convenience for the user. You can use the right click menu option "open with" to open any file if you know the associated program, and that dialogue usually will offer a commonly associated program or give you the option of creating a permanent association to a program by checking the "always use the selected program to open this file" check box in the window that opens when you click "choose default program." 

I always wondered why files were not standardized (somehow) to know the program that created it (file header record perhaps?).
 
Probably wWaaaaaaaaaaay tooooooooooo tuuuuuuuuuuffff for computer geeks.

bapu

slartabartfast
Everything I know about windows I learned trying to make the danged thing work on my own machine. I would go mad working for Microsoft.
 
Windows will in fact offer the option to open say a .doc file with MS Word because it does know that common association, but the problem is that you could have two programs (or users) that both create files with the .doc extension (several do), even though they are totally different kinds of files. You would not want to be locked in to that association if you ran both programs. The file association is really just a convenience for the user. You can use the right click menu option "open with" to open any file if you know the associated program, and that dialogue usually will offer a commonly associated program or give you the option of creating a permanent association to a program by checking the "always use the selected program to open this file" check box in the window that opens when you click "choose default program." 

I always wondered why files were not standardized (somehow) to know the program that created it (file header record perhaps?).
 
Probably wWaaaaaaaaaaay tooooooooooo tuuuuuuuuuuffff for computer geeks.

Because many programs might be able to work with the file other than just the program that created it? 
 
If someone made a wave file using Logic or Pro Tools, you can still work with it in SONAR, ya?

Not saying it was dictated to open it with that program but woudn't it be helpful to note when one did not have the program that created it and had even less ability to contact the sender of the file.
 
I can't tell you how many time (exactly) I've got files from computer neophytes that think they used "Windows" to create the file when in fact it was some obscure art program that I had never heard of as was incompatible.
 
OK, it would never work I see....
 
I'll get me coat.

One of the problems with this is that now Windows 'hides' the file name extension by default. So its a good possibility that a user won't know that a Word file is a "doc" or "docx" or that "odt" is open document text.
 
If you want an idea of how many different file extensions there are, take a look at http://www.fileinfo.com/filetypes/common or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_file_formats. Also, just to make life a bit more difficult, take a notice of how many different files use the same extension (DBF — db/dbase II,III,IV and V, Clipper, Harbour/xHarbour, Fox/FoxPro, Oracle; FDB — Firebird Databases and Navision database files; etc).
 

bapu
Not saying it was dictated to open it with that program but woudn't it be helpful to note when one did not have the program that created it and had even less ability to contact the sender of the file.
 
I can't tell you how many time (exactly) I've got files from computer neophytes that think they used "Windows" to create the file when in fact it was some obscure art program that I had never heard of as was incompatible.
 
OK, it would never work I see....
 
I'll get me coat.

Windows doesn't create files, but flies come in through windows. 

Mesh

I've actually had that happen with this forums lovely software.  It had an error then had another while trying to display the first!  Pathetic!