Tackle the OPEN WITH problem with confidence

Submitted by pcsnpixels on December 30, 2005 - 8:58pm.

The reason we see the "open with" dialog box (see picture) when a file is double-clicked boils down to one of two scenarios: 1) we do not own a program that can read the file or 2) we shouldn't be viewing or messing with the file anyway.


To approach this box, first determine what type of file it was you were attempting to open by canceling the box above, then RIGHT click on the file and click properties to see what the extension is (the last three letters following the file name). You can check what type of file it was by visiting this web site: List of File Extensions. Then if you determine that it is a graphic file, choose a graphics program, if word processing try a word processing program, etc.

An easier approach would be to use a universal viewer program like Quick View Plus from Jasc.

Lastly, the 'open with' program could be opening simply because you need a program like WinZip to decompress files.

If this helped, consider buying me a beer or an Americano!