Let’s say you click on a zip file and a media player tries to open it. Or you select a video file, but you don’t want this file to be played in Windows Media Player. You want to choose your own player.

This problem can be solved by configuring the file extension associations. To select which program should open the file, right click on the file and choose Properties. In the General tab, under Opens with, click on Change and select the correct program from the list. If you want to open a zip file, choose Winzip or Winrar, or if it is a video or audio file, choose your preferred media player. For documents you will probably look for Adobe Reader, Microsoft Word or Works. If the required program is not in the list, click on Browse and look for the right program in C:\Program files. Then click on Apply and OK. Close all windows and that’s it. Next time you double click the same file, it will open with the program you just selected.

If you are not sure which program you need to open the file, google the file extension or visit File-Extension.org Web site. There you will be able to find out what kind of file you are working with and which program can read/play the file.