Windows won't let me choose which program to open with?

Question

I have some files, that i know i can unpack with winrar.

They will unpack i have done it on other pc's.

When i click the program it says

to open this file windows needs to know what program created it blah blah blah.

Anyways i click choose from list brows and winrar and it says i picked whatever program happens to be on top of the list.

Help asap cause i have a game i really wanna play.

And yes.

im a pirate.

So i need to know wtf is up

Answer 1

Hi Murphy

You can try changing the file-type association manually. The following applies to Win XP. Open explorer (say, by double/clicking My Computer). Go to Tools Menu>Folder Options>File Types. Select the extension of your file (for example, RAR). If it's not already there, create it using the New button. I assume you selected an existing extension.

Click the Advanced button. In the Edit File Type box displayed, there will usually be an action (like Open). If it's not there, create one using the New... button. I assume there's an option.

Select that option and click Edit... button. In the new box displayed, under "Application used...", type the path of the program WinRAR along with a parameter, something like this:

"C:\Program Files\WinRAR\WinRAR.exe" "%1"

Click OK. Click OK in the Edit File Type box. Click OK in the Folder Options box. That should solve the problem (sometimes, you might need to relogon/reboot).

If this procedure doesn't work, you may try to tell WinRAR to register with the file-type itself. The following applies to WinRAR version 3.71. Open the program WinRAR. Click Options menu>Settings>Integration. Under "Associate WinRAR with", check the check-mark next to your desired file-type. If it's not listed, type its extension (preceded by a space if some entries are already there) in "User defined archive extensions". Click OK. You may now close the program WinRAR. That's it.

If you're still unable to open the archive by clicking it, open the program WinRAR, in File menu, click "Open archive", and browse for your desired file. Good luck...

Answer 2

Try re-installing Winrar. If that doesn't work, its probably a problem with the archive. It could also be a problem with the way Windows handles the Applications. The best thing to do is type the file name into google and see if other people had any problems.

Let us know if problems persist.