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Associate .doc files with Word 2000 when Word 2010 also present (XP)

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    Associate .doc files with Word 2000 when Word 2010 also present (XP)

    Hi there,

    I'm running both Word 2000 and Word 2010 on a computer running XP SP3 (yes, I know!!). Ideally, I'd like files with a .doc extension to be associated with Word 2000, so that clicking on such a file (e.g. in Windows Explorer) would result in the file being opened in Word 2000, not 2010. However, I've yet to find a way to do it. Even if I try manually associating the .doc extension with the Word 2000 winword.exe file, such files still open in Word 2010. Am I missing something, or is this just something which cannot be done?

    Kind Regards, John

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    Re: Associate .doc files with Word 2000 when Word 2010 also present (XP)

    As MS doesn't support Word 2000 anymore, it's difficult to find any help for running 2000 and 2010 simultaneously. The best info I can find is:
    Information about how to use Office 2010 suites and programs on a computer that is running another version of Office: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2121447

    You say you've tried manually associating the .doc extension - I assume that was through Windows, not Word? Just to be clear, have a look at the second answer on this page and check that you're selecting the 'Always use the selected program to open this kind of file' option: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/w...8e6738f?auth=1

    Couple of other possible solutions:
    What is Word 2010 set up to save files as? If its default is also .doc (instead of .docx) then maybe that is overriding your choice.
    A repair of the Word 2000 installation might re-associate the .doc files with 2000 instead of 2010, but runs the risk of registry entries being changed so that Word 2010 doesn't work properly.

    Depending on how often you need to do this, you could add Word 2000 to the 'Open With' right-click menu option. I haven't used WinXP for a while, but if I remember correctly, pressing Shift-Right-Click makes the 'Open With' option appear for all files. This page goes into some detail about the 'Open With' options: http://www.informit.com/articles/art...15193&seqNum=6
    Similarly, you could perhaps add Word 2000 to the 'Send To' right-click option.

    Otherwise, I'm out of ideas, sorry!
    Last edited by Aardigspook; 07-04-2016 at 04:23 AM. Reason: Add some italics for clarity
    Regards,
    Aardigspook

    I recently started a new job so am a bit busy and may not reply quickly. Sorry - it's not personal - I will reply eventually.
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    Re: Associate .doc files with Word 2000 when Word 2010 also present (XP)

    Quote Originally Posted by Aardigspook View Post
    As MS doesn't support Word 2000 anymore, it's difficult to find any help for running 2000 and 2010 simultaneously. The best info I can find is: ...
    Thanks. Yes, I'm aware of that article, but it doesn't really help.
    Quote Originally Posted by Aardigspook View Post
    You say you've tried manually associating the .doc extension - I assume that was through Windows, not Word? Just to be clear, have a look at the second answer on this page and check that you're selecting the 'Always use the selected program to open this kind of file' option:
    Yes, that's what I've been doing.
    Quote Originally Posted by Aardigspook View Post
    What is Word 2010 set up to save files as? If its default is also .doc (instead of .docx) then maybe that is overriding your choice.
    The default for Word 2010 is set as .docx, so it can't be that.
    Quote Originally Posted by Aardigspook View Post
    A repair of the Word 2000 installation might re-associate the .doc files with 2000 instead of 2010, but runs the risk of registry entries being changed so that Word 2010 doesn't work properly.
    That works, and does no harm, but it is only a temporary solution. It appears that the problem is that whenever a 'different' (different from that last opened) version of Word is opened, it goes through a 'configuring process' which, amongst other things, changes the file associations. Hence, if one does as you suggest, the 'good work' is undone the moment one opens Word 2010. Someone has suggested to me that it may be possible, by a 'Registry tweak', to disable that re-configuration, so that may solve the problem, but I am waiting to hear what that 'Registry tweak' requires!
    Quote Originally Posted by Aardigspook View Post
    Depending on how often you need to do this, you could add Word 2000 to the 'Open With' right-click menu option....
    That was one of the first things I tried. Unfortunately, it seems that "Open With" cannot over-ride the association of .doc with Word 2010 - if I go through the motions of telling it to "open with" Word 2000, it opens the file in Word 2010!

    If I can't find a solution (the 'Registry tweak' mentioned above is probably my only remaining hope), it's only a minor inconvenience. There appears to be no problem with the two versions of Word co-existing - indeed, no problem with them both being 'open' and running simultaneously. If I want to open .doc files in Word 2000, I therefore just have to remember to open them from within Word 2000, rather than by clicking on them.

    Kind Regards, John

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    Re: Associate .doc files with Word 2000 when Word 2010 also present (XP)

    A quick update ... the 'Registry tweak' did, indeed, solve the problem. It merely required adding a "NoReReg" entry (DWORD=1) for Word 2010 (and I also did it for Word 2000, just to be sure). That prevents Word 2010 from re-configuring/re-registering when it is opened after Word 2000 has been opened, so any changes one has made to the file associations for Word 2000 don't get undone by that re-registration of Word 2000.

    I reckon that this renders my problem 'solved', although I don't know if I will eventually discover any downsides of having disabled the re-registration.

    Thanks again for your interest.

    Kind Regards, John

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    Re: Associate .doc files with Word 2000 when Word 2010 also present (XP)

    Good to hear you got it working. Thanks for the rep (which I don't think I really deserved) and for the tip - I might use it for Word 2003 vs Word 2010 on one of my PCs.

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    Re: Associate .doc files with Word 2000 when Word 2010 also present (XP)

    Quote Originally Posted by Aardigspook View Post
    Good to hear you got it working. Thanks for the rep (which I don't think I really deserved) and for the tip - I might use it for Word 2003 vs Word 2010 on one of my PCs.
    You're welcome. In case it's not obvious, the new DWORD has to go in:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Word\Options
    ... and also in
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Word\Options
    if you are concerned about changes 'the other way around' when you change from Word 2010 to Word 2003.

    Kind Regards, John
    Last edited by JohnW2; 07-04-2016 at 05:37 PM. Reason: typo corrected

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