File association problem

[ged]

I have Paint Shop Pro 8 installed. In its preferences I specified that all
graphic files should be opened in it. In Windows Explorer I checked Tools >
Folder Options > File types. The relevant entries show up correctly; e.g.:
jpg opens with Paint Shop Pro 8, etc. Yet when I double click a file name in
Windows Explorer, it open the image with Windows Picture and Fax viewer.
What is wrong here? Your help greatly appreciated. Best regards, G

 

[Pascal Inkermann]

In windows explorer, do you see the psp8 logo on the files you want to open
with it?( a palette),
If not, check again in psp8 File>Preferences>File format preferences that
jif/jpeg is activated, select Remove All(the dialog would close) and click
on Select Unused, it should work now.
There was probably a clash between two programs.


Pascal.

 

[ged]

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I do see the psp8 logo on the files in
Windows Explorer. I also tried you other suggestion, and went to psp
preferences. I selected "Remove All" but the dialog did not close. Still, I
clicked on "Select Unused." Unfortunately among the files *not* selected
was, significantly, jif/jpg, and others. So I clicked "Select All" and "OK."
But the problem persists; images are still opening in Windows Picture and
Fax Viewer. Regards, G

 

[Sharon F]

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I do see the psp8 logo on the files in
Windows Explorer. I also tried you other suggestion, and went to psp
preferences. I selected "Remove All" but the dialog did not close. Still, I
clicked on "Select Unused." Unfortunately among the files *not* selected
was, significantly, jif/jpg, and others. So I clicked "Select All" and "OK."
But the problem persists; images are still opening in Windows Picture and
Fax Viewer. Regards, G

Your associations are fine. The problem is that the default action -
Preview - is assigned to Windows. The default action is the one shown in
bold characters when you right click on a file. That is the action that a
double click will initiate.

You could call up the File Properties sheet and in the upper section use
the Change button to select PSP. Or you could use Folder Options> File
Types and change the default Action from Preview to Open. This would
have to be done for each file type.

Or you could leave things as they are and use the "Browse with PSP" option
on the right click menu when you want to preview images with that
application. That way you would have easy access to both types of
previewing.

 

[ged]

Your associations are fine. The problem is that the default action -
Preview - is assigned to Windows. The default action is the one shown in
bold characters when you right click on a file. That is the action that a
double click will initiate.

You could call up the File Properties sheet and in the upper section use
the Change button to select PSP.

I cannot find a File Properties sheet.

Or you could use Folder Options> File> Types and change
the default Action from Preview to Open. This would
have to be done for each file type.

Folder Options/ File types does not contain any reference to "Default
action" or "Preview."

Or you could leave things as they are and use the "Browse with PSP" option
on the right click menu when you want to preview images with that
application. That way you would have easy access to both types of
previewing.

"Browse with PSP" on the right click menu is only available with respect to
*folders* - not individual files. Files have a right click menu which
includes both "Open" and "Open with." The latter offers PSP8 as an option
among others. However, when I select either of these opening options, PSP8
opens, but the image is not displayed. Instead an error message appears
telling me that Windows cannot find the file. The file, however, is
undoubtedly there. It open with Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, as well as
in PSP8, when opened from within that application.

I thank you for you reply, but evidently there is still something *very*
screwed up, and I would surely appreciate any further suggestions. Best
regards, G

 

[Sharon F]

I cannot find a File Properties sheet.


Folder Options/ File types does not contain any reference to "Default
action" or "Preview."


"Browse with PSP" on the right click menu is only available with respect to
*folders* - not individual files. Files have a right click menu which
includes both "Open" and "Open with." The latter offers PSP8 as an option
among others. However, when I select either of these opening options, PSP8
opens, but the image is not displayed. Instead an error message appears
telling me that Windows cannot find the file. The file, however, is
undoubtedly there. It open with Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, as well as
in PSP8, when opened from within that application.

I thank you for you reply, but evidently there is still something *very*
screwed up, and I would surely appreciate any further suggestions. Best
regards, G

File Properties: Right click on any file and select Properties to view its
properties screens. At the top of one page is the section where you
can change the application for the default action. There is a big
Change button in that section.

Default action: When you right click on a file or folder, you will see one
of the right click menu commands in bold letters. "Open" and "Explore"
are two common default actions.

Folder Options> File Types: Select a file type. Click on Advanced. A list
of actions appears on the next screen. Again, the one in bold is the
default action. You can change this by selecting a different action and
clicking the Default button.

 

[ged]

File Properties: Right click on any file and select Properties to view its
properties screens. At the top of one page is the section where you
can change the application for the default action. There is a big
Change button in that section.

Yes, I found that. But no changes need to be made here, since the correct
application (PSP8) is listed.

Default action: When you right click on a file or folder, you will see one
of the right click menu commands in bold letters. "Open" and "Explore"
are two common default actions.

As you correctly stated in your previous message, "Preview" is in bold
letters here.

Folder Options> File Types: Select a file type. Click on Advanced. A list
of actions appears on the next screen. Again, the one in bold is the
default action. You can change this by selecting a different action and
clicking the Default button.

I suspect that herein lies my problem. With respect to the file types I am
interested in (jpg, gif, tif, png, psp) there is no list of actions here.
Only a single one appears - "Open" - and the "Set default" button is grayed
out. It seems to me that consequently that should be the default action, but
evidently this is not so. It is also most peculiar that using the "Open" or
"Open with" right click menu command, PSP8 opens, but "Windows cannot find
file...." error message appears, yet the files are certainly there.

Many thanks for your continued help. I regret to say that apparently I need
some more. Best regards, G

 

[Pascal Inkermann]

Do you have other picture editors, like photoshop...etc, uncheck all
jpeg...etc formats in all of your pics programs and try again.
I beg you should try again with the Tools>File Options>Filetypes.
Select jpe in the extensions list and click modify, select Paint Shop Pro 8
in the list. (create all extensions you want to open with psp8 if they
aren't there such as jpg...etc and assign them as explained above. It should
work.

Sincerely,
Pascal.I

 

[ged]

Do you have other picture editors, like photoshop...etc, uncheck all
jpeg...etc formats in all of your pics programs and try again.
I beg you should try again with the Tools>File Options>Filetypes.
Select jpe in the extensions list and click modify, select Paint Shop Pro 8
in the list. (create all extensions you want to open with psp8 if they
aren't there such as jpg...etc and assign them as explained above. It should
work.

Sincerely,
Pascal.I

Many thanks for your message. Yes, I agree with you: it *should* work.
However, my problem is that it does not. Following your suggestion I tried
again in Tools > Folder Options > File types, and reassigned all those file
types (they were all shown already) to PSP8, although they were already so
assigned. My situation remains this: 1) a double-click opens image in
Windows Picture and Fax Viewer; 2) the right click menu "open" or "open
with" opens PSP8, but instead of the image, an error message about Windows
not finding the file appears; 3) if I open PSP8 and open the image from
within, it appears correctly and there is no error message; 4) "Preview" is
in bold print on the right click menu, thus it is the default action, but it
is not listed among the actions in File types, where only "Open" is listed,
and "Set default" is grayed out. 4) I don't have other graphic programs.
Best regards, G

 

[ged]

Do you have other picture editors, like photoshop...etc, uncheck all
jpeg...etc formats in all of your pics programs and try again.
I beg you should try again with the Tools>File Options>Filetypes.
Select jpe in the extensions list and click modify, select Paint Shop Pro 8
in the list. (create all extensions you want to open with psp8 if they
aren't there such as jpg...etc and assign them as explained above. It should
work.

I have experimented with just one file type (jpg) and made some progress. I
created a new action in File types: "Preview" and set "Open" as default. Now
that appears in bold print in the right click menu. So now a double-click
open PSP8. *BUT* still no image; only the error message about Windows not
finding the file. So now the focus is on that problem. Regards, G

 

[Sharon F]

I have experimented with just one file type (jpg) and made some progress. I
created a new action in File types: "Preview" and set "Open" as default. Now
that appears in bold print in the right click menu. So now a double-click
open PSP8. *BUT* still no image; only the error message about Windows not
finding the file. So now the focus is on that problem. Regards, G

Do your *.PSP files open correctly with a double click? If yes, compare the
"Open" information for this file type to the other file types.

 

[ged]

Do your *.PSP files open correctly with a double click? If yes, compare the
"Open" information for this file type to the other file types.

No they do not. The situation is the same as with jpg, gif, etc. PSP8 opens,
but instead of displaying the image, I get the error message. Regards, G

 

[ged]

Do your *.PSP files open correctly with a double click? If yes, compare the
"Open" information for this file type to the other file types.

I replied to your question in an earlier post. Since then I have done
further work on the problem, and the plot thickens. As I said previously,
only the "Open" action was listed in File types. I added "Preview" and made
"Open" the default (adding "Preview" made the hitherto grayed out button
"Set default" reappear). This did not help anything whatever. So I went back
to File types, and changed the default to "Preview." Now that seemed to have
helped - at first sight! A double-click now opened the image properly in
PSP8 - no error message. The right click menu items "Open" and "Open with
PSP8" still produced the error message. Although the latter circumstance
offends my sense of propriety, I would have accepted this outcome as a
practically satisfactory resolution of the problem - after all, a
double-click produced the desired image in the desired application. However,
I soon discovered that this works only for images *NOT* in the My Documents
folder!!! Images in there generate an error message "Unable to open file"
within PSP8.

It's pretty astonishing how buggy Windows xp is! Regards, G

 

[Sharon F]

I replied to your question in an earlier post. Since then I have done
further work on the problem, and the plot thickens. As I said previously,
only the "Open" action was listed in File types. I added "Preview" and made
"Open" the default (adding "Preview" made the hitherto grayed out button
"Set default" reappear). This did not help anything whatever. So I went back
to File types, and changed the default to "Preview." Now that seemed to have
helped - at first sight! A double-click now opened the image properly in
PSP8 - no error message. The right click menu items "Open" and "Open with
PSP8" still produced the error message. Although the latter circumstance
offends my sense of propriety, I would have accepted this outcome as a
practically satisfactory resolution of the problem - after all, a
double-click produced the desired image in the desired application. However,
I soon discovered that this works only for images *NOT* in the My Documents
folder!!! Images in there generate an error message "Unable to open file"
within PSP8.

It's pretty astonishing how buggy Windows xp is! Regards, G

It's interesting that the file type opens fine in one folder and not
another. I also can't think of any logical reason for that behavior.
Windows simply passes on a command to PSP. It's up to PSP to pick up
the ball and run with it.

When XP was released, similar problems showed up on *some* systems with
PSP7 which was the current version of PSP at that time. Jasc technical support
helped those folks out. Sorry to say I never wrote down the details of that fix
since I never ran into the problem.

Your posts here (and those by one other person this past week) are the
first that I've read that mention PSP8 having similar trouble. Anyhow, I
only caught the tail end of the other PSP/XP thread but it was this past
week and I think it was in the windowsxp.basics group (definitely one of
the windowsxp* groups). The other person was able to get their problem
resolved with the help of Jasc tech support and gave some brief details
about the resolution. You may want to "google" for that thread to see if
there's anything there to help you.

Also, you've tried just about everything you can tweak in Windows to adjust
this with unsatisfactory results. I think it would be worth your time to run
this by Jasc technical support at this point.

 

[ged]

It's interesting that the file type opens fine in one folder and not
another. I also can't think of any logical reason for that behavior.
Windows simply passes on a command to PSP. It's up to PSP to pick up
the ball and run with it.

When XP was released, similar problems showed up on *some* systems with
PSP7 which was the current version of PSP at that time. Jasc technical support
helped those folks out. Sorry to say I never wrote down the details of that fix
since I never ran into the problem.

Your posts here (and those by one other person this past week) are the
first that I've read that mention PSP8 having similar trouble. Anyhow, I
only caught the tail end of the other PSP/XP thread but it was this past
week and I think it was in the windowsxp.basics group (definitely one of
the windowsxp* groups). The other person was able to get their problem
resolved with the help of Jasc tech support and gave some brief details
about the resolution. You may want to "google" for that thread to see if
there's anything there to help you.

Also, you've tried just about everything you can tweak in Windows to adjust
this with unsatisfactory results. I think it would be worth your time to run
this by Jasc technical support at this point.

Many thanks for your valuable and informative reply. I am grateful for your
help. And I think you are quite right: it is time to run this problem by
Jasc Tech Support. At the same time, permit me to say, that I think there
are circumstances which do not allow us to shift the blame entirely onto
PSP8, and exonerate Windows xp. Take, for example, the anomalous situation
of "Preview" being in bold print in the right click menu, while it appeared
nowhere in Folder Options / File types, where only "Open" appeared. How can,
then, "Preview" be the default action? It is difficult to see how this
matter could be a PSP8 problem.

Should you be interested in the resolution of this problem, please let me
know and I will post to this group. But it will be at least a month before I
can do so, since Monday I am off for a month long vacation. Best regards,
Gedeon

 

[Jerry Rivers]

I had EXACTLY the same problem as you do. I received this reply
from an XP expert on the PSP 8 news group. Try the two solutions
offered - they work!


Disable Windows Picture and Fax Preview (useless thing that it
is) - it overrides even your set file associations in XP.

Two ways to do it:

Solution #1:

Go to START-> Run. Type in:

regsvr32 /u shimgvw.dll
This disables the viewer by unregistering the dll and has the
advantage that you can turn it on again at any time by going to

START-> Run and typing in:

regsvr32 shimgvw.dll

This has the (major) disadvantage of messing with Windows
Explorer's
ability to show thumbnails.

So, to get the best of both worlds, I recommend (with all the
usual
caveats about editing the registry, backing up before you make
changes, setting a restore point, etc.)

Solution #2:

Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE).
Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ SystemFileAssociations\ image\
ShellEx\
ContextMenuHandlers.
Delete the ShellImagePreview key.

Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\
{e84fda7c-1d6a-45f6-b725-cb260c236066}\ shellex.
Delete the MayChangeDefaultMenu key.


Close the Registry Editor when you're done; the change will take
effect immediately.

Then install the wonderful psp thumbnail viewer from Bot
Productions,
available at:
http://www.botproductions.com/pspthumb/download.html and
you'll have the best of all possible worlds.

Jackie

Jackie Laderoute