File Associations

[rogeepete]

I occasionally get e mail attachments with file types that I cannot open. I
get the message that I must creat a file association in Folder Options.

The ones that I seek now are .zmc and .wps. How do I create these so that I
can view the e mail attachments? Thanks

 

[John McGaw]

I occasionally get e mail attachments with file types that I cannot open. I
get the message that I must creat a file association in Folder Options.

The ones that I seek now are .zmc and .wps. How do I create these so that I
can view the e mail attachments? Thanks

Feel like taking a chance? Take the first file type you name ".zmc" -- it
is a file containing email which has been renamed by Zone Alarm Mail-safe
which suggests that it has been detected as containing malware. Do you
really want to open a file which has been detected as malware?

http://filext.com/file-extension/ZMC

As for the other one, it is a "Works" text document. To verify you can
simply extract the attachment and save it and then try to open it with your
own word processor -- it seems that many will open this sort of file.

http://filext.com/file-extension/WPS

In the future you can use the http://filext.com website to identify file
types and get an idea of what they are and what to do with them.

John McGaw
http://johnmcgaw.com

 

[Malke]

I occasionally get e mail attachments with file types that I cannot open.
I get the message that I must creat a file association in Folder Options.

The ones that I seek now are .zmc and .wps. How do I create these so that
I
can view the e mail attachments? Thanks

When you create data in a program - such as a word processing document in MS
Word - there is an association with that type of file with the program. In
that illustration, Windows knows that *.dox and *docx files are associated
and will open with Microsoft Word.

In order to open a particular file, you must have the program with which it
is associated installed OR a program that can read that file type. So the
message you are getting is from Windows telling you it doesn't know what
program to use to open this file type. It wants you to point it to the
correct program.

In the case of *.wps files, the Works Word Processor will open them. The
*.zmc file type belongs to a "Zone Alarm Safe Renamed Mail File". I found
this out by going to this website and searching for the file extensions:

http://filext.com/

In your case, since basically nothing else is compatible with Works and I
have no idea what you'd do with the ZA Renamed Mail file, you should
contact the people who are sending you this stuff and explain the whole
file association thing to them as above. If these are important attachments
(and please bear in mind that opening email attachments are a great way to
pick up a virus), the senders need to create the information in a more
universal application. If you need more help, please do post back.

Malke

 

[Big_Al]

I occasionally get e mail attachments with file types that I cannot open. I
get the message that I must creat a file association in Folder Options.

The ones that I seek now are .zmc and .wps. How do I create these so that I
can view the e mail attachments? Thanks

Save the attachment first.
Look at http://filext.com/ for possible help as to what program to use.
Load that program. Right click on the attachment you saved and 'open
with' and browse for the program you just loaded. Do not set it to
"always use this program", just test it once first before you associate
that program.
If it works, then 'open with' again and check that box so windows will
now associate it with that new program.

If not, try another program etc.

Once you get a working program, other programs like email should just
use the assignment windows has just made (with your help) and open it
from your email properly.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I occasionally get e mail attachments with file types that I cannot open. I
get the message that I must creat a file association in Folder Options.

That message is very misleading and almost always turns out to be
wrong.

The ones that I seek now are .zmc and .wps. How do I create these so that I
can view the e mail attachments? Thanks

The file extension (file type) tells Windows what program was used to
create the file (Microsoft Works, in the case of .wps, and ZoneAlarm
in the case of .zmc). It also tells Windows, by use of the file
extension, that those programs (or some compatible ones) are the ones
you need to open it. Almost certainly, your problem is not that you
don't have the correct association, but that you don't have the
correct program to open the files. Since no computer has every
possible program installed on it, none of us is able to open *every*
possible type of file.

Over and above the question of *how* to open these attachments is the
question of whether you *should*. Read below:

Opening attachments is very risky. You often see advice not to open
attachments from people you don't know. I think that that's one of the
most dangerous pieces of advice you see around, because it implies
that it's safe to do the opposite--open attachments from friends and
relatives. But many viruses spread by sending themselves to everyone
in the infected party's address book, so attachments received from
friends are perhaps the *most* risky to open.

Even if the attachment legitimately comes from a friend, it can
contain a virus. I'm not suggesting that a friend is likely to send
you a virus on purpose, but if the friend is infected without
realizing it, any attachment he sends you is likely to also be
infected.