Clicking .doc file in explorer opens Word 2007 not word 2007

[BCP]

I'm using Win XP Home and had Office 2007 installed first on this PC, but
decided not to use this as I hated it and so installed Office 2003 instead.
I would like, if possible, to keep Office 2007 on the PC as well but mainly
use office 2003.

At the moment I can run Word 2003 and open old .doc files from within it and
they open fine, but what I can't do is run Word 2003 by clicking .doc files
in Windows Explorer, Word 2007 opens each time. (The same happens with Excel
2003/2007 and .xls files).

I have tried changing the file association info in File Types, but this
looks as if it's all ok and should run Word 2003 when opening the .doc file,
but it doesn't - it always runs Word 2007. This is really annoying and I
really want to change it.

Thanks

 

[Graham Mayor]

See http://www.gmayor.com/Toolbars_in_word_2007.htm which explains the
registry changes you will need to make, and then having run Word 2003, you
can make the changes to the file association manually via Windows Explorer >
Tools > Folder Options > File Types to open DOC files with Word 2003 XLS
with Excel 2003 etc.

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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[BCP]

Thank you Graham, I followed your very clear instructions to edit the
registry and then I restarted the machine and then ran Word 2003. However, it
seems to have made no difference to my problem.

When I go to Windows Explorer > Tools > Folder Options > File Types it
looks no different from before, I go to Change and then Browse to Program
Files/Office 2003/office11\winword.exe and then click Open and then OK, the
File Types box then has "Doc file" for the extension DOC instead of
"Microsoft Office Word 97 - 2003 Document". If I then click Close it saves
that setting but the .doc file still opens in Word 2007. Sorry.... am I
doing something wrong?

 

[Graham Mayor]

The web page shows how to prevent Word 2003 from re-configuring the settings
applied by Word 2007. If you want to stop Word 2007 from reconfiguring Word
2003's settings you should make the changes to the Word 12 branch of the
registry.

Do you have Outlook 2007 installed? This will work with either Word version,
but it uses a subset of Word 12 as its editor by default. If Outlook is open
when you make the changes, it is likely to screw things up. If Word is open
clicking a doc file from Outlook will probably use the open version of Word.

Personally I would always open the required version of Word first, but it
should work if you prevent Word 12 from reconfiguring the shared registry
entries.

Note that the registry conflicts will mean that two versions of Word sharing
the same registry entries is always going to be a compromise and things may
not happen as you might expect. Re-read the notes near the start of the web
page.


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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[BCP]

OK, I've had another play around and here's some more info:
when I click Change for the DOC extension in File Types I only see an option
for "Microsoft Office Word", it does not say Word 2003 or 2007. So then I
browse to winword.exe (in Program Files\Office 2003\office11\) and click
Open, this takes me back to the screen with all the programs listed and the
highlight is still sitting on "Microsoft Office Word", still no mention of
Word 2003.

If I go into the Advanced box I get many more options, but I don't really
understand them. I tried changing the setting for "Open" and changed the
program from winword.exe in Prog files\MS Office\office12\ to Prog files\MS
Office 2003\Office11 and this now starts Word 2003 but with an error message
about a dialog box being open. My question now is: do I have to change the
settings using the Advanced box? and if so, what are the settings and do I
have to change all the entries (Edit, New, Open, Print,... etc)? Another
question is why do they have to make this so *#$% difficult? This question
is one that many people must ask. Thanks.

 

[BCP]

Your last message crossed with my last one. I went back to editing the
registry and changed the entry for Office 12 instead of Office 11 as you
suggested, but this still made no difference to the problem.