Visio 2003 / Visio Viewer file association error

[Scott]

I have an engineering application that loaded Visio Viewer as part of its
program bundle. I already had Visio 2003 Standard installed and used it
frequently. Since the new install all Visio documents that I open are in the
Viewer format (I am unable to access the full functions.) I tried to
uninstall Visio 2003 and re-install, but this did not work. Any ideas?

 

[Aaron Rykhus [MSFT]]

My recommendation would be to see if you can remove Visio Viewer through
Add or Remove Programs. If you already have Visio Standard 2003 installed
there should be no need for the Viewer and having both installed will just
cause file association problems. After you remove the Viewer repair Visio
Standard 2003 through Add or Remove Programs by selecting the Visio
Standard 2003, clicking on the Change button and selecting Reinstall or
Repair, then Next.

Repairing the application you want to have open the file when you
double-click the file should fix that so I'm not sure why it didn't fix it
when you reinstalled Visio Standard 2003.

You can also set the file association back manually for each of the Visio
file types (e.g. .vsd, vdx, vss, etc...) to Visio Standard 2003 by simply
right-clicking one of hte Visio files and choosing Open With, selecting
Visio Standard 2003 as the program, and checking the box "Always use the
selected program to open this kind of file".




Best Regards,

Aaron Rykhus, MCP, MCDST
Online Support Engineer
Microsoft Corporation

 

[Scott]

Aaron,

Thank you for the recommendation. Unfortunately, I don't have "Viewer"
listed in my add/remove programs group. Additionally, I may be presumptious
in assuming that what I'm seeing is actually the Viewer program anyway. When
I load any existing Visio document, my toolbar only allows me the options
"Plan, File, and View." Prior to installing the engineering software bundle
(the developer told me that they use the limited-feature verios of Visio as
an element of the bundle) I was able to access all features from the tool
bar. I tried uninstalling Visio 2003 completely, then opening existing
documents, expecting that they would open in this limited-function mode. I
was surprised that the documents no longer had a file association with Visio
2003 uninstalled. I'm lost here.

 

[Aaron Rykhus [MSFT]]

The Visio Viewer will diplay in Add or Remove Programs as "Microsoft Office
Visio Viewer <version>". I'm not sure what "limited-feature verios" is. I
know there is a reduced functionality mode in Office applications but
that's if you have not activated Visio.

There should be a readme file that accompanies the engineering application
or some other kind of documentation that may list known issues when
installing when Visio is already installed. That may help give you some
insight on what the application does when Visio is already installed.

If you don't mind telling me what the application is and if there's a trial
version out there for download I could try taking a look at it.


Best Regards,

Aaron Rykhus, MCP, MCDST
Online Support Engineer
Microsoft Corporation

 

[Scott]

Aaron,

The "verios" is a typo (version.)

The problem that I am seeing seems to have nothing to do with Viewer. I
actually uninstalled Visio 11 and downloaded the Viewer program, just to see
if the "Visio Lite" toolbar that I was seeing was similar to Viewer. It is
not (Viewer loads the documents in a browser window.) I then uninstalled
Viewer, reinstalled Visio 11, but to no avail.

The reduced funstionality mode that you refer to may be what I'm seeing. Is
it possible that some certificate or activation registry became corrupted and
I'm seeing this "unactivated" version? Again, when I launch Visio the only
choices on my toolbar are "File" (which only includes "Exit" and "Send to
Bluetooth") and "View" (which only shows "Full Screen F5." I can then
choose a template from the Wizard, but have no "normal" functionality in the
document. It almost seems like a "free trial" version.

If I open an exiting doxument I have a "Plan" menu on the toolbar (again,
with little function.) I can right-click on the toolbar and access the
"customize" option, but I'm unable to drag and drop any additional toolbar
selections.

The engineering program that I referred to is a propriatary program from
Siemens called SPACE. Their support group has been no help at all, although
I'm fairly certain that the glitch appeared the first time I used their Visio
interface. I believe that the support tech mentioned that they use a limited
feature tool utilizing Visio 10.