How to Open a Word Document in Microsoft Word Rather Than Microsoft Works or OpenOffice's Writer

The Problem: You have a Vista or Windows 7 computer that came with Microsoft Works pre-installed and you later install Microsoft Word to use as your main word processor. You'd think you could now just go double-click your .DOC named document, and have it open in Word, but instead the file gets opened by Microsoft Works or OpenOffice's Writer.

Why Does This Happen? The operating system (Windows 7, Vista or XP) is confused as to the default or associated program. The older or different version of Word didn't automatically become the default program when installed. Or, the newer version of Works or Writer decided that they wanted to be the default program.

The Fix:

1. Click on the Start Button

2. Click on Control Panel.

3. Click on Default Programs.

4. Click on Associate a file type or protocol with a program.

5. Scroll down the list until you find .doc in the left hand column.

6. Click on .doc (which highlights the line) and then click on the Change program button.

7. An "Open with" dialog will appear. If under Recommended Programs, you see the program, "Microsoft Office Word" (or something similar), then click on this program and choose OK. At this point, you're done. The screen should return to the "Associate a file type or protocol with a specific program" window. Click on the Close button.

8. If Microsoft Word does not show up on the list of programs to choose from, click on the Browse button and navigate to the location of Word's executable file. This is usually found with a path similar to this: c:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE There also may be a number attached to Office, such as Office11 or Office12. Once you've navigated to the correct folder and the files appear, scroll down until you find Word's executable file, usually WINWORD.EXE. Highlight the file and click on OK.

Conclusion

Different programs can keep Microsoft Word from being the default program. But after these steps the confusion should be gone. You should now be able to launch a Word Document - in Word -- when you double-click a file created with a ".doc" extension.