Question
My Web browser won’t open *.html files anymore. How can I fix this?
Answer
If you try and open a particular file and either nothing happens or you get an error message that says there is no program associated with the file type, it means that the file association has been lost. Generally this happens if you install another piece of software that “co-ops” the file association. Restoring a file association is easy however.
1. Open Windows Explorer or double-click My Computer.
2. Choose Tools|Folder Options and click the File Types tab.
3. Under the list of Registered file types, scroll down until you find the file type you want. Click to select it and you’ll see what program is currently associated with it.
4. Click the Advanced button.
5. Under Actions, click to select Open.
6. Click the Edit button.
7. You can click the Browse button to find the software application.
8. Click OK twice and then Close to exit the dialog boxes and save your changes.
Another quick way to change file associations is to use the Open With command which is available on the right-click menu in Windows Explorer. In this case, find a file of the type that has the wrong association in your list of files. Right click the file and choose Open With. But instead of selecting a program, click Browse to find the program you want. Once you’ve found it, click the little check box that says Always use the selected program to open. Doing so changes the file association.