Windows 10: How do you want to open this file? - Every time

First, a bit of background.
I scan all of my bills and papers into a jpg file, and I use MS Excel (2007) to keep an index of the image files. If I need to refer to a saved bill or document, I just click on the hyperlink in Excel, and the jpg opens in Windows Photo Viewer.
This process has been working just fine for several years. It's survived through OS upgrades and two versions of Office.

But, yesterday my HDD crashed and I had to reinstall everything. Now, when I click on a hyperlink in Excel, I get "How do you want to open this file?".

But, the problem only occurs when clicking on the hyperlink in Excel. I can double click on any jpg file and Windows Photo Viewer opens it just fine. Just not from within Excel.

I don't know if I have an Excel problem or a Windows 10 problem. The Excel help I've received tells me that Excel uses the Windows file association, so "it can't be an Excel problem".

It's only one extra click, but annoying. Any insight from the forum would be appreciated.

:)

 

how do you want to open this file

Every time i start my computer, this pops up. I have tried everything Windows 10. Please help. There is no file to open.

 

How to Stop "how do you want to open this"

I have Win10Pro (upgraded in place from Win 7 Pro) and every time I click on a link in an email, I get the "How Do You Want To Open This" dialog box. I always click on Internet Explorer and I always check the box "Always use this app" but I still get this
dialog popping up EVERY time I click on a link. I have changed all the browser settings to Explorer correctly and even went through the default procedure with technical support at Windows. The rep came back to me and said there is no fix. Is this true?

I'd love to stop this annoying behavior.

 

If you can open .jpg image files by double clicking from Windows File Explorer then issue nothing to do with Windows 10.

 

Hi, I seem to recall a similar thread a while back - I can't presently find it.

However, if you read this a couple of times, it seems to relate to what you're seeing, so although the fix isn't for what you want, the pattern looks the same.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...lick-a-link-in

Note: I have 1703, and creating a hyperlink to a jpg /Photoviewer in my spreadsheet prog (WPS) works fine.

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To save yourself reinstalling after your disk fails, use disk imaging routinely as we frequently recommend. E.g. Macrium Reflect (free).

Many advantages- easy recovery from unbootable and hard to solve problems to a previous good working state. Gives you a second chance.

Simply restore your image to a new disk if your old disk fails, or to the same disk if Windows is corrupt, an upgrade goes badly wrong or your disk is encrypted by ransomware, or you make some awful mistake.

 

Try to choose another option like Photos or Office Picture Manager, tick the 'Always use' box, as in your screenshot. Test if that works. If so, repeat but choose 'Windows Photo Viewer' this time. May be an issue with Photo Viewer being a legacy program too although it worked before your crash. You may find this article helpful, as well, with credit to a Forum member -
https://www.howtogeek.com/225844/how...on-windows-10/

 

I appreciate the offer to help. The procedure you describe is exactly how I made Windows Photo Viewer my default for jpg files. And it is because if I doubleclick on any jpg file from Windows Explorer, I get it on WPV.

It doesn't matter which photo viewer I select, it always asks the next time I want to open a document image from Excel. The "Always Use" *DOES* change my Windows default program. I selected Paint and "Always Use" in Excel, then in Explorer, a doubleclick on a jpg file opens it in paint.

BTW, why does it matter which viewer I use? Many of my document images are multi page, and only the Windows Photo Viewer has a simple "next/previous" button.

 

Thanks for the tip. I considered making a mirror image of my boot disk, but all of them make the new disk the active disk, which I didn't consider an optimal solution.

A quick glance at Macrium says that it makes a compressed archive of the disk. How long does it take to backup your boot drive? Is there an incremental option or do you have to back up the whole disk every time?

I looked at Macrium Reflect and the only free option is a 30-day trial.

Whoops- edit--> I googled Macrium Reflect Free and found the page, and the comparison of versions answered my questions. I will give it a try. (I would have easily paid $69 to not have to reinstall everything).

 

"Many of my document images are multi page, and only the Windows Photo Viewer has a simple "next/previous" button. "

If this is the feature that draws you to it, consider free FastStone Image viewer. Beside many easy to use editing tools, it has a back-forward button at the top and you can use the arrow back/forward/up/down keys to right of your space bar or mouse scroll. Used it for years, as have many others here. Excellent Tutorial and Help too. -
Download FastStone Image Viewer

 

No, there's Macrium R free too, which includes differential, not incremental.
There are 2 options when starting a new image- the normal compressed copy of the used part of the disk and a forensic sector by sector copy. It maintains a set of base image + differentials for you.
Backup Windows selects ALL Windows partitions for you.
Macrium Software | Macrium Reflect Free

Here's my write-up on the value of disk imaging. (Comment on times towards end)

Everyone who contributes regularly here uses and recommends disk imaging.

If you use it, you can recover from:
- a failed disk drive (restore to a new one)
- ransomware (which encrypts your disk)
- user error
- unrecoverable problems from failed updates to problem programs
- unbootable PC (hardware faults aside)

Images also act as a full backup- you can extract files too.

You can even use images to help you move more easily and quickly to a new PC.
Can be used with Laplink software to transfer your build automatically to another PC

Imaging can even help you sleep at night knowing you have a second chance.

Creating disk images lets you restore Windows and all your imaged disks and partitions to a previous working state from compressed copies you have created and kept updated on external storage media, quickly and probably without technical help.

Many here recommend Macrium Reflect (free) as a good robust solution and more reliable than some others. It’s
- more feature rich
- more flexible
- more reliable
than Windows Backup and Restore system images.

It's well supported with videos, help and a responsive forum.

There are other such programs, free/commercial, some with simpler interfaces, but Macrium R is one of the most robust and reliable.

How long does it take?
SSD+ USB3 - maybe 15 mins for the first system image, less thereafter
HDD + USB2 - maybe 40-50 mins
That’s with little personal data, few programs installed.
- of course, depends how much you have on C:
(You can and should image all your partitions and disks)

Once you've created your first image, keep it updated with e.g. differential imaging- which images just changes from the first image, more quickly, and creates a smaller image file.

You need a backup medium - say- twice as large as the total amount of data you are imaging to keep a reasonable number of differential images. This will vary dependent on the number of images you keep, so is only a rough practical guide.

Some comment that system restore isn't always reliable; if it works and solves the problem, great. But sometimes restores won't work or fail. And of course a restore point only covers a limited number of aspects of the system. That’s where disk imaging comes in.

(There's a tutorial on Macrium in the Tutorials section, and a couple of videos in the user videos section on this forum)
Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect Backup Restore Tutorials
Windows 10 instructional videos by Ten Forums members


Macrium automatically selects all the partitions comprising Windows if you select that option.

You can of course back up any combination of disks and partitions.

 

High hopes, dashed again. Based on the information from the MS link, I added the following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\jpgfile\shell\opennew\command rundll32.exe photoviewer.dll %1

But, no difference. Maybe opennew is the wrong subkey?

I just had a new idea. Why not just reinstall Office since that seems to be the problem. Maybe if I install it *after* making Windows Photo Viewer the default for jpg files?

Thanks again.

 

"Why not just reinstall Office since that seems to be the problem."

You could try the faster "Repair" process too.

 

Did both- no change.

 

What happens if you click the link in this? (attached)
- and make sure you reverse the registry change made previously..

 

As expected, it opens the web page in my default browser.