Program links and icons all open Word document instead of the programs themselves.

Anonymous
2010-05-16T01:17:15+00:00

Suddenly, all of my program icons on the Desktop and Taskbar have changed into MS Office word icons and open a word document instead of the programs.  I cannot open any programs and the Word document is meaningless.

Robert M. Engelbardt

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Files, folders, and storage

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2015-08-27T16:36:34+00:00
  1. Click on the Windows logo "Start" button on the bottom left corner of your screen
  2. Type in "regedit"
  3. Click on "regedit" search result
  4. Click on "Yes" to make changes
  5. Navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\

Software\

Microsoft\

Windows\

CurrentVersion\

Explorer\

FileExts.

lnk

  1. Delete the other keys except "OpenWithProgids"
  2. Log off and log back on

That should return all your links back to normal! :)

thank you very much but one doubt,what about deleated keys, what is the function of that keys?

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Anonymous
2015-01-02T07:20:35+00:00

Many Thanks this way has solved my problem .. cheers

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Anonymous
2010-05-24T22:03:00+00:00

The problem was finally resolved with the assistance of Microsoft Support.  We started from scratch by setting up a new user account and deleting the current one.  Everything works fine now but we never were able to determine how the problem happened in the first place.

Robert M. Engelbardt

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  1. Anonymous
    2010-05-19T00:32:55+00:00

    Hi Lisa,

    It started a few days ago and I don't recall doing anything to cause this.  I tried System Restore as the first fix but it failed because of some kind of missing  file problem.  I only had one restore point. 

    I will try your other suggestion next.  What's strange is that if I go to an application's .exe file, it will start normally. If I right-click and Send To the desktop,  every other application shortcut icon on the desktop changes to the one associated with that application and the programs that were assigned to those icons will try to open in the one I just sent to the desktop.

    For example, if I send the MS Word application to the desktop, it appears there with the correct icon but every other application icon also changes to the Word icon and programs assigned to these other icons will all start MS word instead of what they were assigned to.Thanks for your help.

    Bob

    Robert M. Engelbardt

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-11-24T16:47:09+00:00

    I have seen this error with two laptops now...wouldn't be too surprised if there's an update on its way from Microsoft to fix it.

    I have seen on other forums recommending that you delete and re-create the user account, but there is a much faster fix. It involves editing the registry, so if you're not comfortable doing that, find someone else who is.

    Open the registry editor (regedit.exe) and navigate to:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts.lnk

    If your icons are all Microsoft Word, you probably do not see a key under the above path called OpenWithList. Right click on the .lnk key and choose "New > Key". Type in OpenWithList and press Enter. Now logout and log back in and the problem should be fixed.

    At least, that's what worked for me. Good luck!

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